HELENA — The race for the Republican nomination in Montana’s U.S. Senate race wasn’t expected to get much attention – until everything changed a few minutes before the filing deadline. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines dropped out of the race and threw his support behind Kurt Alme, Montana’s former U.S. attorney.

(Watch the video to hear from the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate.)

A look at the GOP field for U.S. Senate in Montana

Alme told MTN he first learned Daines was considering leaving the Senate only a few days before the end of the state’s candidate filing period.

“Sen. Daines called and shared that he and Cindy would like to retire, but they were concerned about losing the seat and the Senate to the Democrats, so he said he would only step down if someone like me would agree to step up and run,” he said. “So because of the importance of maintaining the seat for the Republicans, I told the senator that if he were to decide to retire, that we would be interested in stepping up.”

Alme resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on March 4, the last day of candidate filing. He officially filed to run for Senate at 4:52 p.m., eight minutes before the deadline. Daines withdrew his candidacy at 4:57 p.m., then quickly endorsed Alme. Alme also received support from Montana’s other U.S. senator, Sen. Tim Sheehy, as well as from Gov. Greg Gianforte.

MTN asked Alme if he felt there was any frustration from voters over the last-minute switch. He echoed Daines’ explanation of the move, saying it was intended to keep a big-name Democratic candidate like former Sen. Jon Tester or former Gov. Steve Bullock from entering the race and bringing in large amounts of campaign spending.
“All I’m focusing on is the race we have in front of us and trying to get to the finish line and be sure we represent the people of Montana well, and do everything we can to earn their vote,” said Alme.

Alme, 59, was born in Great Falls and lived in Dillon, Victor and Helena before graduating high school in Miles City. Today he lives in Billings. He describes himself as a “commonsense conservative.” This is his first time running for elected office, though he has spent a number of years working in government – and he says he’ll lean on that experience as he pursues his policy priorities.

Trump appointed Alme as Montana’s U.S. attorney in 2017, and he served through the end 2020. When Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he reappointed him.

“This last year, we had focused our team on violent criminals and drug traffickers, and we had prosecuted more defendants last year than we had prosecuted in more than 20 years,” he said.

In addition to public safety, Alme says he’s also prepared to tackle affordability. He served as director of the Montana Department of Revenue under Gov. Judy Martz in the early 2000s, and he was Gianforte’s first state budget director in 2021.

“I learned how to balanced budgets, and I learned how to put money back into the pockets of Montanans,” he said.
Alme also spent time as president of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch Foundation and as an executive vice president with the National Christian Foundation.

While Alme comes into the Senate race with by far the most backing from top Republicans, it is still a contested primary for the GOP nomination. Two other Republican candidates also filed to run on the afternoon of March 4.

Jonathon Ambarian

Lee Calhoun, a political newcomer from Whitefish, filed when Daines was still in the race. He told MTN he wanted to challenge Daines because he believed the senator’s policies favored big business. While Daines’ decision to drop out took away his biggest reason for running, he said the candidate switch led him to believe Alme wouldn’t be significantly different.

“A lot of people in Montana are really not pleased with that well-orchestrated song and dance that was pulled off,” said Calhoun.

However, Calhoun admits his chance of being elected is “very slim.” He says he has essentially suspended active campaigning, because he wasn’t able to find the campaign staff to support a more robust run. His campaign website is merely a blank page reading “Coming Soon,” and he says he won’t be fundraising or holding campaign events.

Still, Calhoun’s name will be on the ballot, and he says people are welcome to vote for him if they share his point of view.
“At the end of the day, since I’m not owned by anyone or any organization at this point, it would be an opportunity for the people of Montana to have a U.S. senator that’s not owned by people who are more like the modern-day Copper Kings,” he said.

Calhoun, 75, grew up in Pennsylvania. He moved to Montana about 10 years ago. In Whitefish, he started Northstone Solar, which designs and installs solar-energy systems for homes and businesses. He has since sold the business to one of his employees.

Calhoun calls himself an “Eisenhower Republican” and says he’s disagreed with the direction of the party for years. He believes the current tax structure favors the upper class and large corporations at the expense of the middle class and small businesses. He also wants the U.S. to move toward a universal health care system.
If elected, Calhoun says he would serve only one term.

