Republican Sen. Steve Daines abruptly ended his campaign for a third term Wednesday, announcing he would not seek reelection just minutes before the state’s candidate filing deadline for the November election. The last-minute decision cleared the way for fellow Republican Kurt Alme to enter the contest.

Daines, 63, said in a statement that he had spent months weighing whether to run again before deciding to step aside from public office. The senator said he intends to spend more time with his family, including his seven grandchildren, and remain closer to home in Montana.

“Sadly for our Country, Steve’s term is up,” Trump wrote on Truth Social while endorsing Alme. The president also commended Daines for what he described as passing the torch to the current U.S. attorney.

Daines’ withdrawal marks the 15th Senate retirement announced since the 2024 election cycle, the highest number in a single term since 2013. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in the chamber with 53 seats, compared to 45 for Democrats and two independents who caucus with them.

The maneuver in Montana unfolded as Seth Bodnar launched an independent campaign for the Senate seat the same day. Bodnar, a West Point graduate and former Army Special Forces officer who later worked as an executive at GE Transportation, said in a campaign video that the nation’s political system is failing ordinary Americans.

To qualify for the general election ballot as an independent, Bodnar must gather more than 13,000 voter signatures.

Democrats have struggled to remain competitive statewide in recent years. The party lost its final statewide office in 2024 when three-term Democratic Sen. Jon Tester was defeated, and no prominent Democratic candidates entered the Senate race before the filing deadline.

Campaign finance records show Daines had raised more than $8 million since his last election in 2020 and held about $5 million in cash at the end of last year.

Before entering politics, Daines spent nearly three decades in the private sector, including time as an executive at RightNow Technologies. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 and won his Senate seat two years later. In 2020, Daines secured reelection by defeating Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock by 10 percentage points.