Montana’s two elected House representatives, Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke, are already battling it out ahead of a possible statewide showdown — and their state’s Senate race hasn’t even started yet.
The two Montana Republicans have found themselves on opposing sides of the House GOP’s protracted speakership battle, one of two pairs of potential 2024 Senate rivals who have diverged on the question of whether Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should be speaker. The others: Reps. Jim Banks and Victoria Spartz of Indiana.
After three days and 11 votes, McCarthy has been unable to sway any of his detractors. And some of the 21 Republicans who have declined to support his bid have seen their profiles rise this week as they keep Congress in a holding position.
Senate primaries next year will hinge on a number of differences between candidates, many of them more important. But the vote could become a major factor, especially as Republicans try to win over a bloc of GOP primary voters who take a dim view of the party’s leaders in Washington.
Rosendale, a two-term representative, has been one of McCarthy’s more public opponents, writing in an op-ed for a local paper that he “squandered every opportunity to protect Americans from woke policies.” On Thursday, Rosendale nominated an alternative candidate for speaker on the House floor.
In contrast, Zinke, who won a newly created district last year, is a staunch McCarthy ally and said the debacle was “embarrassing.”
“I didn’t come here to be a soundbite for chaos,” a cowboy hat-clad Zinke said in an interview off the Chamber on Thursday. “In Montana, people want to get things done.”
While he declined to take a specific shot at Rosendale, with whom he said he had “a professional relationship”, Zinke did suggest some McCarthy detractors seemed to be profiting from their opposition.
“A lot of the members you see — before they couldn’t buy an interview,” he said. “And now look at them, some of these members walk around, they got a mob around them and they’re fundraising off it. To me, you have to put your constituents first.”
Both Rosendale and Zinke have not ruled out bids against Sen. Jon Tester, one of a handful of remaining red-state Democrats who are in deep peril in 2024. And national Republicans believe both are seriously considering running, and each would bring their own baggage to the contest.
Montana gained a second congressional seat in 2022, giving Zinke a berth for a comeback bid. He served in the House from 2015 to 2017, when he left to serve as President Donald Trump’s interior secretary — a position from which he later resigned amid several scandals.
Rosendale, meanwhile, lost to Tester in a 2018 Senate race that featured, among other things, carpetbagging claims that stuck with him the moniker “Maryland Matt”.
Privately, some national Republicans see Rosendale’s stand against McCarthy as a move meant to bolster a potential Senate bid. But it also comes with some risk.
His public opposition to McCarthy could perhaps raise his profile, while also boosting his anti-establishment credentials. But it’s unclear how much the average primary voter cares about McCarthy or congressional leadership, and Rosendale could risk angering key donors and the Republican outside groups that aid Senate candidates.
Rep.-elect Matt Rosendale took center stage to nominate Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for speaker on Thursday afternoon.