Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced Monday he will run for Senate, giving Democrats the candidate they needed to challenge Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). 

Bullock’s late entrance into the race boosts Democrats’ chances of taking the Senate this November. But he is launching his Senate bid late with virtually no campaign cash to pull from, and Republicans have been preparing for his entrance for some time. 

A two-term governor of a deep-red state, Bullock ran for president last year arguing that he would win over Americans who voted for President Donald Trump. After his White House bid fell short, Senate Democrats recruited Bullock, believing he is the only candidate who could unseat Daines. The Cook Political Report changed the race from “solid Republican” to “lean Republican” Monday. 

Daines has been raising money as if Bullock were already running. He raised $6.7 million and has nearly $5 million cash on hand. The first-term senator is part of 14 joint fundraising committees and is a top recipient of campaign cash from leadership PACs controlled by fellow Republican lawmakers. Roughly 71 percent of Daines’ fundraising comes from outside of cash-poor Montana. He’s also received $1.6 million from business PACs. 

Republicans have been anxious about Bullock’s potential entrance since last year. The Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund super PAC raised eyebrows in May 2019 when it ran $150,000 worth of ads attacking Bullock’s presidential campaign. The super PAC released a video Monday casting Bullock out of touch with his home state, physically and politically. 

As governor, Bullock successfully worked with Republicans to expand Medicaid. He championed strict campaign finance rules to counter “dark money” spending and sued the Trump administration over its proposal to let 501(c)(4)s keep their donors secret from the Internal Revenue Service. 

“Steve brings people together to get things done and does what’s right for Montana families – not party bosses or special interest money,” Bullock’s campaign website states.

Still, Bullock is entering a contest that typically sees dark money spending and underhanded tactics. In the 2018 Montana race, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) may have benefited from anonymous mailers supporting the Libertarian candidate and bashing his Republican opponent. In that same race, the Associated Press revealed that the Green Party candidate was previously on the state GOP’s payroll. Democratic dark money group Majority Forward spent $4.2 million boosting Tester, who won by 3 points. 

That same group aired negative issue ads about vulnerable Republicans senators up for reelection in November, but Daines was excluded. The 2020 Senate map is already favorable for Democrats, who are hopeful they can win Republican-held seats in Colorado, Maine, Arizona, North Carolina and Iowa. Republicans are aiming to unseat Democrats in Alabama and Michigan. 

A crop of eerily similar dark money groups are blasting Republican senators in battleground states. In North Carolina, Senate Republicans’ super PAC unsuccessfully boosted a progressive Senate candidate over Democrats’ preferred challenger to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).  

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has successfully recruited many of his favored challengers, including Amy McGrath, John Hickenlooper, Mark Kelly and now Bullock. Democrats are hopeful they can take the Senate with former Vice President Joe Biden likely to lead the ticket rather than Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

Bullock has $123,000 left over in his presidential campaign account he can use to jumpstart his Senate bid. The top raising Democrat in the race, business executive Cora Neumann, dropped out of the contest Monday to back Bullock.

The post Steve Bullock faces GOP incumbent with multi-million dollar head start appeared first on OpenSecrets News.