U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) has announced that he will not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives this year.
Rosendale made the announcement on his X account on Friday, March 8, 2024.
This comes not long after he gave up on his attempt to become a U.S. Senator. There will be more on this in a moment.
— Matt Rosendale (@MattForMontana) March 8, 2024
In his announcement, Rosendale revealed the reason why he has decided to no longer seek reelection to the House.
Rosendale wrote that, since he gave up on his U.S. Senate bid, he has "been forced to have law enforcement visit my children because of a death threat against me and false and defamatory rumors against me and my family."
The representative continued, "This has taken a serious toll on me and my family. Additionally, it has caused a serious disruption to the election of the next representative for MT-02."
Rosendale went on to write that, for him, "public service has truly always been about serving, not titles or positions or power." He added, "The current attacks have made it impossible for me to focus on my work to service."
Accordingly, Rosendale wrote, "in the best interest of my family and the community, I am withdrawing from the House Race and will not be seeking office." The congressman concluded, "It has been my honor to serve you and may God bless each and every one of you."
It was just a few weeks ago that Rosendale announced that he was dropping out of the race to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).
Rosendale dropped out, in his words, because "it became very obvious . . . that the national support and resources necessary to win that seat were not going to be available to me."
Breitbart News fills in the blanks here.
The outlet reports:
Rosendale briefly launched a bid for Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-MT) seat in February, but former President Donald Trump endorsed his Republican primary opponent, Tim Sheehy, the same day. Less than a week later, Rosendale dropped his Senate run. Trump had informed Rosendale months earlier that he would not receive his prized endorsement if the congressman entered the Senate race.
Breitbart goes on to put forth a reason why Trump may not have been particularly eager to endorse Rosendale. The outlet writes, "Rosendale ran against Tester in 2018, which was the last time a Democrat won a statewide race in Montana."
