Republican Tim Sheehy wins Montana Senate election over Democrat Jon Tester
NBC News projects Tim Sheehy has won the seat held by Jon Tester, a three-term Democratic incumbent, in a state that has shifted in Republicans’ direction in recent years.
Republican Tim Sheehy has defeated Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, NBC News projects, deepening the GOP’s projected Senate majority after the party's wins in West Virginia and Ohio.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, defeated the three-term senator by consolidating Republican voters in a state that has turned a deeper shade of red in recent years. Sheehy and his allies cast Tester as a liberal Democrat who votes with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, undercutting the incumbent’s reputation as a centrist.
Tester tried to defy the partisanship of his state by leaning into his deep roots as a third-generation dirt farmer and touted his bipartisan bona fides, including his clashes with Biden’s administration on issues like immigration. Tester and his allies also cast Sheehy as the embodiment of the state’s wealthy new residents, arguing they have driven up costs and threatened Montanans’ access to public lands.
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But Sheehy was ultimately able to withstand those attacks. Republicans touted him as a top recruit with a military background who built an aerial firefighting business in the state, though his business record and the state of his cattle ranch faced scrutiny in the campaign.
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