Daines’s last-minute retirement maneuver leaves Capitol Hill stunned — and some frustrated

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The Hill's Headlines | PM - March 6, 2026

The Hill's Headlines | PM - March 6, 2026

Sen. Steve Daines’s (R-Mont.) decision not to seek reelection — and last-minute switcheroo for his preferred candidate — caught the political world off-guard this week as it slammed the door on a competitive election process in polarizing fashion. 

Daines, a two-term senator, sent shockwaves across Washington and Montana with a maneuver that saw Kurt Alme, the U.S. attorney for the District of Montana, file to run for his seat. The incumbent Republican withdrew his name five minutes later — exactly three minutes before the filing deadline. 

The move was a divisive one — and it has been used on both sides of the aisle in recent months, as lawmakers look to cement allies in seats and freeze out others. 

“It was pretty well-coordinated,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said. “I don’t think it was an accident.” 

The Montana Republican’s decision left lawmakers slack-jawed for numerous reasons. Daines has seen his star rise exponentially in recent years, having run the Senate GOP campaign arm last cycle en route to a 53-seat majority. In doing so he worked hand-in-glove with President Trump, who attempted to cajole him into running for majority leader. 

Daines resisted that urging and, instead, parlayed that success into becoming a key member of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-S.D.) leadership team. 

However, that work earned him a significant amount of goodwill within the conference, which largely backed him up after the well-timed move Wednesday. 

“Steve’s a solid guy. I’m sorry he’s leaving. I understand, and he can leave however he wants,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said. “I think it was fine.” 

But Daines was just the latest in a growing trend of members making similar moves, which have been condemned by members of both parties.

In November, the House voted to formally reprimand Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) over the timing of his retirement announcement. García announced he would no longer seek reelection just days after the Nov. 3 filing deadline had passed.

His chief of staff Patty García (with whom he has no relation), meanwhile, filed to run for the seat just before the 5 p.m. filing deadline on Nov. 3 — and the congressman promptly endorsed his chief of staff for the role.

A member of Jesús García’s own party, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), led the effort to reprimand him over the move, arguing, “If you’re not going to run, you don’t get to choose your successor, no matter how noble the work you have done beforehand.”

Twenty-three Democrats joined with 213 Republicans in voting to reprimand him, with only one Republican voting “present.”

Gluesenkamp Perez similarly blasted Daines for his last-minute withdrawal as a candidate.

“This is bulls‑‑‑. A Montana Senator is rigging an election and it’s miles beneath the dignity of our democracy,” she posted Wednesday on social platform X.

Several House Republicans said they were displeased about Daines’s move, too.

“I think that’s messed up,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said. “It deprives the people of an opportunity to choose who they want to represent. I’m not saying that the president was in on that, or had any knowledge of it, but just that the senator did that.”

Daines defended the candidate swap Thursday and insisted it was unlike the García situation.

In a brief interview, Daines said the move was designed to shut out any Democrats from running, a move that would potentially save Republicans tens of millions of dollars that could be used elsewhere on the 2026 map in the coming months to maintain the majority. 

Montana has a history of electing Democrats at the statewide level, headlined by the likes of former Govs. Steve Bullock and Brian Schweitzer and former Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who lost to Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) in 2024.

“The primary reason was there was no competitive Democrat in the race. Keep Tester out and Bullock out and Schweitzer out,” Daines said. When a reporter noted that Tester said publicly that he wasn’t interested in a run, Daines retorted: “He’s been saying otherwise back home.”

“So different,” Daines said when asked about the García comparison, noting that the GOP cavalry all came together in this instance. “I had the governor of Montana, both senators and the White House behind Kurt Alme before we did this.”

Despite its quick-strike nature, it was hardly the first time Daines sought to clear the field for a Republican in a Senate contest. The former National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chair made that a hallmark of his 2024 efforts, recruiting wealthy individuals while wielding Trump and other means to limit the number of high-stakes primary battles.

Those allowed Republicans to concentrate spending in key states, with the party picking up four seats, including in Ohio, Pennsylvania and his home state with Sheehy. 

Some Republicans view the latest call as a shrewd move by a politically calculating member. 

“He is a very strategic thinker. … A very good political strategist. His time at NRSC proves that. He thinks about these things a lot,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said. “The idea of a sitting United States senator … using the calendar and the clock and his reelection to the advantage of his party and his influence — I don’t have any problem with it. I don’t think it’s an unfair advantage. I just think it’s an advantage, and it’s an advantage he played.”

“I have no problem with that, nor would I have a problem with a Democrat [doing] the same thing,” he continued. “I just would wish it was a Republican.”

Daines wasn’t even the only Montana member to take things close to the wire this cycle.

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) announced Monday — two days before the deadline — that he would retire from Congress. Less than an hour later, radio host Aaron Flint announced a run for the seat, with a polished two-and-a-half minute introductory video accompanying the rollout. Trump, Sheehy and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) all endorsed him in short order. 

The congressman, however, said he was in the dark about Daines’s plans.

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“I was surprised. My understanding was he was going to run again,” said Zinke, who said he had known Daines since they were in high school and participated in Boys State together. “I’m sure he thought about it, and it was a very difficult decision. I made my decision a little earlier.”

Zinke said he wouldn’t have made a different decision, or sought the Senate seat, if Daines’s timing had been different. The former Navy SEAL said he was prioritizing his physical well-being after a career of being in the Special Forces.

“I’m leaving because I need to get fixed, and I really don’t want to be in a wheelchair,” he added.

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