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Denny Rehberg
Denny Rehberg (Republican Party) was a member of the U.S. House, representing Montana's At-Large Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2001. He left office on January 3, 2013.
Rehberg (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Montana's 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on June 4, 2024.
Biography
Rehberg was born in Billings, Montana. He studied at Montana State University from 1973-1974 but finished his B.A. at Washington State University in 1977.[1]
Career
Rehberg is a fifth generation Montana cattle rancher and small business owner. After he graduated from Washington State University he went to work in the Montana State Legislature as an intern, and later worked as a legislative assistant for Montana Congressman Ron Marlenee.[2]
Committee assignments
U.S. House
2011-2012
Rehberg served on the following committees:[3]
- Appropriations Committee
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Service, and Education (Chairman)
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water
- Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch
Issues
Specific votes
Fiscal Cliff
Rehberg voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[4]
Lobbying position after leaving office
Rehberg was listed in March 2013 by USA Today as one of 16 former lawmakers who had taken on a lobbying related position after leaving office since January 2011. Former lawmakers may take positions with either lobbying firms or trade associations. Former U.S. House members are barred from lobbying their former colleagues for one year, and former U.S. Senate members are barred for two years. There are no restrictions, however, on providing advice to those who seek to shape federal legislation. Former legislators can also immediately lobby the executive branch and officials in state and local governments.[5]
Elections
2024
See also: Montana's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
Montana's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Democratic primary)
Montana's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 4 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Montana District 2
Troy Downing defeated John B. Driscoll, Reilly Neill, and John Metzger in the general election for U.S. House Montana District 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Troy Downing (R) | 65.7 | 181,832 |
 | John B. Driscoll (D) | 33.9 | 93,713 | |
 | Reilly Neill (D) (Write-in)  | 0.4 | 1,058 | |
 | John Metzger (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 40 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 9 | ||
| Total votes: 276,652 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Montana District 2
John B. Driscoll defeated Steve Held, Ming Cabrera, and Kevin Hamm in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Montana District 2 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John B. Driscoll | 33.3 | 13,420 |
 | Steve Held | 26.4 | 10,649 | |
 | Ming Cabrera | 20.9 | 8,408 | |
 | Kevin Hamm | 19.4 | 7,813 | |
| Total votes: 40,290 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Montana District 2
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Montana District 2 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Troy Downing | 36.1 | 36,269 |
 | Denny Rehberg | 17.1 | 17,182 | |
 | Stacy Zinn | 13.5 | 13,581 | |
 | Elsie Arntzen | 9.4 | 9,468 | |
 | Kenneth Bogner | 9.0 | 9,026 | |
 | Ric Holden | 7.1 | 7,108 | |
 | Joel G. Krautter | 3.4 | 3,432 | |
| Kyle Austin | 3.2 | 3,177 | ||
 | Edward Walker | 1.2 | 1,168 | |
| Total votes: 100,411 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Matt Rosendale (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Rehberg in this election.
2014
Rehberg was considering a run for his old House seat in 2014. In January 2014, he announced he would not be seeking election in 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.[6][7]
2012
Rehberg ran for U.S. Senate in 2012.[8] He defeated Dennis Teske in the Republican primary.[9] He was defeated by Democratic incumbent Jon Tester in the November general election.
