Tim Sheehy

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BEAT TESTER!

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Sheehy didn't disclose former board membership at Bozeman think tank • Daily Montanan

Montana’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy failed to disclose to the U.S. Senate that he was a board member of the Property and Environment Research Center, a “free market environmentalism” nonprofit think-tank based in Bozeman, prior to his run for office.

The omission by Sheehy in the two reports he has filed so far for 2023 and 2024 is technically a violation of Senate ethics rules, which require candidates to report any position held during the previous two years. He did report being a board member of two other nonprofits.

HuffPost first reported on Sheehy’s failure to disclose the position on Wednesday.

Sheehy’s campaign did not respond by a provided deadline Thursday to questions about the omission, his time on the board, and his stance on several public lands policies. His campaign told HuffPost the omission was an oversight and that it would amend the campaign report.

The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) reported in its 2022 IRS Form 990 that Sheehy was a member of its board of directors who received no compensation. Up through last week, according to web archives, the organization’s website also listed him as a board member.

Kat Dwyer, a spokesperson for PERC, said Sheehy was elected to the board in the fall of 2022 and left once he announced his run for office last June.

“Tim was elected to the board due to his relevant background as a successful local entrepreneur in the areas of forest health, wildfires, and ranching, all conservation issues we are engaged in,” Dwyer said.

PERC was founded in 1980 as a self-described property rights and environmental organization and focuses on what it calls “free market environmentalism.”

“Rather than filing lawsuits or advocating for regulations that make conservation a liability, we advance legal and policy reforms that respect property rights, expand incentives for voluntary stewardship, and empower people to advance conservation through markets,” the organization’s website says.

Some of the organization’s more recent work includes pushing for conservation leases on federal land. A Bureau of Land Management final rule will allow for restoration and mitigation leases.

The organization has also pushed for changes to the National Environmental Policy Act to try to cut down on review times for proposed fuel reduction projects, and for changes to how conservation projects and protections for federal public lands are funded.

“PERC believes conservation is most effective and lasting when it is voluntary, cooperative, and makes economic sense — when there are incentives to make conservation an asset, not a liability,” Dwyer said in describing the company’s “free market environmental” ethos.

In 1999, the organization’s former executive director wrote that he wanted to auction off “all public lands over 20 to 40 years.” In 2016, PERC advocated for having each national park run as its own standalone business, Outside Magazine reported.

It has also in the past pressed for surcharges at national parks for international visitors and stopping the expansion of the national park system.

Other reports published by PERC over the past two decades questioned how much humans were contributing to global climate change and whether predictions from the International Panel on Climate Change were sound.The IPCC is a United Nations body that includes 95 member countries and thousands of scientists and other experts on climate change that compile assessments of climate change, its impacts and future risks.

Former PERC executive director Terry Anderson was one of the State of Montana’s expert witnesses at the Held v. Montana trial and presented himself as the founder of “free market environmentalism.”

He presented data about greenhouse gas emissions that the judge in the case wrote “was not well-supported, contained errors, and was not given weight by the Court.”

In response to questions about some of those papers and stances from the past, Dwyer said many were more than 20 years old and written by people no longer affiliated with the organization.

“They do not reflect PERC’s thinking,” Dwyer said. She added that PERC “firmly believes that public lands should stay in public hands” and pointed to several of its more recent policy pushes as representing its current stances.

The group has ties to Donors Trust, which Mother Jones previously reported sent significant money to climate change denial groups. PERC board member Kimberly Dennis was a co-founder of Donors Trust. But PERC has also worked with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Yellowstone National Park, the Interior Department, Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups on projects, according to the organization.

Dwyer said the company rejects being labeled a “right-wing” think tank by HuffPost and some other organizations.

“PERC is a non-partisan conservation organization dedicated to conserving land, water, and wildlife through innovate market and incentive-based solutions,” Dwyer said. “PERC proudly works with policymakers across the political spectrum, including with the Biden administration on issues like forest restoration, wild horse adoption incentives, migration corridor conservation, and virtual fencing technology.”

Sheehy, who runs aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace, shares similar ideas as PERC when it comes to litigation delaying or halting forest management projects. On his website, he says, “We also need to stand strong against the radical environmentalists who are suing and shutting down timber projects with frivolous litigation.”

Sheehy has also decried as a candidate what he calls the “climate cult” despite Bridger Aerospace previously marketing itself as fighting climate change before Sheehy started his campaign.

HuffPost first reported last year that Sheehy in October talked about giving control of some federal public lands to the state or local governments.

