Republican US senator Steve Daines of Montana dropped his bid for re-election to a third term Wednesday.

Daines withdrew his name just minutes before the deadline for candidates to file for the November election with the Montana secretary of state’s office. Daines confirmed his resignation in a statement.

“After wrestling with this decision for months, I have decided I will not seek re-election,” Daines said. “It is time for new leaders like Tim Sheehy to spearhead the fight for Montana in the United States Senate.

Montana US attorney Kurt Alme, who is also a Republican, entered the race shortly before the deadline.

The moves came the same day former University of Montana president Seth Bodnar launched an independent campaign for Daines’s seat.

Democrats have been broadly sidelined by the state’s voters in recent years, and Bodnar’s decision to run without party backing underscores their diminished status. Montana Democrats control no statewide offices following the 2024 defeat of three-term incumbent senator Jon Tester.

No well-known Democrats have entered the Senate race.

Daines is a former business executive and close ally of Donald Trump.

Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate, holding 53 seats to Democrats’ 45 plus two independents.