Matt Rosendale


Matthew Martin Rosendale Sr. is an American politician and businessman from the state of Montana. He currently serves as the Montana State Auditor and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. Previously, he was a member of the Montana Legislature.
Rosendale is currently the Republican nominee in the 2020 election to represent Montana's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early life and career

Rosendale spent his career working in real estate, real estate development, and land management. He grew his family real estate business from a single, small 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. Rosendale is deeply involved in his community. 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

After seeing Rosendale's community leadership skills in action, his friends and neighbors in Glendive urged him to run for the state legislature. Rosendale says that his neighbors asked him to run 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 State House of Representatives and one four-year term in the State Senate, during which he served as Senate Majority Leader.

2010 State 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 session of the Montana House of Representatives

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 State 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 State 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 session of the Montana State Senate

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 session of the Montana State Senate and tenure as Senate Majority Leader

Due to state redistricting in 2014, Rosendale represented Senate District 18 for the remainder of his tenure. In 2014, Rosendale's colleagues in the State Senate, elected him to serve as the Senate Majority Leader. During the 2015 legislative session, 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. During the session, 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.

2014 U.S. House of Representatives Election

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.

2016 State Auditor Election

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.

Tenure as State Auditor, Commissioner of Securities and Insurance

As State Auditor, Rosendale approved direct primary care and Medi-Share. During his tenure, the cost of health insurance on the individual market declined by 15%.
Rosendale cut the operating expenses of the Auditor's Office by 23% and eliminated seven positions. He has refused to accept a pay raise every single year.
As State Auditor, Rosendale is also one of five members of the State Land Board, which oversees the 5.2 million acres in the state trust land. As a member of the 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."

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 Russ 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 on both sides. Tester's campaign had a huge cash advantage, raising and spending $21 million dollars 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%.

2020 U.S. House of Representatives Election

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.
He won the six-way Republican primary with 48.3% of the vote, carrying all of Montana's 56 counties.
Rosendale will face Democrat Kathleen Williams and Green Party candidate John Gibney in the general election in November.

Personal life

Rosendale and his wife Jean currently reside north of Glendive, on a ranch where they have lived for nearly 20 years. The couple has been married for over 34 years and have three adult children: Matthew Jr., Brien, and Adam. All three attended and graduated from Dawson County High School.
Rosendale is an avid hunter and outdoorsman. Every year he opens his ranch to the Glendive community so that children, families, and veterans can hunt, camp and recreate.