Matt Rosendale

Matthew Martin Rosendale Sr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American politician and businessman from Montana. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large congressional district, elected in 2020.

Prior to taking office as a congressman, Rosendale served as the Montana State Auditor and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. He was also a member of the Montana Legislature from 2011 to 2017, serving in both houses.

Early life and career

Rosendale was born and raised in Maryland. He spent his career working in real estate, real estate development and land management. He grew his family real estate business from a single, five agent office into a full-service firm with 65 agents and four offices.

Rosendale and his wife moved their family to Glendive, Montana, in 2002, where they raised their children. He was twice elected chairman of the Glendive Agri-Trade Expo committee, a local group that puts on an agriculture exposition showcasing agri-business in eastern Montana. Rosendale also served as head of his local Catholic parish council.

Montana State Legislature

Rosendale says his friends and neighbors in Glendive urged him to run for the state legislature to reduce spending and regulations, defend their gun and property rights, and protect the sanctity of life.

He served for one two-year term in the Montana House of Representatives and one four-year term in the Montana Senate, during which he served as Senate Majority Leader.

2010 Montana House of Representatives election

Rosendale announced he would run for the Montana House of Representatives to represent House District 38, which covers Wibaux and part of Dawson county. Also seeking the Republican nomination were Edward Hilbert and Alan Doane, the latter of which ended up succeeding Rosendale in the Montana House. Rosendale prevailed, receiving 48.4% of the vote, with Doane receiving 41.3% and Hilbert receiving 10.4%.

Rosendale went on to defeat a Democratic incumbent State Representative Dennis Getz in the general election, receiving 52.7% of the vote to Getz's 47.3%.

2011 state legislative session

During the 2011 legislative session, Rosendale served on several committees including the Business and Labor Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Local Government Committee.

2012 Montana Senate election

In 2012, with State Senator Donald Steinbeisser's being ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits, Rosendale announced he would run for the Montana Senate to represent Senate District 19, a heavily Republican district in eastern Montana.

After running unopposed in the Republican primary, Rosendale defeated Democrat Fred Lake in the general election, receiving 67.6% of the vote to Lake's 32.4%.

2013 Senate session

During the 2013 legislative session, Rosendale served as Vice Chair of the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee. He also served on the Finance and Claims Committee, the Highways and Transportation Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. During this legislative session, Rosendale was the primary sponsor of a resolution urging Congress to submit a balanced budget amendment to states. He also was the primary sponsor of a bill which became law to prevent law enforcement from using drones for surveillance purposes.

Based on Rosendale's voting record in the 2013 legislative session, he earned a 100% on the Montana Family Foundation's scorecard and was also named a "Champion of Business" by the Montana Chamber of Commerce.

2015 Senate session and Majority Leader tenure

Due to state redistricting in 2014, Rosendale represented Senate District 18 for the remainder of his tenure, starting in 2015. At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Rosendale's colleagues in the State Senate, elected him to serve as the Senate Majority Leader. He also served as the Chair of the Rules Committee and as a member of the Finance and Claims Committee and Natural Resources and Transportation Committee. Rosendale was the primary sponsor of a bill to authorize direct primary care provider plans which passed both houses of the legislature before being vetoed by Democratic Governor Steve Bullock.

Rosendale's voting record in the 2015 session earned him perfect 100% scores on several organizations' scorecards including the Montana Family Foundation. He was the recipient of the American Conservative Union's "Award for Conservative Excellence" and was again named a "Champion of Business" by the Montana Chamber of Commerce.

Montana State Auditor

Elections

2016

With State Auditor Monica Lindeen ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits, Rosendale decided to run for the open State Auditor position.

Rosendale ran unopposed in the Republican primary. In the general election, Rosendale faced Jesse Laslovich, who was Chief Legal Counsel to State Auditor Monica Lindeen and was widely considered to be one of Montana's rising political stars.

Despite being outspent 4:1, Rosendale defeated Democrat Jesse Laslovich receiving 53.6% of the vote to Laslovich's 46.4%. At the time, this was the most expensive State Auditor's race in Montana state history.

2018 U.S. Senate election

In 2017, Rosendale announced he would seek the Republican nomination to challenge two-term incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Tester.

In a competitive four-way primary, Rosendale faced District Judge Russell Fagg, State Senator Al Olszewski, and combat veteran Troy Downing. Rosendale won the Republican primary with 33.8% of the vote, to Fagg's 28.3%, Downing's 19.1% and Olszewski's 18.7%.

After the primary, Rosendale was endorsed by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Trump visited the state to campaign for Rosendale four times, with Pence visiting three times.

Polls showed the race in a statistical tie going into election day, in what was the most expensive election in Montana history, with more than $70 million spent between the two sides. Tester's campaign had a huge cash advantage, raising and spending $21 million to Rosendale's $6 million.

In the general election, Tester won 50.3% of the vote to Rosendale's 46.8%, with Libertarian candidate Rick Breckenridge taking 2.9%.

Tenure

As State Auditor, Rosendale approved direct primary care and Medi-Share.

He has refused to accept a pay raise every single year.

As State Auditor, Rosendale is also one of five members of the Montana State Land Board, which oversees the 5.2 million acres in the state trust land. As a member of the Montana State Land Board, Rosendale voted to expand access to over of public land.

