Montana Auditor Matt Rosendale announced Monday he would join the growing field of Republicans running for U.S. Senate in 2018 who aim to unseat Democrat Jon Tester as part of a broader national effort to grow the GOP congressional majority.

“I’ve always said I would serve where Montanans feel I could be the most effective,” Rosendale said Monday, just six months after becoming auditor, a position that primarily regulates insurance and securities industries in Montana.

“I have received calls from across the state who are not satisfied with the job Tester is doing. They feel like he comes back here and acts like a farmer but goes back to Washington, (D.C.) and votes like (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer. He spends far too much time getting publicity getting instead of getting good policy.”

Beyond health care, which Rosendale expects will take years and multiple bills to reform, he said other priority issues he plans to discuss during his campaign include supporting business growth by removing unnecessary regulation, defending the Second Amendment, responsible natural resource development and oversight, expansion of federal investment in infrastructure by scaling back spending on social programs best run by states – and finally solving longstanding issues at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  

He also pointed to the Senate’s “critical role” in confirming members of the U.S. Supreme Court as an area where he would differ from Tester, who delayed and ultimately voted against the bench’s newest member, Neil Gorsuch.

Rosendale has started to build his campaign team, with two members of his public office staff volunteering for initial work on his Senate bid: spokesman Kyle Schmauch, a former regional representative for U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, and policy administrator Kendall Cotton, who has worked on conservative campaigns in Montana.

(Read the original story here)