Jonathon Ambarian

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The third Republican on the ballot will be Charles Walking Child, of Helena. Walking Child operates an environmental contracting business. He has previously run in the Republican primaries for Montana’s eastern U.S. House seat in 2022 and U.S. Senate in 2024.

Walking Child has said he sees both major parties as failing to represent everyday Montanans, and that current elected Republicans are too focused on the wealthy.

MTN reached out to Walking Child for this story. He said he “will be giving no interviews, especially to fake news.”

The winner of the Republican primary will move on to the general election, along with one of five Democratic candidates and one of two Libertarians. An independent candidate is also seeking to qualify for the general election ballot.

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Nevada drivers are feeling the sting at the pump as gas prices hover around the $5 mark, forcing some families in the Las Vegas area to make tough choices and pushing others to look for alternatives such as e-bikes.

According to AAA, the cost of a regular gallon of gas in Nevada is a little more than $5. In Las Vegas, the average is $5.05 a gallon.

In North Las Vegas, parents Cheliese Mossett and Avigail Puente stopped for gas near Lake Mead and Losee, where prices significantly under $5 a gallon are hard to come by.

“They need to go down. Absolutely. Right now,” Mossett said.

Puente said, “I do not know what crisis is going on but they should lower them.”

Mossett, a medical courier who drives a minivan, said she can only spend $40 at a time and never quite fills her tank because she needs what is left to pay for her kids’ care. “It was already hard before. Now, it is getting ridiculous,” she said. Mossett also said it is time for the U.S. to pull out of Iran to drop prices back down.

Puente described weighing everyday purchases against the cost of fuel to get her child to school.

“I mean, it is over whether I want to buy my son a toy or a Happy Meal to where, well, those five or ten dollars could go in my car to get him to and from school so it is pretty outrageous,” Puente said.

7 Eleven Station in North Las Vegas (KSNV)

As some families struggle with fuel costs, an e-bike shop owner said he is seeing more customers trying to save money by riding instead of driving.

“We have had a big uptick in 20, 30, 40 year-olds that are looking to save money,” said Eric Olsen, owner of Epic E-Bike Adventures.

Olsen said he launched his business recently and has reported some of his best sales in the last month, which he tied to when the U.S. began its war with Iran. He said this month’s sales are 50% better than the month before. The bikes cost between $1,000 and $2,000.

Epic E-Bike Adventures (KSNV)

Olsen said his customer base has increased beyond retirees looking for recreational trail rides.

“We get a lot of people that are starting to use them for Uber Eats in that 20, 30, 40 year-old demographic,” Olsen said.

Olsen said he stopped using a car a few years ago and found the costs added up quickly.

“I was paying car payments, insurance, gas, maintenance all of it. Within a month its about the same price as a bike. Most of our bikes are below $2,000. Very low maintenance and so it is just a great alternative. I throw Uber in there if I am going out. And all around, I am saving 500-600 a month just riding my bike,” Olsen said.

Olsen said e-bikes are also drawing hospitality workers and others looking for a quick way to cut commuting costs. He said most of the bikes in his shop get about a 50- to 80-mile range, and described one rider’s commute between Boulder Station and Mandalay Bay.

“Most of our bikes get about a 50 to 80 mile range. So I know one guy yesterday was talking. He goes from Boulder Station to Mandalay Bay and back. And the battery will make it the full round trip. And he still has 20 to 30 percent on his battery,” Olsen said.

E-bikes may not work for everyone, particularly parents who need to pick up young children from school and may face challenges related to passenger seating and time.

Olsen said the bikes are street legal and max out at 28 miles per hour. He adds they come with a two-year warranty that covers just about everything except brakes and tires. Olsen also said his store will not repair e-bikes that have been modified to go faster.