In 2017, Rosendale proposed legislation which would create a reinsurance program so that individuals with pre-existing conditions could access affordable health coverage. This legislation passed both houses of the legislature before being vetoed by Governor Steve Bullock. Rosendale condemned Governor Bullock's veto stating, "the governor has sacrificed good, bipartisan policy in favor of bad, partisan politics."

Rosendale then worked with a bipartisan group of Montana officials to create a reinsurance program and were granted a waiver to do so by the federal government. The program is currently operational.

In 2019, Rosendale proposed legislation targeting pharmacy benefits managers and a practice known as spread pricing. The legislation passed both houses of the legislature before being vetoed by Governor Steve Bullock. Rosendale again condemned Governor Bullock saying his veto "is a gift to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries and it's a slap in the face to consumers."

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

In 2013, incumbent Representative Steve Daines announced that he would not seek re-election and would instead run for the United States Senate. Following this, Rosendale announced he would be running to succeed him in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition to Rosendale, the Republican field included former State Senators Ryan Zinke and Corey Stapleton, State Representative Elsie Arntzen, and real estate investor Drew Turiano.

Rosendale came in third place with 28.8% of the vote, behind Zinke with 33.3% of the vote and Stapleton with 29.3% of the vote. Arntzen and Turiano received 6.9% and 1.7% respectively.

2020

In June 2019, Congressman Greg Gianforte announced that he would not be seeking re-election and would instead run for Governor to replace term-limited Governor Steve Bullock. Days later, Rosendale announced he would run for the open congressional seat.

Rosendale received the early endorsement of President Donald Trump. He also received early endorsements from elected officials around the country including Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Rand Paul, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise and Congressman Jim Jordan, as well as the endorsement of the Crow Tribe of Montana.

He won the six-way Republican primary with 48.3% of the vote, carrying all of Montana's 56 counties.

Rosendale defeated Democrat Kathleen Williams in the general election in November, capturing 56.4% of the vote to Williams' 43.6%.

2022

As a result of the 2020 census and redistricting cycle, Montana regained a congressional district after having had a single at-large district since 1993. Rosendale chose to run for re-election in the reconstituted second district, which covers the eastern two-thirds of the state and includes Billings, Great Falls, Helena and his home in Glendive

Rosendale again received the endorsement of Donald Trump and won the Republican primary with 75.7% of the vote. Rosendale won the general election with 56.6% of the vote, compared with Independent Gary Buchanan's 22.0% and Democrat Penny Ronning's 20.1%.

Tenure

Rosendale, along with all other Senate and House Republicans, voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

In June 2021, Rosendale was among 21 House Republicans who voted against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Also in June 2021, Rosendale was among fourteen House Republicans who voted against passing legislation to establish June 19, or Juneteenth, as a federal holiday.

Foreign and defense policy

In June 2021, Rosendale was one of forty-nine House Republicans who voted in favor of the repeal of the AUMF against Iraq.

Rosendale was one of 15 representatives to vote against H.R. 567: Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Program Act of 2021, which would establish an interagency program to assist countries in North and West Africa to improve immediate and long-term capabilities to counter terrorist threats, and for other purposes.

In September 2021, Rosendale was among 75 House Republicans to vote against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022, which contains a provision that would require women to be drafted. He was among 19 House Republicans to vote against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

In November 2021, Rosendale was one of 6 House Republicans to vote against the RENACER Act, which extended U.S. sanctions against Nicaragua and granted the president several ways to address acts of corruption and human rights violations by the Daniel Ortega administration, including the power to exclude Nicaragua from the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and to obstruct multilateral loans to the country.

Rosendale issued a statement in opposition to intervention in Ukraine during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis. Later, Rosendale sponsored the Secure America’s Border First Act, which would prohibit the expenditure or obligation of military and security assistance to Kyiv over the United States border with Mexico.

On March 2, 2022, Rosendale was one of only three representatives in the House to vote against a resolution supporting the sovereignty of Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.

In 2022, Rosendale voted against the government funding bill which would provide approximately 14 billion dollars to the government of Ukraine.

In July 2022, Rosendale was one of 18 Republicans to vote against ratifying Sweden's and Finland's applications for NATO membership.

Immigration

In July 2021, Rosendale voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16.

Rosendale sponsored Representative Brian Babin's bill, H.R.140 - Birthright Citizenship Act of 2021, which would eliminate birthright citizenship.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Veterans Affairs
** Subcommittee on Health
** Subcommittee on Technology Modernization (Ranking Member)
* Committee on Natural Resources
** Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
** Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States

Caucus memberships

* Freedom Caucus
* Republican Study Committee

Personal life

Rosendale and his wife Jean reside on a ranch north of Glendive. The couple has three adult children. Their son Adam served briefly in the Montana Legislature in 2017. Rosendale is a Roman Catholic.https://www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/01.04.21_faith_on_the_hill_detailed.table_.update.pdf

Electoral history

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

References

External links

Representative Matt Rosendale
official U.S. House website

Matt Rosendale for Congress
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosendale, Matthew
1960 births
21st-century American politicians
Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections
American nationalists
Catholics from Montana
Living people
Members of the Montana House of Representatives
Montana state senators
People from Glendive, Montana
Businesspeople from Montana
Businesspeople from Baltimore
Politicians from Baltimore
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Montana
State insurance commissioners of the United States