Rosendale’s loss in 2018 — in a state that Trump won twice by wide margins — probably doomed this campaign from the start. That was just not acceptable at a time when every Senate seat makes a huge difference either way.
Rosendale’s loss in 2018 — in a state that Trump won twice by wide margins — probably doomed this campaign from the start. That was just not acceptable at a time when every Senate seat makes a huge difference either way.
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Rosendale has a great conservative voting record in the House. He is one of 40-50 members of the House Freedom Caucus, which is made up of conservative ideologues.
I like them, but unfortunately they’ve never accomplished anything since I’ve been following them.
U.S. Senate
2018 election
Main article: 2018 United States Senate election in Montana
In 2017, Rosendale announced he would seek the Republican nomination to challenge two-term incumbent Democratic senator Jon Tester.[90]
In a competitive four-way primary, Rosendale faced district judge Russell Fagg, state senator Al Olszewski, and combat veteran Troy Downing.[10] Rosendale won the Republican primary with 33.8% of the vote to Fagg’s 28.3%, Downing’s 19.1% and Olszewski’s 18.7%.[91]
After the primary, Rosendale was endorsed by President Donald Trump[92] and Vice President Mike Pence.[93] Trump visited the state to campaign for Rosendale four times,[94] while Pence visited three times.[95]
During his 2018 campaign, Rosendale faced criticism for repeatedly presenting himself as a “rancher” in interviews and campaign materials despite owning no cattle or a cattle brand according to public records.[96] Critics labelled Rosendale “all hat, no cattle”. Rosendale, who bought a $2 million ranch near Glendive when he moved to Montana in 2002, said he leased his land and helps run cattle on it.[97] Rosendale later removed the “rancher” label from bios on his website and social media accounts.[98]
Polls showed the race in a statistical tie going into Election Day,[99] in what was the most expensive election in Montana history, with more than $70 million spent between the two sides.[100] Tester’s campaign had a huge cash advantage, raising and spending $21 million to Rosendale’s $6 million.[101]
In the general election, Tester won 50.3% of the vote to Rosendale’s 46.8%, with Libertarian candidate Rick Breckenridge taking 2.9%.[102]
“Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”
― George W. Bush