Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) defeated Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) in the race for the state’s Senate seat, according to the Associated Press.

Bullock led a failed bid for the Democrat nomination last year. Bullock spent the last two years claiming he would not run for the U.S. Senate in 2020. 

Daines was elected to the Senate after serving as the state’s at-large congressional district. He became the first Republican to hold the seat since 1913. 

Bullock was first elected governor in 2012 and won again in 2016.

Bullock then decided to run for the Senate against Daines after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and former President Barack Obama lobbied the Montana Democrat to run for the national seat.

Montana GOP Chairman Don Kaltschmidt congratulated Daines’s victory in a statement on Wednesday, saying:

This was an incredible evening. Senator Daines has put an end to Governor Bullock’s political career – for good. We enthusiastically congratulate him on this monumental achievement.

Montanans have placed their trust in Daines because he is a tireless fighter for our freedoms, liberties, and constitutional rights, and we know he will continue to work every day to put Montana First and protect our Montana way of life.

Daines has served as a strong ally of President Donald Trump in the Senate, while Bullock has projected himself to be a moderate even though he called for a ban on semi-automatic firearms.

Daines told Breitbart News Saturday that Montanans’ “jaws dropped” when “anti-gun” Bullock called for a ban on semi-automatic guns.

Bullock also became the first Senate Democrat candidate to came out in favor of packing the Supreme Court with additional justices after Republicans moved to confirm then-Supreme Court justice nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett to eh Supreme Court.

“We need to figure out the ways to actually get the politics out of the court. That’s anything from a judicial standards commission, or we’ll look at any other thing that might be suggested, including adding justices,” he said.

Daines told Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle in October that Bullock’s embrace of court packing serves as an “existential threat” to the United States.

Daines has earned praise for his leadership in helping pass the Great American Outdoors Act through the Senate, a bill to preserve America’s forests and national parks.

Daines, who represents one of the pivotal seats for the control of the Senate majority, said on Breitbart News Daily in July that the Senate GOP majority serves as the “firewall for freedom” from leftists such as Schumer and Bullock.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.