Why ‘the last Democrat standing’ in Montana is skipping the DNC
Democrats will bring new energy to the party convention next week in Chicago. This enthusiasm hasn’t trickled down to the race in a rural state which could determine the balance of power within the U.S. Senate.
In Montana, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy and three-term senator John Tester are in a close race.
Tester refused to endorse Kamala and his campaign said he wouldn’t attend the DNC due to harvest and being busy at his farm in Big Sandy, Montana. According to his campaign, he’s too busy for interviews and harvest time on his farm near Big Sandy, Montana.
Tester’s brand is well-established in Montana. So, it may not matter. There are ads on the airwaves reminding Montanans he is a third-generation local and that he is the only working farmer in Senate, hardly a coastal elite Democrat.
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In one ad he addresses the camera with the words, “I protect our freedoms because Montanans do not like being told what to live by anyone. Especially the government.”
Backlash against the Rich
Democrats also call out Republican Tim Sheehy for being a wealthy transplant from outside the state with a ranch, resort homes on Flathead Lake and in Big Sky.
In the state capital, Helena, however, long-time politicians like columnist George Ochenski, question the strategy to go after Sheehy’s wealth because the electorate admires an entrepreneur who has been successful.
Ochenski: “Democrat strategists are off base and have been for a very long time. There is only one Demo statewide candidate left and that’s Jon Tester.” “And he’s scared. “He’s really afraid.”
Feared that Donald Trump won Montana in both the previous elections by double-digits. Sheehy, who was speaking for Tester when he didn’t speak, grabbed all the attention the other day as the former president attended a fundraiser in Bozeman and the ultra-wealthy Yellowstone Club.
Tim Sheehy (38), Tester’s Republican opponent, introduced Trump to a crowd of adoring supporters. Sheehy moved to Montana in 2014. He started an aviation firefighting company. He claimed that Tester was a rubber stamp of the Biden and Harris agenda.
Sheehy said, “The truth is that every time America was on the ballot at the U.S. Senate Jon Tester voted against it.”
Sheehy’s campaign has not responded to requests for interviews. The majority of people who attended the rally, and waited outside for hours before the event to get a glimpse of Trump, were there to watch him.
Some even drove from other states to see the MAGA-clad crowd. Bozeman is a tourist-heavy city in the summer. In Bozeman, Trump flags were blazing on pickup trucks at intersections. There was a mixture of cheers and jeers.
Jane Gillette, a local Republican legislator, says that Trump’s visit will be crucial for the GOP to turn out in their down ballots. Sheehy is still seen by some voters as an establishment candidate.
Gillette: “I will eventually get to the point that I will fill out the bubble next Tim Sheehy, because I want to do what is best for the Party.” “But I’ll say that some would prefer to see Tester remain in place, because they believe that there will be another chance to beat him later with the right candidate.”
This could be an important factor. Since 2006, Tester’s wins have never been by more than 4 percent.
Montana was once known as the purple state. When you leave the liberal college town or the prosperous resort valleys it is clear that the modern Trump GOP message resonates with rural areas who feel more left out.
Jeffrey Campbell, who runs a farmers’ market on the roadside in White Sulphur Springs says that he has always voted for Tester since he lives close by.
He says that Tester’s entire campaign this year is “just smearing Sheehy”. He doesn’t say anything about his plans, just that he is a’shady Sheehy.’
You can still find Tester signs on pastures and even near Trump banners painted on barns.
Tester’s campaign in Great Falls, a blue-collar town that was once a Democratic stronghold is relying on independents, like Michael Winters, to vote for the people and not their party. Winters, a Republican veteran and former mayor, is here.
Tester, he says, is “a third-generation Montanan.” He’s friendly. He’s friendly.
Winters said Montana would be foolish if they sent Tester packing as he is a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee and Veterans Committee.
Recent polling conducted ahead of Trump’s rally revealed that the Democrat was in a familiar situation, within the margin of error.
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