Tester hanging on in tight race that could flip control of Senate
Sen. Jon Tester has shown how strong he is during his Montana campaign, which has made him one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats in this year.
Mr. Tester was the only statewide Democrat elected in a state where former President Donald Trump had won the previous presidential election by 57%. M. Tester is still leading in polls despite the fact that the state has turned from purple to a red color in recent years. He also commands a large campaign war chest.
Mr. Tester has been in office since 2007. He is now facing Republican Senate Candidate Tim Sheehy. Sheehy is a former U.S. Navy Seal and aerospace millionaire, chosen by Republicans as a candidate to unseat the incumbent.
It is a hotly contested seat in the current election cycle, and Republicans are confident they can win it because of its proximity to Trump’s country. Sen. Steve Daines is Mr. Tester’s Republican counterpart, and the head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. He’s trying to help Mr. Sheehy win.
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RealClearPolitics polling shows Mr. Tester ahead by 5 points. JL Partners conducted only one poll that showed Mr. Sheehy leading by 3 points.
The name recognition of Mr. Tester among Montana voters, along with his ability to raise money, has helped him in his campaign.
The latest campaign finance reports for the first quarter of this year revealed that Mr. Tester had earned $7.3m, which brings his total to $30.11m during the election cycle 2024. Mr. Sheehy’s bounty increased to $5.8million after raising $2.2 million during the first quarter of this year.
Mr. Sheehy tried to compensate for this by injecting $1.5million into his campaign coffers.
Democrats have called him “Transplant Tim”, because he moved from Minnesota to Montana, and they are inciting fears that he might eviscerate public lands access — an important state issue.
Republicans are calling Mr. Tester “Two Faced Tester” for his flip-flops, as he abandons Mr. Biden’s agenda in order to boost his chances of re-election.
Tester voted once again on Thursday for the Senate’s bipartisan Border Bill, which Republicans call amnesty.
“Jon Tester has revealed his true colors. He is the Two-Faced Tester that we have known him to be all along. “He now claims to be in favor of border security, but voted for a sham measure that would make things worse – funding sanctuary cities, amnestying illegal immigrants and continuing an open border which allows illegal immigrants walk right into the country,” said Mr. Sheehy in a press release.
Mr. Tester announced this month that he would be supporting the House GOP’s Laken Riley Act. This is a tough immigration law which would force the government to deport shoplifters, burglars, and migrant thieves.
The lawmaker voted against an earlier version of the bill which appeared as an amendement to a larger financing bill aimed at preventing a shutdown, but claimed he would back the measure as a standalone legislation.
Maggie Abboud is a spokesperson for the National Republican Senate Committee. She said that Tester’s support of Joe Biden’s agenda for open borders is hurting his campaign for reelection, so he’s flip-flopping. “Montanans cannot trust Two-Faced tester.”
Mr. Tester reacted angrily to the allegations, telling Politico Republicans who claimed that his decision had been made for political gain are “full s —.”
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