Missoula, Montana — Ahead of the first Montana Senate debate this Saturday, LCV Victory Fund today announced that Maryland Real Estate Developer Matt Rosendale will take the fifth spot on its signature 2018 Senate Dirty Dozen list. Rosendale is a threat to Montana’s outdoor way of life — including public lands, clean air and clean water. Since 1996, the Dirty Dozen has featured some of the most anti-environment candidates running for office across the country.

In July, LCV Victory Fund launched a nearly $1 million ad campaign against Rosendale, exposing his connection to the Wilks brothers — Texas billionaires notorious for buying up property in Montana and blocking access to public lands. As a land developer in Maryland, Rosendale’s Maryland company received thousands in royalties from the Wilks brothers, who lease two oil wells on his property, and Rosendale supported legislation pushed by the Wilks brothers that was criticized as a move towards privatizing elk hunting. Watch the ad here.

Rosendale also backs major rollbacks to public lands protections and called for land transfers that would make it easier for public lands to be sold off.

“Matt Rosendale is a threat to Montana’s public lands and way of life,” said Pete Maysmith, LCV Victory Fund Senior Vice President for Campaigns. “Montana doesn’t want a developer in the Senate who will put special interests ahead of the treasured public lands that make the state so special.”

“Matt Rosendale has proven that he will always put developers and polluters ahead of Montana’s outdoor heritage — that’s what he did as a land developer, in the state legislature, and he will continue to do if elected to the Senate,” said Rick Potts, Montana Conservation Voters Interim Executive Director. “We simply can’t trust Matt Rosendale.”

As part of ongoing efforts to defeat Rosendale, LCV Victory Fund and USW Works are running a field program that includes vote-by-mail signup and reminders through canvasses in Missoula and Bozeman, as well as statewide signups through mail. That effort is through the joint New American Jobs Fund.

LCV Action Fund endorsed Senator Jon Tester in March, praising him as one of the strongest voices in the U.S. Senate for protecting public lands, clean air and water, and helping to grow the outdoor recreation economy.

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Paid for by LCV Victory Fund, www.lcvvictoryfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.