Steven David Daines ( DAYNZ; born August 20, 1962) is an American politician and former corporate executive serving as the junior United States senator for Montana since 2015. A Republican, he served as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large congressional district from 2013 to 2015. In 2014, Daines won Montana's open U.S. Senate seat. He was reelected in 2020, defeating the Democratic nominee, Governor Steve Bullock. Before entering politics, Daines worked for Procter & Gamble and RightNow Technologies.


== Early life and education ==
Daines was born in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles to Sharon R. and Clair W. Daines. The family moved to Montana in 1964. He was raised in Bozeman, where he attended school from kindergarten through college.Daines graduated from Bozeman High School, where he served as student body president. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University. At Montana State, he became a brother of the Sigma Nu fraternity.


== Early career ==
Daines was one of the youngest delegates at the 1984 Republican National Convention. "I was a big fan of Ronald Reagan. He was the first president I got to vote for," he has said. Daines was also the president of MSU College Republicans. In 2007, he and his wife started a website, GiveItBack.com, which urged governor Brian Schweitzer to return the state's $1 billion surplus to taxpayers. From 2007 to 2008, he was Montana state chairman for the Mike Huckabee 2008 presidential campaign and a national surrogate for Huckabee.Daines spent 13 years with Procter & Gamble. After seven years managing operations in the United States, he and his family moved to Hong Kong and China for six years, opening factories to expand Procter & Gamble's Asian business. During his 2014 Senate campaign, Democratic opponents alleged that Daines had outsourced U.S. jobs to China. He stated that he created hundreds of jobs in Montana when he worked for RightNow Technologies.In 1997, Daines left Procter & Gamble to join the family construction business in Bozeman. Three years later, he met Greg Gianforte, founder of RightNow Technologies, and was put in charge of running RightNow's customer care division. Daines went on to become vice president of North America Sales and vice president of the Asia-Pacific division. During his tenure, the cloud-based software company became publicly traded and Bozeman's largest commercial employer. Daines remained with the company until March 2012, when he left to campaign for Congress full-time.


=== 2008 gubernatorial election ===

Daines ran for lieutenant governor of Montana in 2008 with Roy Brown, the Republican nominee for governor. They challenged incumbent Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer and his running mate John Bohlinger. Brown and Daines lost the election 65%–33%, winning only seven of Montana's 56 counties.


== U.S. House of Representatives ==


=== 2012 election ===

On November 13, 2010, Daines announced he would run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Jon Tester in 2012.When U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg announced his intention to challenge Tester, Daines dropped out of the Senate race and announced his candidacy for the House seat Rehberg was vacating. He won the three-way Republican primary with 71% of the vote. In the general election, Daines defeated Democratic state senator Kim Gillan, 53%–43%. He won 48 of the state's 56 counties.Committee assignments

Committee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies
Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management
Committee on Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Aviation
Subcommittee on Highways and TransitCaucus memberships

Congressional Western Caucus
Congressional Rural Caucus
Republican Study Committee
NW Energy Caucus
Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus


== U.S. Senate ==


=== 2014 election ===

In July 2013, Daines attended a NRSC fundraiser in Washington, prompting speculation that he would run for Max Baucus's soon to be vacant U.S. Senate seat. In the second quarter of 2013, he disclosed raising $415,000 in campaign funds, fueling more speculation. On November 6, 2013, Daines announced his candidacy.In February 2014, Baucus resigned from the Senate to accept a post as U.S. ambassador to China. Governor Steve Bullock, a Democrat, appointed lieutenant governor John Walsh to the vacant Senate seat for the remainder of Baucus's term. Walsh had already declared his intention to run for the Senate in 2014, and it was suggested that his appointment might give him the advantage of incumbency, improving Democratic chances of holding the seat.Daines won the Republican primary on June 3, 2014, with 83.4% of the vote against Missoula state representative Champ Edm