Tester campaign launches ‘Republicans for Tester’ in bid for re-election

As Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester tries to fend off Republican challenger Tim Sheehy this November in a state former President Donald Trump won handily the past two elections, Tester’s team is trying to reach swing and crossover voters by showing Montanans there are Republicans who want the Democrat in office for a fourth term.

The Tester campaign on Tuesday morning launched “Republicans for Tester,” a group of more than 100 Republicans to start that include former and Republican National Committee chairperson Gov. Mark Racicot, former Secretary of State Bob Brown, former Great Falls Mayor Mike Winters, and others including former state lawmakers, GOP party chairs, county commissioners and city council members.

“Montana will always come first for me – and I will take on anyone, from any party, to defend our state,” Tester said in a statement. “I’m honored to have the support of Montana Republicans who have stood with me to fight for our veterans, protect our freedoms, and keep the government out of our personal lives.”

Since Tester was last re-elected in 2018, Montana has at large voted further to the right, as Republicans took hold of every other statewide elected office and put a Republican supermajority in the Legislature in the 2022 election.

Trump has won Montana in the last two elections by 16% and 20%, but Tester hopes to win over Republicans and independents and take home the largest share of independent voters this year, and the campaign believes showing those voters there are people who will break party lines and vote for Tester will encourage more to do the same.

Polls in recent months have generally showed Tester and Sheehy, who resigned from his Bozeman-based aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace this summer to focus on the campaign, statistically tied.

Tester has far outraised Sheehy so far during the campaign, having brought in $43.7 million so far this campaign compared to Sheehy’s $13.7 million, and Tester started July with $10.8 million in cash, while Sheehy had $3.2 million. Sheehy was hand-picked by National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines, a U.S. senator also from Montana, to run against Tester, and has received the backing of most of Montana’s top Republicans.

Tester and other Democratic senators in vulnerable seats up for re-election this year, like Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, have been vocal when they oppose President Joe Biden’s policies and have spent part of the campaign distancing themselves from those, especially on border and energy policies. Tester has also been one of few Democrats on the Hill not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president after Biden dropped out of the race.

But Sheehy and political action groups have been running ads consistently tying Tester to Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calling him out of line with Montanans and a lock-step Democratic voter, aiming to convince Montanans Tester is an extreme liberal rather than a moderate. And Trump is making his first Montana visit of 2024 on Friday, in which he and Sheehy will campaign together in Bozeman.

A similar but unaffiliated “Republicans for Harris” campaign is underway as of last weekend as she seeks to court moderate and conservative voters disenfranchised with Trump as well.

In statements, the co-chairs of the “Republicans for Tester” group, which includes former lawmakers, veterans, and local representatives, said they trust the longterm Montana politician, who also served in the Legislature and on the local school board.

Bob Brown, the former secretary of state, said he’d known Tester for nearly 30 years and called him a “Montanan through and through.”

“He will always stand up to his party to do what’s right for the state,” Brown said. “I served as Montana’s Republican Secretary of State and I know what our state needs. I trust Jon to keep fighting to secure the border, help our veterans, and relentlessly defend our Second Amendment rights.”

Wade Jones, chairperson of the Milk River Joint Board of Control and a Malta farmer, said he was supporting Tester because he was the only politician to bring dollars to help modernize the recently ruptured St. Mary’s Irrigation System to the area.

Former Great Falls Mayor Mike Winters said he’s backing the Democrat as well.

“I may not always see eye to eye with Jon on every issue, but I know he’ll always talk straight with me – and he’s proven that he will always fight for Montana’s best interest,” Winters said.

Mike Shepard, a veteran and Columbia Falls city council member, said Tester has repeatedly passed laws to help veterans, and he “is the only member of our delegation fighting day in and day out for Montana veterans.”

Racicot said he too had known Tester for nearly 30 years and praised Tester’s work with people of all parties and walks of life.

“Not unexpectedly, it has always been people, not parties, who have come first with Jon Tester,” Racicot said. “I’m proud to support our senior senator because I’m absolutely confident he’ll continue to protect and defend our liberty and our Montana way of life.”

Tester said in a statement he wants to continue to represent Montana in that same fashion, which is how he said he has gone about his work as a senator since he first was elected in 2006.

“Montanans didn’t send me to Washington to play politics, they sent me to deliver results – and together we’re going to win this election and keep fighting to keep Montana strong.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the Republicans for Harris campaign is not affiliated with the Tester group and that Tester has not endorsed Harris.