But his website says, and his campaign has reiterated, that Sheehy “believes public lands must stay in public hands.”

“Tim believes Montanans know best how to manage our land, not the Washington bureaucrats. Tim believes it’s important we listen to the voices of local communities when considering public lands policy. Tim opposes a federal transfer of our public lands. Tim opposes the sale of our public lands. Tim supports better stewardship of our public lands, including through active forest management,” the website says.

In May, NBC News reported Sheehy’s cattle ranch does not participate in Montana’s Block Management Program that allows hunters access to private land adjacent to public lands.

Public lands and access to them are overwhelmingly important to Montanans. The 2024 Public Lands Survey from the University of Montana’s Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative found 83% of respondents said federal public lands benefitted Montana’s economy, and nearly half said conservation issues were “very important” in deciding which candidates to support politically.

But across the political spectrum, Montanans said conservation issues were an important part of backing a candidate, including 98% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 71% of Republicans.

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AN 3 25

It wasn’t a typical Friday night event in the downtown of Montana’s largest city.

The only music played at the event was a closing song, “America,” which brought the crowd of nearly 1,000 to its feet.

About the only people missing from the event that filled the spacious Lincoln Auditorium in Billings (capacity: 1,636) were the three chairs reserved for Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy as well as Rep. Troy Downing whose congressional district covers the Magic City and all of eastern Montana.

Not unlike dozens of other town-hall style meetings across America, the purpose was to ask questions of leaders about what is happening in Congress, with President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. And not unlike many recent meetings, the elected leaders did not show up.

That did not stop residents, some from as far away as Missoula and Wibaux counties, from showing up, standing in long lines to ask a question, and former Gov. Marc Racicot from urging the crowd to fight for democracy. Racicot himself has been an example of the changing political winds: The former chairman on the Republican National Party was booted from the state Republican Party after criticizing the direction of the party and Trump.

The Daily Montanan reached out to all three Congressional representatives who were invited. Only Sheehy’s office responded.

“Here is my response to media asking if I will attend Democrat dark money group Indivisible’s left-wing rallies: No, I will not legitimize a radical group that wants to defund the police and abolish ICE,” Sheehy said.

Indivisible, a national group that started in the wake of George Floyd’s death, started as a movement to rein in abuse and to curtail funding to police and other law enforcement agencies. Yellowstone Indivisible organized the event, although during the event, not a single speaker spoke about defunding law enforcement or police brutality.

“There have been town meetings since this country was just 13 colonies and ruled by a king. We want to make it clear to our elected officials that we still don’t want a king,” said Yellowstone Indivisible co-leader Elizabeth Klarich. “We could be doing March Madness, or we could be attending the boys basketball tournaments at the Metra, but we decided to do democracy tonight.”

President Donald Trump campaigned on a far-ranging platform of reform, including to reshape government as well as reduce consumer prices and curbing inflation. Montana is also a heavily Republican state with every member of the Congressional delegation and the five state “constitutional officers” all being Republican. In Montana, Trump took 58% of the vote in the 2024 Election.

Speakers who asked questions and told raw personal stories drew applause, sometimes standing ovations, including for the opening Pledge of Allegiance.

“If we were hired to do a job and refused to do it, we’d get terminated,” Klarich said. “Have they forgotten we have the power to fire them?”

The organizers recorded the meeting, and said they will be delivering a copy of the video to Daines, Sheehy and Downing so they can see the response and turnout.

Billings resident Elizabeth Halvorson worried about the impacts of tariffs on Mexico and Canada, since they represent a combined 93% of imports to Montana.

“What are you going to do protect ag producers? What are you going to do to protect us from higher costs?” she asked.

Throughout the meeting, residents spoke to the trio of empty chairs, each with a placard naming the Congressman who didn’t show.

Steve Held, who ran for Congress as a Democrat and whose daughter was part of the historic youth climate trial that bears his name, spoke on climate change.

“Climate change doesn’t give a damn if you live in Broadus or Bozeman, and the Montana Club will not protect you,” Held said, traveling from Broadus to attend.

Bailey Desper, who is a transgender woman worried about Elon Musk, a common concern at the meeting in Billings and at other meetings, was using government data.

“How are they going to make sure that our rights to privacy are entrusted?” she asked.

Jason Severeid of Billings said that he’s been living independently for two years thanks to help from insurance programs like Medicaid. He has an autoimmune disease that requires infusions every three weeks. Without those programs for him, it’s literally a matter of life or death.

“What assurances can you give me so that my treatment can continue? Please don’t touch Medicaid,” he said.

Maybe the longest and most thunderous applause came for Peggy Wellknown Buffalo, a member and leader on the Apsaalooke (Crow) reservation. She has been lauded for her efforts of providing more than 2 million pounds of food during the COVID-19 pandemic on the reservation in southern Montana, and still runs a food assistance program.

At first she addressed the empty “Congress chairs” in Crow. Then, she spoke in English.

“Your First People are worse off. How much more do we have to give up?” she asked.

Randi Hall of Billings said she’s met Daines previously and voted for him.

“Canada is our friend. You’ve been to the Hi-Line and seen the flags together. You are turning our greatest ally into an enemy. Who would have thought that would happen? Who would have seen the day when Albertans refuse to buy from us? I voted for you and I feel betrayed. I am Montanan and begging you to start voting and acting like one,” she said.

Political science professor Paul Pope, who teaches at Montana State University-Billings, said he wasn’t speaking on any particular issue, but made a different kind of plea.

“If any of you want to seek public office, I am offering my help to run against these absentee representatives,” he said.

Sheehy ousted former three-term U.S. Senator Jon Tester, 53% to 45%. Downing won handily in the conservative Second Congressional district, capturing nearly two-thirds of the vote. And, Daines was the head of the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee that helped the GOP regain control of the U.S. Senate. He will stand for re-election in 2026.

Elizabeth Sillerud, a pastor at American Lutheran Church, described the immigrant families her congregation has helped. Quoting from the Bible, she ticked off passages that urged kindness and hospitality toward foreigners and strangers.

“How are you all — descendants of immigrants and people of faith — responding to immigrants?” she asked.

Gerald Kessler, a retired school teacher and counselor, said he feared for America’s standing in the world.

“You have turned the world order upside down,” he said. “Russia, North Korea and Israel are now our friends when Canada, the U.K. and Denmark — Denmark, really? — are turned against us? In 1949, George Orwell wrote a book called ‘1984’ and I am sorry to say the only thing he got wrong was the date.”

Megan Cassel of Billings said she worried about how this period in history will be remembered.

“History will not remember that we made America great for all the casual pain and hate,” she said.

Laura McGee, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, said that she had spoken repeatedly to Daines’ office about fraud and waste but hasn’t received an answer.

“We demand our treaties, our healthcare, our education and to protect our tribal colleges and universities,” she said.

University of Montana student Shannon Sheehy had pointed words for Montana’s newest senator.

“I’m Shannon Sheehy — no relation,” she said, as the audience laughed. “I am the only Sheehy with courage to get on stage. I am a student at the University of Montana. There is fear there because the climate studies students fear that their program will be dismantled. Trans students are told they are not safe here. And I am worried about student loans. You are not here tonight, and it is clear that no Republican is willing to stand up.”

She also had a different, more personal message for Sen. Sheehy, who often uses his last name as a recurring joke about pronouns, she and he.

“Also, don’t ever use my name as a transphobic punch line again,” she said.

Ryan Chaddick, a pastor in Billings, spoke about his concerns for those who are neurodivergent.

He said that politicians see neurodivergent folks as those who are broken or needing to fix.

“I live with an invisible disability and don’t always show it,” he said. “Many of our leaders are invisible tonight, but my message is that we are neurodivergent; we are here; and we are watching.”

Dozens of people spoke during the event. As the time wound down, ending before all could make it to the microphones, many left questions in a basket that would be forwarded to the trio of absent leaders.

As the town-hall style meetings have spread throughout the country in the wake of the upheaval of the Trump administration and Musk’s action, Republicans who have shown up to these meetings have faced stiff opposition and anger, even from people identifying as Republican. One of the more notable events happened when Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming appeared at an event in Laramie this week.

That event saw Hageman roundly booed, as she said it was “bizarre” that the audience members were so focused on the federal government. She urged them to calm down and suggested they were “hysterical.”

At a similar town-hall style meeting in Bozeman on Friday, an estimated 350 residents gathered but no member of the Congressional delegation attended.

Republican strategists and leaders have urged Republicans not to show up for the meetings, which is why Racicot appeared to lend some perspective as a Montana leader. Former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who was beaten in November by Sheehy, sent a message to the Yellowstone County crowd, too.

In a state where politicians brag about how many miles they put on cars traveling to meet constituents, the lack of participation is something new to Treasure State residents. The Daily Montanan had reached out to Pope, a noted political scientist, prior to the event to ask about the shift and the strategy behind not attending these events.

“By not attending, they simply can avoid saying the wrong thing or just defending their actions or inactions. The risk of making people angry by not showing up may be perceived as less than if they did and add fuel to their fire. They forget, they represent us, and the Constitution requires them to defend their own powers against a president who is trying to usurp both their law making and budgetary powers. I believe they are doing this out of party loyalty,” he said.

Pope did not mince words in his analysis of the dangers that the American democracy faces at this particular moment.

“If Congress and the courts fail to hold the President accountable to the Constitution and the rule of law, then they have no ability to constrain the people to the rule of law. This creates chaos and that kind of chaos often leads to violence. In short, Congress’ inactions to constrain the president could literally mean the end of the union,” he said.

Racicot spoke to the crowd and delivered a message to the crowd as people shouted “Racicot for president.”

He spoke about the crafting of the Constitution and the dangers of defying the rule of law, villainizing judges, and reaping pain by creating emergencies.

“It reveals a complete lack of respect for the rule of law. We have had a democratic republic for 237 years, and yet it is fragile and based on the concept that every American must choose it and practice self discipline to maintain order and a respect for fellow citizens,” Racicot said. “To those who seek to lead us at this existential moment of peril, we will strive to be informed and learn. And we will demand loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law.”

The event closed after singing “America” twice, but not before Klarich declared the event a successful example of democracy alive.

“You beautifully saw how democracy works. We will not brandish pitchforks, we will join arms and not tear each other down,” she said. “The selfish greed of power-hungry oppressors will not rob us of seeking our dignity and our joy.”

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.

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GOP Senate candidate used $160M promised for local job creation to instead pay off investors - Alternet.org

One Republican U.S. Senate candidate running on his private sector experience is now being scrutinized for a deal in which he sided with wealthy investors over his own would-be constituents.

NBC News reported Tuesday that Tim Sheehy — who is running against Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) in a competitive Senate race — has yet to explain why jobs his company promised to Montanans have yet to materialize. The outlet reported that his aerial firefighting business, Bridger Aerospace Group, convinced Gallatin County, Montana commissioners in 2020 to use the county's credit rating to raise $160 million in a bond issue. That money would then be used to help the company expand, creating local jobs in the process.

Bridger executives ultimately won over county leaders, who unanimously voted for Bridger's proposal. But four years later, that money has been spent without any benefit to the county.

According to NBC, $134 million of that $160 million (more than 83%) ended up in the pockets of the New York-based private equity firm Blackstone Group in 2022. And while Bridger pledged to build two new hangars in Gallatin County, only one hangar has actually been built, and its workforce has actually declined rather than grown as promised.

“When, where and how benefits accrue locally when local governments support these types of business ventures is exactly the right question to ask,” University of Chicago public policy professor Justin Marlowe said. “If the project fails, it sends a signal about the future of that jurisdiction.”

Bridger has been bleeding money for years as it struggles to stay above water. Since the $160 million bond issue was granted in 2022, the company has lost roughly $150 million. That includes more than $20 million in the first quarter of 2024 alone, and $77.4 million of losses in 2023. NBC reported that Bridger's stock price is at a paltry $3.60 per share, which is a 64% decline from when it launched its initial public offering in 2023.

The network further reported that an independent auditor estimated that Sheehy's company may not survive another 12 months given its rate of losses. And while the conditions of the bond issue don't leave Gallatin County on the hook, its credit rating could still take a dive if Bridger goes bankrupt.

Despite his company's poor performance, Sheehy was still well-compensated as its CEO. In 2023, while his company was losing tens of millions of dollars, he was paid a base salary of $149,000 and got a $2.3 million bonus. In 2022, when Bridger lost $42.1 million, the company paid Sheehy a $450,000 base salary and gave him a bonus of $4.4 million.

Sheehy is currently polling ahead of Tester by as many as eight percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight. If he wins, it will make Democrats' chances of keeping the Senate majority that much more difficult. Republicans would regain control of the chamber by flipping either Montana or Ohio, assuming West Virginia's open Senate seat also flips Republican in the deep-red state. However, Democrats could still keep a slim majority by flipping either Florida, Nebraska, or Texas, which have all polled within the margin of error in the last month.

Click here to read NBC's report in full.

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mofo

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Montana Republican Tim Sheehy, who is running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), was recorded making racially charged and disparaging comments about Native Americans.

Char-Koosta News, the official news publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation, revealed shocking audio of the Republican candidate during a November fundraiser.

