BILLINGS, Montana (AP) — From one of America’s finest ranches The biggest and the newest A former six-term Montana congressman in a district dominated by agriculture and Republicans is taking an unexpected path back into politics.
Former U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg, 68, is in the midst of a failed bid for U.S. Senate more than a decade ago.
In a tightly contested race for an open seat with no clear frontrunner, he has raised little money, made few campaign appearances and missed the only broadcast debate ahead of the election. Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Rehberg entered the race late after conservative incumbent Rep. Matt Rosendale announced he was entering the race in February. Senate Campaign he Was soon abandoned He is in the midst of a clash with party leaders.
Rehberg’s opponents say his time is over, and he is being badly outfunded by his rival, state auditor and insurance commissioner Troy Downing, whose campaign contributions and loans rival the combined total of all other candidates.
House races have historically provided a stepping stone for Montana politicians to higher office, including U.S. senator, governor and White House cabinet positions. The district was created after the 2020 census, when population growth led to Montana gaining two seats in the House of Representatives.
During an interview at his ranch outside Billings, Montana’s largest city, Rehberg clutched a book by former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and praised Bernhardt’s boss, former President Donald Trump. But Rehberg told The Associated Press that unlike Trump and Rosendale, who sparked a Republican backlash by helping to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, he’s not a “bomb thrower.”
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“If that’s what the people of Montana want, then I’m not,” Rehberg said.
“I want to work within the system,” he added. “I don’t think throwing bombs is the best way to go about it.”
Rehberg said he was motivated to run by his grandchildren and the chance to make a difference in their lives, and he may also be trying to rehabilitate his image after a painful election campaign, said Eric Reil, a political scientist at Montana State University.
“The 2012 U.S. Senate election was a tough one against Jon Tester,” Reil said.
The district stretches from the North Dakota border to Helena, covering more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) of land, with an average of about five people per square mile. The electorate is overwhelmingly white, with just over 7 percent being Native American.
Rehberg, Downing and State Schools Superintendent Elsie Arntzen have pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal loans into their campaigns as they compete in a seven-way race that also includes state Senate President Pro Tem Ken Bognar and former state Rep. Joel Krauter, who is backed by a former Republican governor.
Downing, 57, whose loan totals more than $1 million, according to federal election data, has received nearly $500,000 in funding from the Washington, D.C.-area political group Protect American Jobs Super PAC, which gets its money mostly from California-based donors. Downing told The Associated Press that, like Rosendale, she will not join the conservative Freedom Caucus.
“I never want to be in a position where I represent the caucus and not the voters,” he said.
Arntzen is perhaps the most conservative candidate in Montana’s primary.
“Recognizing the kind of state Montana is now means we’re based on Christian faith, based on freedom, based on local control, not strict dictates from on high,” said Arntzen, 68, who opposes the inclusion of transgender girls in women’s athletics.
Rehberg is optimistic Montanans will remember him, despite his long absence from politics. Since his 2012 defeat, he has opened and closed a string of fast-food restaurants and lost the sight in one eye. His wife, Jan, his only campaign volunteer, drives him to and from work in the evenings, Rehberg said.
But Rehberg argued he wouldn’t lack the vital energy he needs in the Legislature if Montana voters support his return.
“My philosophy hasn’t changed since I first ran for office in 1984. I’m the same person I was when I first ran for office,” he said. “I’m just a little bit older.”
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Hanson reported from Helena, Montana.
