Congressman Matt Rosendale announced Friday that he will not seek re-election to the seat he holds in the U.S. House of Representatives, citing damage from recent rumors and security concerns.
In a post to his account on X, Rosendale released a statement of his withdrawal saying, "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."
"So, in the best interest of my family and the community, I am withdrawing from the House race and will not be seeking office."
Rosendale announced his candidacy for the House race on February 28, two weeks after he withdrew from a one-week run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester.
Nine other Montana Republicans had already announced campaigns to fill Rosendale's seat with the expectation he would vacate it to run for Senate. When Rosendale exited the Senate race, eight of the nine candidates pledged to primary Rosendale should he enter the House race.
In an interview with Yellowstone Public Radio Friday afternoon, Rosendale said rumors about his personal life, a death threat made against him, and growing frustrations with his fellow House Republicans all influenced his decision to leave the race.
"What I will tell you is between that threat coming in, the gossip and rumors coming in, the frustration at not even being able to hold the line on any of the things that we've been working on here in the House of Representatives when we are in the majority, it just becomes extremely frustrating." Rosendale said.
"So you start looking at where can you be productive? Are you getting things done for the voters? And when I see that I'm not what I say is, I'm tired. My tank is empty. I'm out of gas. And it's time for me to come home.”
Rosendale has firmly denied rumors that he was having an extramarital affair and pledged legal action against former North Dakota senator Heidi Heitkamp, who discussed the rumors on a popular political podcast. Rosendale says he still does not know where those rumors started.
"I have challenged some of the most powerful people on Earth, and so they have access to a lot more resources than I do. And so, that’s the thing about rumor and gossip, you can't trace it back.," Rosendale said.
As for the threat against him, Rosendale said he is not sure exactly when it was made within this time period, but that U.S. Capitol Police deemed it credible and serious enough to report it to Montana law enforcement.
Rosendale said Montana law enforcement started surveilling a person in Montana who made the threat and law enforcement visited two of his sons' homes who live in Montana.
"It's very disturbing and I think it would be very disturbing to anyone," Rosendale said. "I know so many of the individuals that serve the state of Montana at all levels, and we all have one thing in common and that is we're just trying to do the very best that we can for the people across our state, and no one should be subjected to that kind of treatment."