Free Republic

Most Americans will focus on election results in Ohio and Florida to see who rides those states’ Electoral College votes into the White House. But the winner of the presidential race will not automatically control the 2013 legislative agenda. Congress still matters. The battle for control of the U.S. Senate is vitally important and just as hard-fought as the top-of-the-ticket contest. Currently, a caucus of 51 Democrats and two liberal Independents rule the upper chamber. Since the Vice President can cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate, Republicans would have to pick up three seats to gain a working majority...

President Obama hasn’t visited Montana in years, but he’s casting a long shadow over Democratic Sen. Jon Tester’s re-election chances. In a race marked by jostling over which candidate is the most politically independent, the freshman Democrat has been slammed by accusations that he’s too willing to dance to Mr. Obama’s tune. His opponent, Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, has all but printed up T-shirts stating that Mr. Tester votes with the president 95 percent of the time. “One of the big themes of this race is, Who’s the real Montanan? Who’s more independent? Who’s willing to buck his party?” said...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie derided Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on Friday as a “phony” who does not represent the state’s values as he urged Republicans to rally behind the campaign of Tester challenger Denny Rehberg. ... Christie said Tester has turned his back on Montana since his election six years ago by establishing close relationships with lobbyists and lining up behind Democratic leaders like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

HELENA – Republican challenger Denny Rehberg holds a slight edge over Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in the state’s most expensive and hotly contested campaign this year, a poll by Lee Newspapers shows. Rehberg, the state’s sole congressman, is favored by 48 percent of those polled earlier this week, while Tester had the support of 45 percent. Only 6 percent were undecided and 1 percent said they would vote for Libertarian Dan Cox of Hamilton. “Usually, if an incumbent is trailing, that’s a problem,” said pollster Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which conducted the poll for Lee Newspapers...

Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg continues to hold a modest lead over incumbent Jon Tester in Montana’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Montana Voters shows Rehberg with 47% support to Tester’s 43%. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets slugged with a campaign sign — at least in Montana, where following the first U.S. Senate campaign debate this cycle, a Democratic activist hit one candidate’s wife with a rolled up sign. The debate at Buck’s T-4 in Big Sky, Mont., between Democratic incumbent Jon Tester, Republican challenger Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg and Libertarian Dan Cox reportedly focused on the election issues of the day: jobs, the economy and health care. The real fireworks, however, took place after the event when an attendee got into a physical altercation with Jan Rehberg, the...

It comes as no surprise that the Obama Administration out out s Statement of Administration Policy saying that President Obama's senior advisors would recommend he veto HR 5326.(Among other things, the bill will prohibit Obama from his desire to back-door reclassify and then ban the sale and possession of C&R firearms). Apparently, one of the reasons the President would veto HR 5326 is because of an NRA-backed provision preventing funding for the new and unauthorized multiple reporting and registration plan proposed by BATFE. On April 26, the House Committee on Appropriations approved this general provision offered by Cong. Rehberg (R-MT)...

GOP money floods battlegrounds, threatens Dems' hold on SenateBy Alexander Bolton - 05/01/12 05:00 AM ET Third-party groups allied with the Republican Party have vastly outspent Democratic incumbents and their backers in Senate battlegrounds. The disparity in advertising firepower threatens Democratic control of the Senate and could have an impact on the presidential race as well. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a first-term Democrat from Ohio, has been the primary target of outside groups, which have outspent his allies by a ratio of 10-1 this election cycle. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads GPS and 60Plus Association have funded the bulk of...

PPP's first three polls on the Montana Senate race found the same thing every time: a 2 point lead for Denny Rehberg. Over the last six months though there's been a shift and Jon Tester now leads Rehberg by a 48-43 margin. Tester's moved into the lead because of shifts with Democrats and independents. What was an 86-10 lead with Democrats is now 90-7. He's been able to consolidate his base some. And although he already led independents by a 46-41 margin he's pushed that advantage up further to 48-36. Montanans are closely divided in their feelings about Tester with...

  Congressman Denny Rehberg meets with Montana State Bureau of Land Management Director Jamie Connell in his office to express his concerns about the draft policy.  Click herefor full-res image.  Image approved for re-printing or broadcast.  WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management Secretary Bob Abbey asking them to revise a draft policy that empowers federal land managers to prohibit “recreational shooting” on public lands.  Yesterday, Rehberg voiced his concerns with this policy at a meeting with Jamie Connell, Montana State Director for the Bureau...

A new poll found Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) running statistically even in his 2012 challenge to Sen. Jon Tester (D). Democratic firm Public Policy Polling reported Rehberg taking 47 percent and Tester 45 percent, further evidence that this is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.

HELENA — Bozeman business executive and Republican Steve Daines, seeking to avoid a divisive U.S. Senate primary against U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg next year, left that race Thursday and said he'll run instead for the House being vacated by Rehberg in 2012. Daines' decision clears the way for an uncontested primary for Rehberg, a six-term congressman, in the 2012 Senate race for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Republican sources have said Rehberg plans to announce Saturday night his bid against Tester, who has said already that he's running for a second term. "By me running for...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today released the following statement critical of a proposed “emergency rule” by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to require federally licensed firearms retailers to report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles. The proposed rule was included in today’s Federal Register and specifically calls for firearm retailers to report multiple sales, or other dispositions, of two or more .22 caliber or larger semi-automatic rifles that are capable of accepting a detachable magazine and are purchased by the same individual within five consecutive business days. “While we’ve managed to stop gun control...

A state official with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks confirmed Friday morning that Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and four other individuals were injured Thursday night when their 22-foot motor boat ran aground on Flathead Lake. "There was a serious boating accident near Wayfarers State Park between 10 p.m. and midnight," said Jim Satterfield with FWP. "There were five occupants on the boat, including two public officials." The occupants of the boat included Rehberg and state senator Greg Barkus, a Kalispell Republican. Satterfield said nearby campers heard the crash when the boat hit rocks at Wayfarers State Park near Bigfork. All...

Burns Out/Rehberg In? Considering the fact that Sen. Conrad Burns from Montana was below 50% in the pre-Abramoff "I'm guilty" ballot question, word is now spreading like wildfire inside Washington, DC that Burns will soon announce his retirement. A source on Capitol Hill tells me that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is polling feverishly to see if the Senate seat is salvagable should Burns seek re-election. The prognosis, I am told, is not good. Enter Congressman Denny Rehberg, Montana's wildly popular At-Large member of Congress. Rehberg briefly flirted with the idea of running against Max Baucus in 2002, but decided...