Almost nothing could stop Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) from running for Senate in Montana.
Party leaders pleaded with him to sit the race out, while anti-establishment heavyweights like the Club for Growth pulled back support.
Republicans were wary from his last Senate bid. In 2018, he lost to Sen. Jon Tester, the current Democratic incumbent, by 3 points.
But Rosendale decided past is not prologue and charged forward anyway. On Feb. 9, he entered the race with a defiant video declaring he would take on the Washington establishment.
Six days later, he dropped out.
The decision marked a dramatic and consequential reversal. Republicans were bracing for a deeply divisive primary in perhaps the most important state on the Senate map. Now, they have a clear path.
However, it also put a finer point on what had been in question: Donald Trump’s
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