Eastern Montana Congressional Race, Denny Rehberg Jumps In

Former Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) is officially jumping into the Eastern Montana Congressional race. Rehberg is the longest serving statewide member of Congress from Montana who would enter the US House with 12 years of seniority if elected.

Rehberg made the breaking news announcement on Montana Talks with Aaron Flint Wednesday morning.

Rehberg: I wanted to go back to Washington to help Donald Trump as president, I'm wholeheartedly behind him. The things that he did when he was president- I'll use one example: Department of Interior, David Bernhardt. He was a phenomenal Secretary of Interior, he got a lot of things done. Donald Trump hired some good people, and I want to see him back in as president. And so, I'm announcing that I'm in fact going to throw my hat in the ring and run for the US Congress in the second congressional district. You hear it here first.

As I mentioned earlier, Rehberg would enter Congress with 12 years of seniority if elected. He held office for 12 years after first getting elected to the US House of Representatives during the 2000 elections. He held the seat as the lone member of the House for Montana. Since that time, Montana now has 2 seats in the US House.

Rehberg: I always say, I know where the bathroom door is, but I also know the the system. I know how to make my way around. And really what you do in Congress is you build coalitions of like-minded people. And when you get 218, you win. And having the friends that I've got in Congress, there are issues that we need to work on, we can work together on. There are Democrats even that are still there that I worked with before, and so that 12 years is going to help me a lot with my seniority.

Several other Republicans have also announced that they are running for the Eastern Montana Congressional seat.

So far Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale (R-MT02) has not announced whether he will seek re-election or not. He recently announced that he was dropping out of the US Senate race after Navy SEAL veteran Tim Sheehy was endorsed by President Trump.

Full audio: