Rocked by plagiarism scandal, John Walsh drops out of Montana Senate race

This will make it tougher for Democrats to hold on to their Senate majority.

Breaking news from the Missoulan:

Sen. John Walsh said Thursday he is pulling out of the Senate race because his campaign was distracted by the controversy over allegations that he plagiarized a U.S. Army War College research paper.

Walsh, a Democrat, said he decided to drop out of the race. He had canceled campaign events this week as he and his family discussed what he would do.

The New York Times reported July 23 that Walsh had plagiarized large portions of the research paper in 2007.

Walsh will serve out the rest of his Senate term, which ends in early January 2015.

“I am ending my campaign so that I can focus on fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to me as your U.S. senator,” Walsh said in a statement to supporters. “You deserve someone who will always fight for Montana, and I will.”

John Walsh is strongly pro-abortion and was endorsed by Planned Parenthood’s political arm. In fact, Walsh hired a former Planned Parenthood political staffer to run his campaign.

Democrats will have until August 20 to select a replacement on the ballot. John Walsh was appointed to the United States Senate after Democrat Max Baucus became Ambassador of China. Democrats thought they would have a better chance of holding on to the seat with John Walsh (and his military resume) than Baucus, who was seen as vulnerable because he was the author of Obamacare in the Senate.

Republican Steve Daines looks is great shape to win this seat. Steve Daines is pro-life and even before Walsh’s scandal, he a strong leader over Walsh. Republicans need to win six seats to boot Harry Reid out as Majority Leader and install pro-life leadership in the United States Senate.

Pro-life Steve Daines is endorsed by the CatholicVote.org Candidate Fund.