ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gov. Steve Bullock hasn’t changed his mind about challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, even after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer traveled to Montana to persuade him to run, according to the governor’s office.
A Bullock spokeswoman confirmed that Schumer was in Montana over the weekend to meet the governor, Lee Newspapers of Montana reported. “Nothing has changed,” the spokeswoman said.
Pressure has been mounting on the two-term governor to run against Daines ever since Bullock dropped his long-shot bid for the presidency last year.
Bullock has repeatedly said he won’t run for Senate. The filing deadline to appear on the Montana is March 9
Five Democrats are running for the party’s nomination for Senate, but none has the name recognition or successful statewide election record of Bullock, who also was Montana’s attorney general.
Daines is a first-term senator whose only Republican primary challenger is Daniel Larson, a political newcomer who runs a hardware store in Stevensville
Politico first reported Schumer’s meeting with Bullock. Politico previously reported that Bullock also recently met with former President Barack Obama while Bullock was in Washington for a National Governors Association meeting.
