Gov. Steve Bullock on Monday made it official – he's challenging incumbent Sen. Steve Daines for his seat in the U.S. Senate.

Bullock made the announcement in a morning email in which he vowed “to make Washington work more like Montana.”

“As governor, I've worked my level best to represent all Montanans and leave this place we call home better than I found it, and in a time when our politics is more divided than ever, we've been able to accomplish a great deal for the people of our state,” he said.

The New York Times and other national publications had reported last week that Bullock appeared ready to jump into the race to challenge Daines – a move that would catapult the contest into one of the nation’s most-watched and expensive U.S. Senate races.

Bullock ended a seven-month presidential run last December and has been steadfastly rejecting requests from national Democrats and others to enter the race, saying he wasn’t interested.

“After hearing from Montanans and talking to Lisa and our kids, we decided now is no time to be on the sidelines and that's why I'm running so we can make Washington work more like Montana.”

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