Montana’s Schweitzer won’t run for Senate

HELENA, Mont. — Popular former Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Saturday morning that he will not run for Montana’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2014, an announcement that complicates Democratic efforts to retain their majority in next year’s elections.

Schweitzer told The Associated Press that he doesn’t want to leave Montana and go to Washington, D.C.

He had been considered the Democrats best candidate for holding onto the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus next year. Schweitzer said he felt compelled to consider the race only because many in his party said they needed him to run.

“I love Montana. I want to be here. There are all kinds of people that think I ought to be in the United States Senate,” Schweitzer said. “I never wanted to be in the United States Senate. I kicked the tires. I walked to the edge and looked over.”

But ultimately, he said, “people need to know I am not running for the United States Senate.”

The former governor was recently elected board chairman of Stillwater Mining Co., Montana’s largest publicly trading company and said he is enjoying his life.

“I have responsibilities here in Montana, my family first. I have taken on a new life at the Stillwater mine. I owe it to the 1,670 people who work at the Stillwater mine that we continue to manage it and make it the best place to work in Montana,” Schweitzer said. “This is my home, not Washington, D.C.”

Schweitzer said recent criticism over politically active nonprofits connected to him had no bearing on the decision and said such criticism isn’t new.

“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Schweitzer said.

Montana’s open Senate seat is one of several being targeted by Republicans who hope to regain Senate control in the 2014 elections. Republicans need to pick up six seats to win back the majority and enjoy several advantages: the GOP is defending fewer incumbents than Democrats and could benefit from the fact that the party controlling the White House usually loses seats during the midterm election of a second-term president.

Democrats need to defend 21 seats, including seven in largely rural states that Republican Mitt Romney carried in 2012. Republicans hope to unseat four key incumbents: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.

The brash, jeans-wearing Schweitzer last year told the AP: “I am not goofy enough to be in the House, and I’m not senile enough to be in the Senate.”

The 57-year-old Democrat left office in January after eight years in office with high approval ratings, but he wasn’t able to run again because of term limits. The unconventional governor, who easily won re-election in 2008, always displayed a feel for tapping into Montana’s conservative-leaning yet libertarian politics.

In Helena, his heavy-handed style proved adept at largely getting his way with the state budget despite fostering a confrontational and sour relationship with majority Republicans. He often touted the state’s surpluses at a time when many others were floundering.

The outspoken governor never missed an opportunity to leave a larger-than-life impression. He once stormed New York’s Times Square with a bullhorn handing out Montana-made promotional trinkets from a semi-truck.

But Schweitzer said he is enjoying pursuits other than politics, with a new lake house and a small ranch in the mountains.

“I don’t want a job where I have to wear a suit, and my dog isn’t welcome,” he said.

Other Democrats who expressed an interest in running, including State Auditor Monica Lindeen and schools Superintendent Denise Juneau, had been waiting on Schweitzer’s decision.

The announcement surprised a Democratic Party that was meeting Saturday in Lewistown for its annual convention, and attention quickly turned to other potential candidates.

“Democrats were ready to get behind him in a bid for U.S. Senate,” said Juneau. “Since his announcement, I have been receiving encouragement to run, and I plan to give careful thought to that decision.”

State Sen. Kendall Van Dyk of Billings, said he understood the decision to spurn a dysfunctional Congress. “He chose Montana trout over the rattlesnakes,” Van Dyk said.

However, he added, Schweitzer “has done tremendous things for the state, and any Democrat will tell you he has done tremendous things for the party. Montana needs Brian Schweitzer. And I believe this isn’t the last we have heard of him.”

Republicans are hopeful that freshman U.S. Rep. Steve Daines will run for the open seat. Some Republicans are also advocating former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, who served from 1993 to 2001 and later chaired the Republican National Committee.

Daines said Saturday that he will continue to consider the race.

“My focus is fixed on serving the people of Montana and doing the job they sent me to do,” he said in a statement. “I will continue to give this decision the consideration it deserves, and am still taking time to talk with my family and the people of Montana about how I can best be of service to our state.”

As Schweitzer was mulling his options, the Montana Republican Party circulated a 2010 Internal Revenue Service form that showed a politically active nonprofit group called The Council for a Sustainable America used the same Helena post office box used for Schweitzer’s 2008 re-election campaign and was signed by David Gallik, the state commissioner of political practices appointed by Schweitzer at the time.

The Council for a Sustainable America spent about $60,000 on politics in 2010, but it did not say in which races.

Schweitzer adviser Franklin Hall said at the time the nonprofit was never used for Montana politics or to aid Schweitzer.

Baucus, 71, announced in April that he was retiring. He was elected to the Senate in 1978 after serving two terms in the House. Baucus, who still controls a healthy campaign war chest, promised Democrats on Saturday he will continue helping them with 2014 elections.

“Brian was a great governor and there’s no question he would have made an excellent candidate,” Baucus said in a statement. “But we still have a wide field of qualified Montana Democrats who can run and win this seat.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.