Steve Daines

Steven David Daines (/ˈdeɪnz/ DAYNZ; born August 20, 1962) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from Montana, a seat he has held since 2015. He is the first Republican Class II senator from Montana in 102 years. Daines represented Montana's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015.

Daines was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Bozeman, Montana. Before entering politics, he held positions at Procter & Gamble and the Montana-based software service RightNow Technologies. After an unsuccessful lieutenant governor's race in 2008, Daines was elected to represent Montana's at-large congressional district in Congress in 2012.

Daines was elected to the Senate in 2014, becoming the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate seat in Montana in the 21st century. He was re-elected in 2020, defeating the Democratic nominee, incumbent governor Steve Bullock. In 2023, Daines became chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, succeeding Rick Scott. Republicans gained four Senate seats in the 2024 election cycle and won a majority in the chamber. Daines became Montana's senior senator and dean of Montana's congressional delegation in 2025, after Jon Tester was not re-elected.

On March 4, 2026, minutes before the filing deadline to run for the Senate in Montana, Daines unexpectedly announced he would not run for re-election in 2026.

Daines was born in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles to Sharon R. and Clair W. Daines. The family moved to Montana in 1964. He was raised in Bozeman, where he attended school from kindergarten through college.

Daines graduated from Bozeman High School, where he served as student body president and participated in policy debate; his partner was future U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University. At Montana State, he became a brother of the Sigma Nu fraternity.

Daines was one of the youngest delegates at the 1984 Republican National Convention. "I was a big fan of Ronald Reagan. He was the first president I got to vote for," he has said. Daines was also the president of MSU College Republicans. In 2007, he and his wife started a website, GiveItBack.com, which urged governor Brian Schweitzer to return the state's $1 billion surplus to taxpayers. From 2007 to 2008, he was Montana state chairman for the Mike Huckabee 2008 presidential campaign and a national surrogate for Huckabee.

Daines spent 13 years with Procter & Gamble. After seven years managing operations in the United States, he and his family moved to Hong Kong and China for six years, opening factories to expand Procter & Gamble's Asian business. During his 2014 Senate campaign, Democratic opponents alleged that Daines had outsourced U.S. jobs to China. He stated that he created hundreds of jobs in Montana when he worked for RightNow Technologies.