BILLINGS, Mont. — From a farm in one of America’s largest and newest agricultural and Republican-dominated congressional districts, a retired Montana lawmaker and grandfather walks an unlikely path in search of a political comeback.
Former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, 68, is more than a decade removed from a failed U.S. Senate bid.
Now, running in a crowded field for an open seat with no clear frontrunner, he has raised little money, made little campaign appearances and skipped the one televised debate that led to Tuesday’s Republican primaries.
Rehberg jumped into the race after conservative incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale fell out amid clashes with party leaders.
His opponents suggest that Rehberg’s time is over. And he has been vastly outpaced by opponent Troy Downing, the state’s insurance commissioner, whose donations and loans to his own campaign are equal to the campaign chests of the other candidates combined.
The election to the House of Representatives has historically provided Montana politicians with a springboard to higher office, including the U.S. Senate, governor and the White House Cabinet. The district was created after the 2020 census, when population growth gave Montana a second House seat.
During an interview at his home on the outskirts of Billings, Montana’s largest city, Rehberg repeatedly held up a book by the Trump administration’s former Interior Secretary David Barnhardt. But he told The Associated Press that unlike former President Donald Trump and Rosendale — who was criticized for helping oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — he is not a “bomber.”
“If that’s what the people of Montana want, it’s not me,” Rehberg said.
“I want to work within the system,” he added. “And I don’t think throwing bombs is the best way.”
Rehberg cited his grandchildren and the opportunity to make a difference in their lives as his motivation for taking up running. He may also be trying to rebuild his image after his painful last race, says political scientist Eric Raile of Montana State University.
“The 2012 U.S. Senate election against Jon Tester was tough,” Raile said.
The congressional district spans more than 160,000 square miles of mostly open space, from the North Dakota border to Helena. The voters are predominantly white. About 7% are Native American.
Rehberg, Downing and state schools Superintendent Elsie Arntzen have provided their campaigns with hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal loans as they compete in a seven-person competition that includes Senate President Pro Tempore Ken Bogner and former state Rep. Joel Krautter. backed by a former Republican governor.
Downing, whose loans exceed $1 million, has also benefited from nearly $500,000 in spending on his behalf by a Washington, D.C., political group, the Defend American Jobs SuperPAC, which is largely funded by California-based donors, federal election data show . He told the AP that he would not join the conservative Freedom Caucus, as Rosendale did.
“I never want to be in a position where I represent a faction instead of my constituents,” he said.
Arntzen may be the most conservative of the candidates in the Montana primary.
“Recognizing who Montana is right now means that we are based on the Christian faith, we are based on freedoms, we are very much based on local government control and not a top-down, onerous mandate,” says Arntzen, who opposes transgender girls participating in girls’ athletics.
Rehberg is optimistic that Montanans will remember him, despite his long absence from politics. Since his loss in 2012, Rehberg has founded and closed a series of fast food franchises and has lost his sight in one eye. His wife Jan — his only campaign volunteer — drives him around at night, Rehberg said.
“My philosophy hasn’t changed since I first ran for office in 1984. I’m the same person I was when I first ran for office,” he said. “A little older.”
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Hanson reported from Helena, Montana.