Rep. Matt Rosendale Ends House Re-election Bid, Citing 'Defamatory Rumors'

By Joe Cunningham | 12:12 PM on March 09, 2024

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Congressman Matt Rosendale (R-MT) has had a whirlwind month.

In mid-February, he announced he would challenge Sen. John Tester (D-MT). Tester is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate, especially in an election cycle that has an overabundance of vulnerable Democratic Senators

However, Rosendale withdrew his bid a week later.

Throwing It in Reverse: Matt Rosendale Abruptly Drops Montana Senate Bid

Then, this month, Rosendale announced his re-election bid for his House seat. However, on Friday, he withdrew from the race under strange circumstances.

pic.twitter.com/O0bRpAlKoN
— Matt Rosendale (@MattForMontana) March 8, 2024

In his statement, Rosendale alludes to "false and defamatory rumors" as the reason for his exit, saying he's also faced death threats. "This has taken a serious toll on me, and my family. Additionally, it has caused a serious disruption to the election of the next representative for MT-02."

Rosendale's district is still expected to stay in Republican hands.

The "false and defamatory rumors" appear to stem from a recent podcast appearance by former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, in which she alleged that Rosendale impregnated a staffer.

Heitkamp, a Democrat who lost her seat to Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) in 2018, made the allegation during an appearance on the “Talking Feds with Harry Litman” podcast. Rosendale dropped out of the race a few days ago, about a week after he officially announced he would run. It’s still unclear if he plans to seek reelection to his House seat.
“I think [the GOP] caucus may lose a member in the next couple days,” Heitkamp alleged. “Just to gossip a little bit: There’s a reason why Rosendale backed out of that Senate race — the rumor is he impregnated a 20-year-old staff person.”

Rosendale's office adamantly denied the rumor.

“This is 100% false and defamatory and former Senator Heitkamp will be hearing from our lawyers soon,” Ron Kovach, a spokesperson for Rosendale (R-Mont.), told POLITICO in a statement.