Free Republic

Former U.S. Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., linked his 2024 Senate loss to ex-Vice President Kamala Harris’ poor performance in the state. Tester, who lost to former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy in that race, declared on HBO’s "Real Time with Bill Maher" that the woke politics embraced by the top of the ticket are what doomed his performance in Montana. "And the top of the ticket did not perform because I don’t think the top of the ticket embraced the issues that Americans were talking about," he said. "We got wrapped up in all the cancel culture crap." Tester had served...

… [J]on Tester is a divisive leftist who bragged that he “loved” violent, inciting messaging depicting their beloved President Trump dead in front of the White House. *** Tester ... is polling competitively against Republican Tim Sheehy with Trump on the ballot. Tester’s ability to close polling gaps late in the campaign demonstrates that his resilience in this race must not be underestimated, making the upcoming election extremely important. *** Tester’s overall voting record is abysmal. According to a report in the Daily Caller from March 2023, “Tester supported President Joe Biden’s position on legislation and nominees more than 99%...

Every vote counts. That's especially true for Montana Democrat Jon Tester, who faces the toughest Senate reelection race in the country this November—which may help explain why he privately met with a professional pole dancer earlier this month. Tester’s public schedule reveals a private meeting with Tiffany Rose and Jamie Goguen on Sept. 19, between two Senate floor sessions. Rose is a Montana resident and self-described "pole dance instructor" with tens of thousands of followers on social media. A spokeswoman for Tester did not respond to a request for comment. Such a meeting is peculiar for Tester, who represents a...

A Napolitan News survey, conducted by RMG Research, of 491 likely voters found that 50 percent would back Sheehy, compared to 43 percent who would support Tester in November. In a previous Napolitan survey conducted in August, Tester was ahead in the Montana Senate race by 5 points (49 percent to 44). The outcome of the Senate race between Tester and Sheehy, along with the general election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in November, could end up determining who controls the upper chamber next year. The Democrats currently control the Senate by a 51-49 seat margin, including four independent...

The state of Montana took its electronic absentee voting system offline shortly after it went live when prospective voters discovered Kamala Harris wasn't on the ballot. While Harris is considered a severe underdog in Montana, Democrats are still hoping they can voters to turn out to save incumbent Senator Jon Tester against Donald Trump-endorsed Tim Sheehy. Max Himsl, a voter living in the United Kingdom, wanted to make his choice once the ballots were online on Friday at 8am. The ballot listed both Trump and the now out of the race independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. but not the vice...

The Sen. Jon Tester campaign ran a full-page ad in our local newspaper on Sept. 4. The ad brazenly said that “Sheehy’s plan closes” our local hospital and that “49 rural Montana hospitals” will close if Tim Sheehy gets elected.The lies about the “privatization” of VA medical benefits need to be exposed. Veterans are understandingly concerned about this issue. Sheehy and his wife are combat veterans themselves, and they would never propose or support efforts to reduce veterans’ medical benefits.Sheehy is opposed to nationalizing our health care, which I agree with. It is obvious that keeping private, employer, Medicare, and...

Republicans are feeling better and better about their chances of knocking off Sen. Jon Tester (D) in Montana’s hotly contested Senate race, which would greatly increase their chances of winning back the chamber next year.Several recent polls have shown Republican businessman Tim Sheehy leading Tester by a few points, within the margin of error but not what Democrats are hoping for in a state seen as critical to their chances of keeping Senate control.The race is still expected to be tight, but multiple election forecasters have shifted their ratings of the contest from toss-up to leaning Republican.The election seems to...

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) on Thursday refused to endorse Kamala Harris’s bid for president one day after saying it is more important to elect her than his own reelection as Montana’s senior senator. Tester hosted a press conference in Missoula and revealed he does not want to endorse Harris because he does not want to “nationalize” his reelection. “I’m not going to endorse for the presidential, and I’ll tell you why, because — two reasons — because I’m focused on my race, and number two, people want to nationalize this race, and this isn’t about national politics. This is about...

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in 2018 praised an apocalyptic Pearl Jam concert poster that depicted former President Donald Trump dead, according to his 2020 book, Grounded: A Rural Democrat’s Fight to Unite America. Tester’s last reelection campaign enflamed controversy when a Pearl Jam poster for a get-out-the-vote concert promoting the Montana Democrat featured a dead Donald Trump and an American bald eagle eating the remains of his corpse. Tester is close friends with Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, who designed the poster. Tester’s campaign, not Tester himself, disavowed the poster, only after the media shed light on the controversy. Two...

***The fight for Senate control appears more clear-cut. With former Democrat, now-independent, Sen. Joe Manchin retiring from his West Virginia seat, Democrats have virtually ceded the seat to Republicans. That GOP pick-up would take Democrats’ current 51-49 majority down to an even 50-50 split.Democrats could retain control of the Senate by the narrowest of margins if they maintain control of the vice presidency. That brings with it potential complications for their congressional majorities if Joe Biden remains president and suffers (further) health issues, but put that aside for the time being.To ensure themselves a majority not contingent upon the outcome...

