Sen. Steve Daines of Montana with U.S. Army Gen. Frank Grass in 2015 (Creative Commons)
CNN's Manu Raju reported that two sources told him that Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) waited until the last minute to withdraw from his Senate race for a key reason.
Writing Thursday, Raju said that Daines was scared that a popular Democrat would announce they'd run for the open seat and win.
On Wednesday, Daines' announcement was made just eight minutes before the candidate filing deadline closed in Montana. It means there was only a tiny moment for well-known Democrats like former Sen. Jon Tester or former Govs. Brian Schweitzer and Steve Bullock to declare their intentions to run. With such a Democrat on the ballot in a year that is expected to be a blue wave, it would have put the Montana Senate seat in play.
The following day, Thursday, NBC News reported that Daines is among two possible candidates being considered to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The President is reportedly furious with her after her testimony this week before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
The White House has already contacted Daines’ office, the two sources told NBC News. The report didn't indicate if anyone else was contacted by the White House.
Independent candidate Seth Bodnar said in a statement that Daines “has so little respect for Montana Republicans that he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor instead of giving them a voice at the ballot box.”
