Still, the governor has taken steps that indicate he’s reconsidered. Last month, he met with former President Barack Obama in Washington and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in Montana. The filing deadline for the seat is Monday.

Matt McKenna, a longtime adviser to Bullock, did not address a potential bid in a statement to Politico. “I don’t have anything for you,” McKenna said.

The comment is a departure from previous denials that Bullock had any interest in the Senate race, including immediately after the Obama meeting last month, when McKenna told Politico “there will be a candidate for U.S. Senate in Montana against Steve Daines. It will not be Steve Bullock.”

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said the state of play is “pretty much the same. I think that they haven’t said yes; they haven’t said no.”

Some Democrats in the state are hopeful there has been a shift.

“I know that he’s taken the response he’s gotten from Montanans very seriously. And I know that he knows quite vitally what’s at stake, and he’s got a decision to make,” said Jon Sesso, minority leader of the state Senate.

Sesso stressed that he has not talked to Bullock about the race in recent days. “I hope to hell he takes a run at it for two reasons: One, he can win. And No. 2, he’d be a hell of a senator for the state of Montana.”

“Montanans — will all due respect to the cadre of candidates that have entered the race so far — we believe in Gov. Bullock,” Sesso added. “He has demonstrated his ability to win a statewide race against formidable opposition, and so certainly Montanans have encouraged him in a significant way to consider it.”

Until recently, Bullock — who is term-limited as governor — has repeatedly insisted he does not want to run for Senate. The New York Times first reported that he is expected to run.

Republicans are preparing for Bullock to enter the race. Daines had $5 million in the bank at the end of last year, on par with some of his other colleagues in competitive reelection races.

President Donald Trump has tweeted about Daines multiple times in recent days, including a tweet Wednesday in which he said Daines was doing an “incredible job.”

“Whoever the [Democratic] nominee may be, please understand that I will be working hard with Steve all the way,” Trump said, referencing the victories among Republicans he endorsed on Tuesday night.

Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also tweeted out a research document from the committee previewing some of its likely attacks against Bullock should he run.

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Several other Democrats are running for the seat, even as party officials continue to recruit Bullock. Cora Neumann, a public health expert, Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins and veteran John Mues are already running for the nomination. Neumann led the field in fundraising last quarter by hauling in more than $450,000; she had $292,000 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.

Senate Democrats believe the chamber is in play this fall but face a narrow map that requires multiple victories in states Trump carried in 2016. A competitive Montana race would expand their target list, and they have been pining for Bullock to run for Senate even when he was a candidate for president.

“He would be a viable, strong candidate and has a very good shot of winning that race, so it would immediately expand the map,” said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a former chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “If Steve Bullock’s in the race, it pretty clearly puts the state in play.”

“It would certainly increase our chances of taking back that seat, and we have one terrific senator in Jon Tester. … It would be wonderful to have two,” added Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).