Republican Tim Sheehy ousts Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester in major race
Republican Tim Sheehy won the Montana Senate race, ousting Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who was considered the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate.
The Republican Party was able to successfully take control of the House after losing power four years ago.
Republican Jim Justice won the seat of retiring independent Senator Joe Manchin in West Virginia and GOP Bernie Moreno, who ousted Sherrod Brown in Ohio, put Republicans on a path to power.
These two flips, in addition to Sheehy’s win, were enough to give the GOP the outright majority as several other race results come in.
In the final weeks of the Senate race, a series of polls showed Sheehy taking a significant lead over Tester.
But there were questions about whether Tester’s deep ties to the state and his reputation as a lawmaker who can work across the aisle could help propel him to victory in an election year in which Donald Trump is guaranteed to carry the top of the ticket .
Sheehy had the strong support of former President Donald Trump
It would have meant that a significant number of Montana voters would have had to split their tickets to vote for the Republican presidential candidate and the Democratic senator in a divisive election year.
Sheehy is a businessman, decorated combat veteran and father of four who moved to Montana ten years ago.
He positioned himself as a “common sense” candidate, in line with former President Trump, who created jobs in his state. He opposed the bipartisan border agreement.
Sheehy is married to his wife Carmen, a former Marine Corps officer, and they have four children together.
However, his Senate campaign was dogged by a series of controversies.
Sheehy is married to his wife Carmen, a former Marine Corps officer, and they have four children together
Republican candidate for Montana Senate Tim Sheehy will speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July
Sheehy spoke at a Trump rally in Bozeman, MT on August 9. He acted as an ally to the former president in a state that Trump won by double digits
He has faced scrutiny over his financial situation with reports that his company Bridger Aerospace, founded in 2013, which secured $160 million in bonds intended to hire more employees and expand, used the money to pay $134 million in debt to pay off.
Separately, questions were asked about how Sheehy suffered a gunshot wound.
During the campaign and in a book, the veteran claimed he received it during a firefight in Afghanistan. It was not reported at the time.
But three years after his deployment in 2015, he told a park ranger that he had accidentally shot himself in the arm.
The inconsistencies in the story were first reported in April by The Washington Post. Sheehy said he lied about suffering the wound in Glacier National Park because he didn’t want to initiate a military investigation.
Tester is a third-generation Montana farmer
In the final weeks of the Senate race, a series of polls showed Sheehy taking a significant lead over Tester
More recently, the park ranger who spoke to Sheehy about what was reported as an accidental gunshot wound disputed his claim, stating that he was 100 percent certain that Sheehy had shot himself.
Sheehy also faced criticism after a recording of him from last year caught him perpetuating a racist stereotype for Native Americans at a private fundraiser.
In unearthed audio, he also described women as “indoctrinated” about abortion.
He has also repeated Trump’s false claims that Democrats support killing babies after birth.
Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana prepares for the September 30 debate in Missoula, MT
Tester is a third-generation Montana farmer.
He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and is the last Democrat to serve statewide in Montana.
Considered the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election this cycle, he ran for a fourth term in a state that Trump won by more than 16 points in 2020.
He was committed to lowering costs, including prescription drug costs, keeping public lands open, protecting women’s rights to privacy in their health care decisions, and providing care to veterans in the Senate.
But his opponent accused him of being in the pocket of special interests and covering for President Biden.
The Montana Senate race was one of the most expensive Senate races, with more than $225 million spent on advertising during the race.