THIS IS KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS AND THAT BREAKING NEWS IN THE WAR IN IRAQ. IF YOU’RE JUST TUNING IN, PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYING ON TRUTH SOCIAL, HE WILL AGREE TO A TWO WEEK CEASEFIRE ON THE CONDITION THAT IRAN AGREES TO REOPEN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ. HIS NEW OFFER, COMING HOURS BEFORE HIS DEADLINE FOR IRAN TO OPEN THE STRAIT, THREATENING IF THEY DIDN’T. QUOTE, A WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT, NEVER TO BE BROUGHT BACK AGAIN. NOW, HE SAYS HE’S HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH THE FIELD MARSHAL AND PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN AGREEING TO HOLD OFF FORCE BEING SENT TONIGHT TO IRAN. HE POSTED THIS. I’LL HOLD OFF THE DESTRUCTIVE FORCE BEING SENT TONIGHT TO IRAN AND SUBJECT TO THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, AGREEING TO THE COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE AND SAFE OPENING OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ. I AGREE TO SUSPEND THE BOMBING AND ATTACK IRAN FOR A PERIOD OF TWO WEEKS. HE CALLED IT A DOUBLE CEASE FIRE AFTER GETTING A PROPOSAL FROM IRAN AND WORKABLE BASIS ON WHICH TO NEGOTIATE. PROTESTERS AND LAWMAKERS REACTING TO THE PRESIDENT’S EARLIER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ABOUT ENDING A CIVILIZATION. IF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ WAS NOT REOPENED. PRIOR TO THAT TEMPORARY CEASE FIRE DEAL HAS BEEN SUSPENDED. NOW, GETTING REACTION FROM SENATOR LUJAN. YEAH. SENATOR LUJAN, TODAY REACTING TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF NEW MEXICO CALLING FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’S IMPEACHMENT. BUT FIRST, PROTESTERS GATHERED IN ALBUQUERQUE THIS MORNING. THE WAR IN IRAQ, IN ALBUQUERQUE, A FAMILIAR SPOT IN FRONT OF KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE TUESDAY, WHERE PROTESTERS HAVE BEEN GATHERING. BUT TODAY’S TONE WAS A BIT DIFFERENT. WHAT WOULD MAKE ME HAPPY IS A UNIVERSAL PURGE OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE PENTAGON. THERE’S NO REASON TO HAVE THESE WAR CRIMINALS IN OUR SERVICE, OR EVEN IN OUR GENE POOL ANYMORE. THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF NEW MEXICO CALLING FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’S IMPEACHMENT. IN AN EMAIL SENT TO KOAT, U.S. SENATOR BEN RAY LUJAN IN ALBUQUERQUE AND RESPONDING, DO YOU THINK HE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE? PRESIDENT TRUMP, WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WHICH IS WHERE THERE WOULD BE ANY IMPEACHMENT CONSIDERATION OR HEARINGS. SENATOR LUJAN, REACTING TO THIS SOCIAL MEDIA POST BY TRUMP WHERE HE CALLS FOR ATTACKS ON THE IRANIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, BRIDGES AND POWER PLANTS. IF A DEAL WASN’T REACHED, THERE HAS STILL NOT BEEN A VOTE THAT REPUBLICANS HAVE BROUGHT TO THE SENATE FLOOR, GIVING THE PRESIDENT THE TOOLS THAT ANY PRESIDENT WOULD NEED TO GO TO WAR. AN AUMF THIS PRESIDENT IS GOING AT IT AGAIN, RECKLESSLY. LUJAN FALLING SHORT OF CALLING TRUMP A WAR CRIMINAL. I BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT IS NOT FOLLOWING UNITED STATES LAW. WHEN THE PRESIDENT IS THREATENING THE ELIMINATION OF A CIVILIZATION OF PEOPLE, I WOULD ARGUE THAT THAT IS BREAKING U.S. LAW, FEDERAL LAW, GLOBAL LAW, AS WELL. OKAY. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF NEW MEXICO RELEASING THIS STATEMENT TO US JUST A SHORT TIME AGO, SAYING IN PART, MAKE NO MISTAKE, THE WAY PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DEALT WITH IRAN HAS FUNDAMENTALLY MADE OUR COUNTRY SAFER. AS THE PRESIDENT HAS STATED, OUR MILITARY OBJECTIVES IN IRAN ARE NEARLY FINISHED. AND THE TWO WEEK CEASEFIRE ANNOUNCED TODAY PROVES THAT WE ARE IN TOTAL CONTROL OF THIS CONFLICT. IN THE STUDIO, JOHN POLO, KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS TONIGHT AT TEN. OUR WASHINGTON BUREAU WILL HAVE MORE ON THIS BREAKING DEVELOPMEN