Steve Daines won a U.S. Senate seat that Montana Republicans have not held in more than a century on Tuesday by defeating Amanda Curtis, a late substitution by the Democrats after Sen. John Walsh dropped out of the race.

Daines celebrated the win with family and supporters in his hometown of Bozeman.

“It’s a historic moment for Montana,” Daines said. “Montanans tend to be independent voters. The fact that they supported me tonight, I’m truly grateful for that.

The last Republican to hold the seat was Joseph M. Dixon in 1913. For 35 years, it was occupied by Max Baucus, who announced last year he would not seek a sixth term and then resigned in February to become ambassador to China.

Baucus’ departure gave Republicans their best shot in decades to recapture the seat. Early on, the race was high on the list of national campaign watchers: With Montana and five more pickups, the GOP retakes control of the Senate.

Daines, 52, launched his Senate bid less than a year after winning his first election to the U.S. House in 2012. He had spent 27 years before that in the private sector, first as a manager for Procter and Gamble and later as an executive with the Bozeman-based RightNow Technologies.

BOZEMAN — U.S. Rep. Steve Daines defeated Democrat Amanda Curtis on Tuesday night in Montana’s U.S. Senate race, becoming the first Republican in 100 years to win the seat — and also helping his party win back control of the Senate.

The Associated Press and major news networks called the race seconds after the polls closed in Montana at 8 p.m., and Daines had a 12-point lead with about half the votes counted.

Daines was winning with about 55 percent, or 112,000 votes, to Curtis’ 43 percent, or 87,000 votes. Libertarian Roger Roots had 2 percent, or 4,000 votes.

In an interview shortly after being declared the winner, Daines said he’d heard from many Montanans who had “lost their confidence in the federal government,” and yearned for a change of leadership that would start addressing the nation’s problems, rather than be locked in partisan gridlock.

“They’re looking for leaders who bring skills from outside of Washington, from businesses, running small and large businesses, bringing those skills to Washington to solve the problems, of which we have a long list,” said the former executive of a Bozeman software development company.

Representative Steve Daines has won the open Senate seat in Montana, bringing Republicans a key step closer to the six seats they need to win the majority.

The victory by Daines, now serving his first term in the House, was widely expected after the Democratic nominee, John Walsh, withdrew amid a plagiarism scandal.

Freshman Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) easily clinched victory in the Montana Senate race Tuesday, scoring another pickup for Republicans.

Daines was seen as the favorite throughout the year, and any hope of Democrats retaining the seat fell away when interim Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) bowed out of the race in August amid revelations that he plagiarized large portions of his master’s thesis at the Army War College in 2007.

BOZEMAN, Mont. – In an historic election, Steve Daines was decisively chosen by the people of Montana to serve as the state’s next United States Senator. Daines’ election marks first time in more than a century that a Republican will hold this Senate seat.

Surrounded by hundreds of supporters, friends and family members in Bozeman, Daines pledged to make good on his promise to serve as an independent voice in Senate, focused on always putting Montanans and Montana values first.

“As Montana’s next United States Senator, I will be a strong, independent voice for the people of Montana and will always put Montana first,” Daines stated this evening. “Hardworking Montana families are tired of the partisanship and gridlock in Washington – they want to see solutions that grow more, good-paying jobs and make government more efficient, accountable and effective. Tonight, Montanans sent a strong message that we need new, independent leadership in Washington that puts Montanans and Montana values first. It’s time to get the U.S. Senate working for the people of Montana and for America.”

Daines, who announced his candidacy for Senate in November 2013, has traveled to all 56 Montana counties sharing his positive message of more jobs and less government. Montanans have shown resounding support for Daines’ results-oriented and solutions-focused campaign and strong record of reaching across the aisle to get things done for Montana.

A lifelong sportsman, Daines has been endorsed by and received an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. He has also received strong support from Montana small businesses, earning the endorsements of the Montana and U.S Chambers of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Daines has also received the backing of all major Montana newspapers that made endorsements in the 2014 U.S. Senate race, including the Billings Gazette, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and the Helena Independent Record.

Steve Daines is a fifth generation Montanan who worked for nearly three decades in the private sector before being elected as Montana’s Representative in 2012. Daines served as Vice President of RightNow Technologies, a Bozeman-based software company, where he helped create hundreds of good-paying Montana jobs. Daines and his wife Cindy live in Bozeman and are the proud parents parents of four children.