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Surrounded by his wife and three children, Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Monday did what for months he proclaimed he wouldn’t — entered the U.S. Senate race, saying he wants to bring a Montana attitude to Congress and that he made the choice after encouragement from people around the state and getting the backing of his family.

"I do wish D.C. worked more like Montana and decided to do this in part from people I’ve heard from," Bullock said. "Also we as a family recently had a discussion and decided ‘You can either wish it worked like Montana or try to do something about it.' We decided it isn't the time to be on the sidelines."

Monday was the last possible day Bullock could have filed to appear on the ballot in Montana, which he did at noon by walking from his office to the other end of the second floor of the state Capitol to the Secretary of State's office, surrounded by his family, staffers and supporters.

By the end of Monday, all but one of the five Democrats who had previously filed for the Senate seat quit the race. On the Republican side, incumbent U.S. Sen. Steve Daines is seeking his second term in office and has two primary challengers, though Daines expected to easily advance to the general election. Bullock has long been seen as Democrats' best chance to unseat Daines.