BILLINGS, Mont. — From a ranch in one of America’s largest and newest congressional districts, dominated by agriculture and Republicans, a grandfather and retired six-term Montana legislator is taking an unlikely path in search of a political comeback.
From his Montana ranch, a retired lawmaker in a crowded House race seeks a comeback
Former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, 68, is more than a decade removed from a failed bid for the U.S. Senate.
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Now, in a crowded field for an open seat with no clear favorite, he has raised little money, hasn’t appeared much on the campaign trail and skipped the only debate broadcast ahead of Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Rehberg jumped into the race after incumbent Conservative Rep. Matt Rosendale left his seat amid clashes with party leaders.
His opponents suggest that Rehberg’s time has passed. And he has been vastly outspent by his opponent Troy Downing, the state insurance commissioner, whose donations and loans to his own campaign are equal to the campaign coffers of the other candidates combined.
Historically, election to the House has offered Montana politicians a springboard to higher offices, including the U.S. Senate, governor and White House Cabinet. The district was created after the 2020 census, when population growth earned Montana a second House seat.
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During an interview at his home outside Billings, Montana’s largest city, Rehberg repeatedly held up a book by former Trump administration Interior Secretary David Barnhardt. But he told The KeynoteUSA that unlike former President Donald Trump or Rosendale, who sparked backlash for helping topple House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, he is not a “bomb thrower.”
“If that’s what the people of Montana want, I’m not it,” Rehberg said.
“I want to work within the system,” he added. “And I don’t think dropping bombs is the best way.”
Rehberg cited his grandchildren and the opportunity to make a difference in their lives as his motivation for running. He also might be seeking to rehabilitate his image after his painful last run, said political scientist Eric Raile of Montana State University.
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“The 2012 U.S. Senate election against Jon Tester was difficult,” Raile said.
The congressional district stretches across more than 100,000 square miles of mostly open space from the North Dakota border to Helena. Its voters are overwhelmingly white. About 7% are Native Americans.
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 includes state Senate President Pro Tem Ken Bogner and former state Rep. Joel Krautter, who is endorsed by a former Republican governor.
Downing, whose loans exceed $1 million, has also benefited from nearly $500,000 in spending on his behalf by a Washington, D.C.-area political group, Defend American Jobs SuperPAC, which is funded largely by donors with headquarters in California, federal election data shows. He told them that he would not join the conservative Freedom Caucus, as Rosendale did.
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“I never want to be in a position where I represent a group instead of my constituents,” he said.
Arntzen is perhaps the most conservative of the candidates in the Montana primary.
“Recognizing who Montana is right now means that we are based on the Christian faith, we are based on freedoms, we are based largely on local government control and not on a strict, top-down mandate,” Arntzen said, who opposes transgender girls participating in women’s athletics.
Rehberg is an optimist and Montanans will remember him despite his long absence from politics. Since his defeat in 2012, Rehberg started and closed a series of fast food franchises and lost sight in one eye. His wife Jan, his only campaign volunteer, drives him around at night, Rehberg said.
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“My philosophy has not changed since I first ran in 1984. I am the same person as when I first ran,” he said. “A little older.”
Hanson reported from Helena, Montana.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.
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