Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced Wednesday that he will not seek a third term, making him the latest Republican in Congress to head for the exit this year.

While the 63-year-old had already filed to run again this fall, he withdrew his name from qualification shortly before Wednesday’s state filing deadline for candidates. He released a statement confirming the decision only after that filing deadline passed.

In that statement, Daines announced he’s backing Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme to replace him — Alme filed his paperwork to run for the seat eight minutes before the filing deadline, Montana Secretary of State records show, and before Daines publicly confirmed he was no longer running.

“After wrestling with this decision for months, I have decided I will not seek re-election,” Daines said in a statement. Going on to back Alme, he praised the his work “cracking down on crime,” confronting fentanyl trafficking and called him a “a man of faith.”

President Donald Trump endorsed Alme in a Truth Social post Wednesday evening and praised Daines for “passing the torch” to the U.S. attorney.

“In fact, if Kurt didn’t have the highest level of aptitude and talent, Steve would have remained exactly where he is but, Kurt is exceptional, and I will be giving him, based on Steve’s strongest recommendation, my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump said.

Daines has served in Congress since 2013, first in the House before winning a Senate seat in 2014, a unique election where Daines’ Democratic opponent, who had been appointed to the seat months earlier, dropped out in the race’s final weeks due to a plagiarism scandal. Daines cruised to victory over the replacement Democratic nominee that year, and then won his 2020 re-election by 10 percentage points over the state’s sitting governor, Steve Bullock.

While Montana has a history of electing Democrats, it’s trended Republican in recent elections. Trump won the state by about 20 points in 2024, with Democratic Sen. Jon Tester losing his re-election bid that same year by 7 points. Tester, in 2018, was the last Democrat to win a statewide election in Montana.

Alme’s backing from Trump and Daines makes him the frontrunner for the now open seat, which hadn’t drawn much major attention when Daines was expected to seek re-election. Independent Seth Bodnar, a military veteran and former president of the University of Montana, announced a Senate bid this week, and criticized Daines’ decision in a statement.

“Steve Daines has so little respect for Montana Republicans that he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor instead of giving them a voice at the ballot box,” Bodnar said.

“This is the disgusting arrogance of Washington politicians and their party bosses who trade power back and forth like candy while Montanans are crushed under higher costs and fewer opportunities.”