BREAKING: GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale Makes Surprise Retirement Announcement

On Friday, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) made a surprise announcement that he would be retiring from Congress at the end of his term. The announcement comes as a surprise after Rosendale filed to run for reelection in the House after he ended his brief bid for the Montana Senate after 45th President Donald Trump came out in favor of his primary opponent, Tim Sheehy.

Rosendale, who has served in Congress since 2014, explained that he was exiting the race because of various attacks and rumors circulating about him. His reentry into the race caused significant disruption since many assumed he would be vacating the seat and running for Senate.

"For the past 14 years, I have had the honor and privilege of serving the people of Montana through public service. That has given me the opportunity to travel across our incredible state and build lifelong relationships with people that I love," the Montana Republican began. "When I took on the task of running for Congress, I knew, as many of you do, that the system is severely broken and badly in need of reforms. Unfortunately, there is immense pressure from those who benefit from the current structure to keep things as they are. And the limited few of us who are willing to try and force true reforms are subject to severe retribution."

Rosendale then explained that when he announced his bid for Senate last month, he would likely not receive the support of GOP leaders, given his failure to win the seat in 2018 against Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). Given this, Rosendale withdrew from the seat to give Sheehy the best chance to defeat Tester in November. 

The Republican representative explained that he then reentered the race for his House seat to run for reelection, but since that announcement, he has faced considerable backlash. "I have been forced to have law enforcement visit my children because of a death threat against me and false and defamatory rumors against me and my family," he explained. "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 of MT-02."

"To me, public service has truly always been about serving, not titles or positions of power. The current attacks have made it impossible for me to focus on my work to serve you," Rosendale said, concluding, "So, in the best interest of my family and the community, I am withdrawing from the House race and will not be seeking office. It has been my honor to serve you and may God bless each and every one of you."

You can read his full statement below:

This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.

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