3-term Democratic lawmaker tries to hold key US Senate seat in GOP-friendly Montana
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Three-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana faces perhaps his toughest reelection challenge yet on Tuesday, with control of the Senate on the line in a state that’s veered sharply rightward since the 68-year-old grain farmer's first election.
Republicans have pinned their hopes on Tim Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company. Sheehy, 38, had early backing from party leaders including former President Donald Trump, clearing the political newcomer's path to win the June primary.
This is the first time Tester’s name appears on the same ballot as Trump, who won Montana by wide margins in 2016 and 2020.
A Sheehy victory would seal Republican party dominance across the five-state Northern Plains region: Tester entered office as one of six Democratic senators in the largely rural swath of American heartland that also includes Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. He's now the only one.
The lawmaker also is the sole remaining Democrat to hold statewide office in Montana.
The candidates and their allies shattered political spending records and barraged voters with almost $300 million in ads on TV, radio, their phones and in their mailboxes.
“This is the toughest race since Tester got in,” said political analyst Jeremy Johnson, “and Tim Sheehy is a real formidable candidate.”
In the race’s final days, Tester’s campaign plastered Montana newspapers and airwaves with advertisements amplifying claims from a former park ranger that Sheehy lied about a bullet wound in his arm.
Sheehy said during a weekend interview with conservative pundit Megyn Kelly that the wound came from combat in Afghanistan and wasn’t accidentally self-inflicted as he told the ranger in 2015. The Republican said...