Montana GOP Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy is getting some help in his effort to oust incumbent Sen. Jon Tester. Politico reports that More Jobs, Less Government, a super PAC aligned with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), is launching a $4 million ad campaign this week that will run for about a month before incorporating a radio component July 10. Tester, who is seeking his third six-year term in the upper chamber, has a challenge ahead of him in a state former President Trump won handily in 2016 and 2020. The strategy behind the ad campaign: Nationalize the race, and tie Tester...

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is being mocked for owning a Prius as far-left electric vehicle policies become prominent issues in key Senate races. The Washington Post pointed out Tester’s ownership of a Toyota Prius in an article published Monday that highlighted that vulnerable Democrats are working to scramble away from President Joe Biden’s radical electric vehicle policies. “According to Tester’s memoir, published in 2020, he bought a used Prius to drive while in Washington, D.C.,” the Post notes.

Montana’s office of governor, lieutenant governor, and the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Senator Jon Tester are up for election in 2024. Montana is considered a Republican stronghold. The Republican primary for governor totaled 78,667 votes. The Democrat primary for governor totaled 54,402 votes. Democratic Party Senator Tester has become an anomaly among statewide elected positions in Montana.Republican Governor Greg Gianforte is popular. He is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment in his words and actions and is almost certainly going to win.Ryan Busse, the Democratic candidate for governor, was an executive at Kimber. He wrote a book...

Facing the toughest election since his first win in 2006, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mt) is investing $640,000 in an ad campaign aimed at convincing voters that his Republican opponent Tim Sheehy "will be a puppet for shady special interests. He's taking thousands of dollars from special interests. He won't be an independent voice for the common people of our state like I am." Ironically, lobbyists have donated more than $458,000 to Tester in the last two years making him the biggest Congressional recipient of lobbyist cash over for the time span. Tester was also the intended beneficiary of $6 million...

Senator Jon Tester took more money from lobbyists than any senator last year. Now, the Montana Democrat claims his Republican opponent is captive to private interests. Tester’s new $640,000 television ad campaign claims Tim Sheehy, who secured the Republican Senate nomination Tuesday, is "shady," because he’s "taken hundreds of thousands in lobbyist cash." Lobbyists have donated more than $458,000 to Tester from 2023-2024, besting his Democratic colleague Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.), who raised $356,169. No Senate Republican incumbent comes close to Tester, who received more money from lobbyists than former House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.). Tester faces one...

"That Montana meat cutter became I guess the number one recipient of lobbyists dollars in all of Washington." Donald Trump Jr. endorses Tim Sheehy for Montana senator, says Jon Tester godson claimed he 'sold out' to the Washington swamp. At a recent Republican rally in Missoula, Montana, Donald Trump Jr. revealed that Democratic Senator Jon Tester’s godson admitted to him that Tester sold out to the swamp and supports Republican nominee Tim Sheehy for the senate seat. Speaking before a crowd of over 300 attendees, Trump Jr. expressed support for Republican nominee Tim Sheehy in the Montana Senate race, painting...

For the past 25 years, I have been a registered Independent. I have been unable to blindly ‘fall in line’ with either political party. I’ve voted for both Democrats and Republicans and conduct my due diligence before voting for the candidate or issue that best supports America and Montana. In the upcoming Montana Senate race, the choice is stark. We have Sen. Tester, a career politician, and Tim Sheehy, a fresh face with a new perspective. Their worldviews, backgrounds, and political directions couldn't be more different. As a Vietnam-era veteran and a 30-plus-year law enforcement veteran, I am casting my...

A new poll this week shows Republican challenger Tim Sheehy leading incumbent Democratic senator Jon Tester in Montana’s Senate race. Sheehy is leading Tester 48 percent to 45 percent, with 7 percent of polled Montana voters still undecided, according to the poll released on Monday by J.L. Partners. Montana is poised to have one of the most closely watched Senate races this fall as Republicans and Democrats ramp up their fight for control of the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority. While the poll shows the Democratic incumbent enjoys greater popularity among women, younger voters, and independents, Sheehy,...

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who is a key vote on the question of whether the Senate will hold a full impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, confronted Mayorkas about the southern border at a hearing this week. Tester, who is also one of the most vulnerable senators up for reelection, directed some of the harshest criticism of any Senate Democrat at Mayorkas when the secretary appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday. “All you have to see is what’s gone on at the southern border, and you know that we’re in a situation that needs immediate repair, immediate...

During a portion of an interview with NBC News aired on Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) stated that when he’s seen President Joe Biden in person and “when I’ve seen him on the news, he’s absolutely, 100% with it.” And his “recall” and “cognitive ability” are “fine.” Tester also argued that “he’s doing a good job. I think folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is.” Tester said, “Joe Biden, when I’ve been around him — and it’s not every day — but when I’ve been around him, when I’ve...