Getty Daines vs. Bullock
Republican Steve Daines and Democrat Steve Bullock are squaring off in the Montana race for U.S. Senate. Bullock is the governor of Montana, so he is a well-known figure in the state.
Follow the 2020 U.S. Senate election results courtesy of Heavy’s partners at Decision Desk HQ below. The latest polls before election day 2020 showed a very close race for the Senate seat. See the final polls here from FiveThirtyEight.
Democrats are hoping to flip the U.S. Senate control. Daines is the incumbent. They need four seats (and three if Joe Biden wins the presidency). Montana would be a key pickup for Democrats. Track the control of the U.S. Senate results nationwide here. The Montana Senate race has been considered a toss up.
Here’s what you need to know:
See Live Montana Senate Election Results Here
You can see live Montana U.S. Senate election results below from Decision Desk HQ for Daines vs. Bullock.
There Was Massive Spending in the Race
According to ABC News, Daines, the Republican, has aligned with President Donald Trump but Trump hasn’t been a presence in the state as he campaigns in battleground states instead.
ABC News reported that the race is one of the nation’s most expensive, with Democrats spending heavily to oust Daines.
According to Missoula Current, spending from outside groups was massive, totaling $160 million.
On his website, Bullock has touted health care. “As Governor, he brought Republicans and Democrats together to save the state’s rural hospitals and expand affordable health care to 90,000 Montanans,” his website says. The campaign website adds, “Steve was born in Missoula and raised in Helena, Montana, where he went to public school and graduated from Helena High School in 1984. Growing up, the only reason he knew there was a Governor’s residence in town was because he delivered newspapers to it.”
On his website, Daines touts his business experience, writing, “A fifth-generation Montanan, Steve Daines brings 28 years of private-sector business experience to Washington, D.C. as he serves the people of Montana in the U.S. Senate.”
He wrote: “During his two terms, Governor Bullock has worked across the aisle to strengthen Montana’s economy, invest in public schools, freeze college tuition and expand career training so that Montana’s kids can build a better future. Bullock is running for the U.S. Senate to make Washington work more like Montana.”
Montana is a state that Trump won in 2016, and Bullock has not won his gubernatorial races by huge margins. However, as the sitting governor, he is a person with a lot of name recognition in the state. “Daines was first elected in 2014 with 58% of the vote. Prior to his election, the seat had been held by a Democrat since 1913,” Ballotpedia reports.
According to Fox News, Daines didn’t support Trump at first but later became a strong supporter of the president. Fox News reported that Daines worked for Procter & Gamble in China, something his opponent’s campaign ads focused on.
“Steve Daines helped an American corporation build factories in China,” one ad says, according to Fox. “Then, they laid off 4,000 American workers. Next, Steve Daines went to Congress and refused to crack down on unfair Chinese trade practices. Daines kept going back to China, year after year after year. All at taxpayer expense.”
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