U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's chief of staff says the Senator ‘misheard’ a question Tuesday night that led to his comment that Montana Gov. Steve Bullock would run for the U.S. Senate in 2020.
Tester’s comment about Gov. Bullock’s future plans came at an event of American University College Democrats, in Washington D.C.
Tester was asked if Bullock was running for the U.S. Senate in 2020 and Tester said, "Yeah, he’s running."
Tester’s office told Montana Public Radio Wednesday morning that Tester thought the question was if Bullock was going to run for president.
Bullock will term out as governor in 2020, when Democrats will be looking for a challenger for incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and a candidate to run against President Donald Trump.
Last year, Bullock created the Big Sky Values PAC, which he’s used to fund trips around the country raising his national profile. At a stop at the Iowa State Fair in August, Bullock made these comments about what he was doing:
“I do have a story of how I’ve been able to bring people together, and I think that’s, in part, what our country desperately needs. So right now what I am doing is listening and that is honestly as far as it goes.”
Bullock’s Big Sky Values PAC has spent over $900,000 since it was created in 2017. It’s raised a little over a million dollars.
Neither Gov. Steve Bullock’s Office nor a representative of the Big Sky Values PAC responded to Montana Public Radio’s request for comment on this story.
The governor’s Chief Of Staff Tom Lopach told the Associated Press that "Bullock is not interested in a Senate run."
