Rehberg declares new run for Congress

Former long-time Congressman and lobbyist Denny Reberg is looking to get back into the U.S. House of Representatives, declaring his candidacy for Montana’s eastern district seat, joining a crowded field of primary opponents, one that does not yet include the seat’s current occupant Matt Rosendale.

Rehberg announced his candidacy Wednesday, touting his years of experience in public service and painting a dire picture of the country under Democratic leadership which he cited as his primary reason for his run.

“Joe Biden is making America unrecognizable — and I want our country back,” Rehberg said. “ ... The number one question people ask me is: Why are you running for Congress again? It’s a simple one-word answer: Grandkids — I want to ensure there is a country left for our grandkids.”

When asked for further comment on his candidacy, a Rehberg press spokesperson said they plan to roll out Rehberg’s legislative priorities and goals in the coming weeks.

Rehberg was Montana’s sole Representative in the House from 2001 to 2013 after years in the Montana State House and a term as Gov. Marc Racicot’s lieutenant governor after that.

Rehberg lost a close Senate race in 1996 race to incumbent Max Baucus, but would later win the 2000 election for the state’s only seat in the U.S. House, a seat he would keep for six terms before losing another Senate race to Jon Tester in 2012.

After losing that race Rehberg managed his family’s ranch, several fast food franchises, and also became a lobbyist, serving as co-chair of Washington, D.C., public affairs firm Mercury.

Rehberg joins a crowded field of seven other Republican candidates including Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, State Auditor Troy Downing and Montana State Sen. Kenneth Bogner, along with former state senators Ric Holden and Ed Walker, former state representative Joel Krautter, and former Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Stacy Zinn, who have also announced runs for the seat.

Business owner and community organizer Kevin Hamm and prominent Billings Democrat Ming Cabrera are running on the other side of the aisle.

Arntzen put out a statement in response to Rehberg’s announcement calling him a RINO, Republican In Name Only, and accused him of “acting like a Democrat,” across his career and of being a “lobbyist with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”

Potentially adding to what may already be a messy primary is the seat’s current occupant, Matt Rosendale, who has not said whether or not he will seek reelection after shuttering a run for Senate against Republican primary opponent Tim Sheehy and incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester after less than a week.

Rosendale’s campaign did not respond by printing deadline to a request for comment this morning.

Many conservative figures, including Montana’s Republican Sen. Steve Daines, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have thrown their support behind Sheehy and urged Rosendale, who’d been hinting at it for months, not to run so they could focus Republican support on one candidate and Rosendale could build seniority in the House.

Rosendale declared his run for Senate earlier this month, opposing Sheehy on the grounds that McConnell and the “Washington, D.C., Cartel” or “uniparty” should not be hand choosing Montana’s senator. but after Sheehy gained a public endorsement from former Republican President and current Republican candidate kingmaker Donald Trump, he dropped out after six days, declaring the electoral hill “too steep,” in the wake of said endorsement.