This Montana Senate candidate said his opponent ate ‘lobbyist steak.’ But he lobbied—with steak

BILLINGS, Mont. — During a debate in October, Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy shot at his Democratic opponent, Senator Jon Testerfor ” eating lobbyist steak ″while the Republican was fighting in Afghanistan.

But Sheehy himself had a penchant for red meat and lobbying, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. He combined the two in his pursuit of government contracts that allowed his aerial fire company to expand rapidly over the past decade.

“I hope you enjoyed the steakhouse,” Sheehy wrote to Ryan Osmundson, the state budget director, after a November 2021 meeting in Martinsdale, Montana. Sheehy went on to describe his company’s aircraft as “ideal” for a dedicated, state-based fleet of aircraft to aggressively fight fires. There is no indication that the lobbying by Montana officials involved any wrongdoing by Bridger Aerospace or Sheehy.

Sheehy’s offer to prevent Tester from winning a fourth term is widespread seen as one of the Republican party’s best chances to win back the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Republican’s campaign has leaned heavily on his military record and business achievements, while routinely criticizing Tester for largest recipient of lobbyist money in Congress.

Sheehy’s career as a US Navy SEAL ended in 2014. In 2021, as CEO of Belgrade-based Bridger Aerospace, he pressured Montana officials to put money into creating a statewide aerial firefighting force that would benefit his company .

In subsequent months, a lobbyist working on Sheehy’s behalf continued to advocate for a dedicated firefighting fleet from Montana, records show. And Sheehy met and communicated with top state officials, urging them to set up the fleet under exclusive contracts to ensure the aircraft would be available when needed.

An executive at a think tank where Sheehy was a board member also called on Montana to pass those contracts to private fire companies such as Bridger Aerospace.

“Granted, Bridger will benefit from the creation of a Montana Fire Force,” Sheehy wrote in an email to Amanda Kaster, director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The agency’s contract with Bridger Aerospace stipulates that the company will receive $51,621 per day for each of the six “super scooper” aircraft made available for service, plus $17,605 per flight hour. The planes scoop water from lakes or other bodies of water and dump it from above onto forest fires.

In the spring of 2023, Kaster spoke out in favor of legislation that sharply increased state spending on fighting forest fires. In July, a Billings-based aircraft company announced the award the very first Exclusive aerial firefighting contract from Kaster’s agency.

Bridger Aerospace has won contracts for work in at least nine states, the federal government and several Canadian provinces over the past decade, the company said.

The large contracts have not been enough to prevent financial problems. Sheehy’s company — billed by his campaign as “a Montana success story” — has suffered persistent losses, a falling stock price and accusations of mismanagement.

Osmundson and Kaster did not respond to emails and telephone messages seeking comment.

It is also uncertain whether the financial challenges facing the company, which Sheehy founded a decade ago with his older brother, will be lasting. The only analyst covering the company has maintained a positive rating for Bridger Aerospace even as the stock price plummeted.

The Sheehy campaign declined to make the candidate available for an interview or directly answer questions about his lobbying work.

“Tim is proud of his work to expand Montana’s ability to fight wildfires, and he hears these efforts praised throughout the campaign by grateful Montanans whose homes and properties were saved from the devastation of wildfires by heroic aerial firefighters.” , the campaign said. in a statement.

According to a company presentation, federal contracts accounted for 69% of Bridger Aerospace’s revenue in 2023. Lobbyists in Washington reported spending $450,000 on behalf of the country since 2021.

Tester, the sitting Democratic senator from Montana, brought up Republican federal lobbying during the Sept. 30 debate in Missoula after Sheehy’s “lobbyist steak” comment.

“Tim Sheehy founded his own lobbying firm in Washington, DC. Why? So he could try to influence elected officials, try to get them out and give them the steaks that he’s talking about,” Tester said.

Tester ranks first among U.S. lawmakers in lobbyist contributions and has raked in more than $500,000 this election cycle, according to the nonpartisan group OpenSecrets. The Democrat was in second place when he last sought re-election in 2018.

Bridger Aerospace has reported a net loss of more than $150 million since the company went public in January 2023. The company has made Sheehy wealthy, with a net worth between $73 million and $256 million, according to his financial disclosures.

He invested $1.5 million in his Senate bid, boosting the campaign in its early months. His nomination was sealed when his top Republican primary rival withdrew after Sheehy was endorsed by national party leaders, including former President Donald Trump.

A spokesperson for Sheehy blamed the company’s budget woes on “smear” by Democrats and short-selling by investors looking to profit from the company’s troubles.

Democrats have pounced on Sheehy’s lobbying efforts and business woes, hoping to debunk the candidate’s claims of success.

Their criticism of Sheehy’s performance in the private sector echoes previous attacks on two other Montana Republicans, the U.S. senator. Steve Daines and Gov. Greg Gianforte, who worked together at Bozeman software company RightNow Technologies. Democrats have claimed in previous election cycles that Daines and Gianforte claim to create jobs denied the company’s role help outsource jobs abroad.

Sheehy resigned as CEO of Bridger in July, saying he wanted to focus on the Senate race. He remains a top shareholder in the company, which has lost 70% of its value over the past year, and said he would put his shares into a blind trust if elected.

The company hopes to have positive cash flow for the first time this year, said spokesperson Alison Ziegler. It posted record sales of $67 million in 2023.

Much of that will go toward paying interest on debt the company took on for planes purchased under Sheehy, who is believed to have a strong chance of toppling Tester after Republicans dominated the state’s recent elections . In March, an accountant raised the specter of possible bankruptcy.

“If that’s a Montana success story, I’d like to see a failure,” said Marc Cohodes, a Wall Street investor and short seller from Bozeman, Montana, who has been an outspoken critic of Sheehy’s business record.

The company’s problems make Sheehy politically vulnerable, especially among independent voters who look at his background rather than his party affiliation, said Jeremy Johnson, a political analyst at Caroll College.

The financial analyst who follows Bridger Aerospace offered a rosier picture in a note to investors in August. Worsening wildfires would “dramatically increase” demand for its fleet of firefighting aircraft, wrote Aaron Moeller of Canaccord Genuity LLC. – following the company’s claims that climate change will increase demand for his services.

Sheehy has been more skeptical about climate change as a candidate, repeating Republican talking points that “ the climate is constantly changing ‘ and warning for a liberal “climate cult That will hurt the energy industry through more regulation.

Moeller favorably rated the stock a “buy” in mid-August. The price has fallen by about 30% since then.