‘Senator, we’re going to have a primary in Montana,' Bohlinger says he replied. Dem candidate: Reid wants me out

Former Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger just jumped in the Montana Senate race last week – but he says national Democrats are already trying to push him out.

Foremost among them, according to the Democratic candidate? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).


“[Reid] said, you know, ‘John, you know, you’re a nice guy, but we’ve chosen Walsh. We’d like you to drop out. We don’t want to have a primary,’” Bohlinger said, according to local news reports. Bohlinger was referring to current Lt. Gov. John Walsh, the preferred choice of the party to run for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Max Baucus.

“And I said, ‘Senator, we’re going to have a primary in Montana. And it will be the people of Montana that choose the next Democratic senatorial candidate,’” Bohlinger added.

( PHOTOS: Senators up for election in 2014)

Bohlinger said that, at the end of their 10- or 15-minute conversation, Reid wished him good luck and said to call if he ever needed help.

Bohlinger, who served as a Republican under Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer but switched parties after he left office in 2012, announced his entry to the race on Tuesday at a Democratic dinner. He spoke to reporters about his bid on Wednesday, according to Montana media reports.

Bohlinger’s move complicates Walsh’s path. The seat will be one of the most fiercely contested of the 2014 cycle. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination is expected to face GOP Rep. Steve Daines, who announced his candidacy last week.

Senate Republicans need to net six seats to regain the majority and see this one as a critical pickup.

( PHOTOS: Harry Reid’s career)

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been supporting Walsh for the open seat, and a committee official said that hasn’t changed with Bohlinger’s entrance into the race. Walsh also won the endorsement of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) on Wednesday, and was previously endorsed by Baucus. The two current Montana senators are hosting a D.C. fundraiser for Walsh this week, according to the Billings Gazette.

The other Democratic candidate in the race is Dirk Adams, a rancher with a banking background. Schweitzer was expected to run but decided against it earlier this year.

On the Republican side, the national party is coalescing around Daines, though he also faces a likely primary.

Republican State Rep. Champ Edmunds is running, though he has said in the past that he would switch to the House race if Daines announced for Senate. Now Edmunds says he’s “re-thinking” and will decide in the next two weeks, according to local media. A third GOP candidate is David Leaser — an air traffic manager, according to the Associated Press.