Zinke, a former Montana State and Navy SEAL senator who was first elected to the House in 2014 and re-elected in 2016 before resigning to join Trump’s cabinet, took advantage of an opening created when the results of the 2020 census they handed Treasure State a second congressional district.
Deputy Matt Rosendale, who holds the only seat in the state’s general district, ran for re-election in the new 2nd District, where CNN projected that he would be the Republican candidate, while Zinke campaigned in the 1st District.
Zinke won over four other primary candidates, including former state Sen. Albert Olszewski and Pastor Mary Todd. He overcame criticism from rivals on his right over whether he gave enough support to Trump and the former president’s efforts to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
He has also faced questions about whether he lives in Montana after Politico reported last month that his wife had claimed a home in Santa Barbara, California, as his primary residence in tax records and other forms. Zinke’s campaign responded to the report by saying that he lives in Whitefish, Montana, and that his wife had inherited and preserved his parents’ old home in California, of which she is the sole owner.
Zinke left the Trump administration in 2018 in the face of multiple ethical inquiries, including the management of the Department of the Interior of a Connecticut casino project, if the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument had been redesigned to benefit a legislator. state and its compliance with government travel. policies.
A government control report released earlier this year found that Zinke had violated ethical rules by being involved in negotiations over a Montana land development project during his tenure in office and by failing to fully disclose his involvement afterwards. of being questioned by an ethics officer. Shortly after the report. was publicly posted, Zinke tweeted, “Only in the corrupt Biden administrator is talking to my neighbor a sin. 15 years ago our family created a free and open space for people to enjoy Whitefish.”
“We are proud of the sleigh playground that dozens of kids use every weekend and many locals exercise every day,” he wrote.
Zinke’s campaign website calls him “a constitutional conservative who believes in the vision set by our ancestors that protects individual freedoms, separates powers between the three branches of government, and guarantees the rights of our states.”
CNN’s Eric Bradner, Dan Merica and Gregory Krieg contributed to this report.