The University of Virginia's Center for Politics published an article called Sabato's Crystal Ball on March 22, 2012, detailing the eight races in the Senate in 2012 that will decide the political fate of which party will end up with control in 2013.[10] The article ranks Tester's current Senate seat as the toss-up seat most likely to change hands in the 2012 elections.[10] The article points out that one reason for this is the fact that incumbent Jon Tester is a slight underdog against challenger Rehnberg[10]
On May 4, 2012, [1] reported that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had purchased nearly $3 million in Montana broadcast time from late August through the November general election to help re-elect Tester. According to Politico, "the DSCC's early commitment to fall spending in the race indicates a level of confidence in the Democrat against a less-examined challenger. Given the map of seats the Democrats need to win to maintain the majority, the DSCC clearly thinks Tester is a wise investment."[11][12]
According to the website Daily Kos, this race was one of nine top-ballot 2012 races that contained Libertarian candidates who received more total votes than was the difference between the Democratic winner and the GOP runner-up. In this case, Dan Cox took in over 12,500 more votes than the number that separated Tester and Rehberg.[13]
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Jon Tester Incumbent |
48.6% | 236,123 | |
| Republican | Denny Rehberg | 44.9% | 218,051 | |
| Libertarian | Dan Cox | 6.6% | 31,892 | |
| Total Votes | 486,066 | |||
Republican Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Denny Rehberg |
76.2% | 105,632 |
| Dennis Teske | 23.8% | 33,079 |
| Total Votes | 138,711 | |
2010
On November 2, 2010, Rehberg was re-elected to the United States House for a sixth term. He defeated Dennis McDonald (D), and Mike Fellows (Libertarian).[14]
| United States House, Montana General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Denny Rehberg Incumbent |
60.4% | 217,696 | |
| Democratic | Dennis McDonald | 33.8% | 121,954 | |
| Libertarian | Mike Fellows | 5.7% | 20,691 | |
| Total Votes | 360,341 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Denny Rehberg did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Rehberg’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
ISSUES FIGHTING BIDEN'S FAILED POLICIES |
” |
| —Denny Rehberg’s campaign website (2024)[16] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Analysis
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Rehberg paid his congressional staff a total of $983,633 in 2011. Overall, Montana ranked 15th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[17]
Net worth
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Rehberg's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $-2,152,987 to $12,129,996, which is lower than the average net worth of Republicans in 2010 of $7,561,133.[18]
Political Analysis
National Journal vote ratings
Each year, National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members, in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on the vote ratings page.
2012
According to the data released in 2013, Rehberg ranked 172nd in the conservative rankings in 2012.[19]
2011
According to the data released in 2012, Denny Rehberg ranked 197th in the conservative rankings in 2011.[20]
Voting with party
November 2011
Denny Rehberg voted with the Republican Party 90.1 percent of the time, which ranked 188th among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Denny has been married to his high school sweetheart, Jan, for over 30 years. They have three children, A.J., Katie and Elsie. They live outside of Billings, Montana.[21]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, "Biography"
- ↑ Rehberg Senate, "About Denny" (dead link)
- ↑ Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, "Committees"
- ↑ U.S. House, "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
- ↑ USA Today, "Ex-lawmakers go to lobbying-related jobs," March 26, 2013
- ↑ The Hill, "Rehberg eyes bid for former House seat," accessed January 3, 2014
- ↑ The Hill, "Ex-Rep. Rehberg won't run for his old seat," accessed January 14, 2014
- ↑ Huffington Post Jon Tester vs. Denny Rehberg: Montana Senate Election Heats Up Ahead Of 2012," July 2, 2011
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Elections Results" accessed June 5, 2012
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Center for Politics, "Tilting the Toss Ups – the Eight Races That Will Decide the Senate" accessed April 9, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "DSCC buys nearly $3 million in fall time for Tester race" May 7, 2012
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2012 Primary Results," accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Libertarians provided the margin for Democrats and at least nine elections," November 15, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Rehberg for Congress, “ISSUES,” accessed August 4, 2024
- ↑ LegiStorm, "Denny Rehberg," accessed October 8, 2012
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Denny Rehberg (R-Mont), 2010," accessed October 8, 2012
- ↑ National Journal, "TABLE: House Liberal Scores by Issue Area," February 26, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
- ↑ Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, "Biography"
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rick Hill (R) |
U.S. House Montana At-large District 2001-2013 |
Succeeded by Steve Daines (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Lieutenant Governor of Montana 1991-1997 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Montana House of Representatives 1985-1991 |
Succeeded by - |