Sheehy trashed his relationship with Crow Reservation tribal members, saying, "a great way to bond with all the Indians while they’re drunk at 8:00 A.M.”

"We ranch together on the Crow res," he told the group. "So, I'm pretty involved down there. Road through their annual Crow Fair this year. Um, and I've broken bread with them every year... so... Great way to bond with all the Indians while they're drunk at 8:00 A.M. and you're ropin' together."

A number of male voices laugh.

The comments are remarkably similar to those he made during a Nov. 10 event in Hamilton, claiming he rode in the Cow Fair parade.

He claimed that one of the first things he did was strap a Sheehy sign to his horse and ride through the "Crow Res parade."

"And if you know a tough crowd, go through the Crow parade," he said. "Now, they’ll let you know when they like you or not, if Coors Light cans flying by your head… They respect that. You know, you go where the action is. They say, that guy's not that bad, ya know? Rode a horse through the parade. That's pretty cool. And I threw a beer can at his head, and he didn't even flinch!"

Char-Koosta News said it was working to verify the authenticity of the audio and asked for comment from the Sheehy campaign.

Last month, it was revealed Sheehywas on the verge of watching the business he started — and has touted as his main qualification for the job — collapse because the company can't pay its bills.

Meanwhile, Sheehy's service as a Navy Seal in Iraq was questionedafter the WashingtonPost found inconsistencies in his account.

"Most notably, Sheehy, who now owns an aerial firefighting business, has told voters that he has a bullet in his arm from combat in Afghanistan," the Post reported.

The reality, however, is that Sheehy told a National Park Service ranger in 2015 that he accidentally shot himself when his Colt .45 revolver fell. The gun then discharged in Montana’s Glacier National Park, ultimately shooting himself, court records showed.

Sheehy also hired a staffer known for liking and sharing racist posts.

Listen to the clips here.

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an 8 24

montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy has made his business acumen a centerpiece of his campaign. But now that his aerial firefighting company is struggling with tens of millions of dollars of losses stretching three consecutive years, Sheehy's business record could actually be undoing.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the U.S. Senate hopeful's publicly traded enterprise — Bridger Aerospace — is in the midst of a "cash crunch" due to a relatively quiet wildfire season. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bridger Aerospace has already lost $20.1 million in the first quarter of 2024. That comes on top of $77.4 million in losses last year.

However, despite the company's poor performance, Sheehy is still raking in a seven-figure compensation. The Post reported that in 2023, Sheehy was paid a base salary of $149,000 but received a $2.3 million bonus. In 2022 — when his company posted $42.1 million in losses — Sheehy was nonetheless paid a $450,000 salary and a $4.4 million bonus.

"That itself is not wrong, but it doesn’t look great,” AeroAnalysis International analyst Dhierin-Perkash Bechai told the Post. “While the company is bleeding cash, Sheehy is still making money.”

Bridger's balance sheet paints a far different picture of the company than Sheehy has on the campaign trail. During his Friday night rally with former President Donald Trump in Bozeman, the entrepreneur called his flagging firm "a Montana success story" that created hundreds of jobs.

"Just last week I was out water bombing, protecting your land," Sheehy said.

An ex-Navy SEAL, Sheehy has never held political office. But his elevation to become Montana's Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate is part of the GOP's strategy to run candidates rich enough to self-fund their own campaigns. The outlet NOTUS reported in June that candidates like Sheehy, as well as Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, Wisconsin Senate hopeful Eric Hovde and Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno help the Republican Party counter Democrats' fundraising advantage by using their own personal wealth as a campaign war chest.

But despite Sheehy's wealth, he's been consistently outraised by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), who is running for a fourth term this November. Campaign finance records posted to Opensecrets show that as of June 30, Tester has raised $42.9 million this cycle, and still has more than $10 million on hand in the final months of the race. Sheehy has raised just $10 million, and has approximately $3 million on hand.

Despite Montana being a deep-red state that Trump easily carried in both 2016 and 2020, the Senate race remains within the margin of error. RealClearPolling averages show that Sheehy has a lead ranging from two to three points. Trump, by comparison, has a 20-point lead in the Big Sky State.

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2024 race

an 4 24

businessman Tim Sheehy, who is running for US Senate in Montana, has been hyping his rural connections to voters on the campaign trail. But a new report suggests Sheehy is actually a product of suburbia.

Farm life is a mainstay of Montana. US Census records show that the Big Sky State has the nation's fifth largest concentration of rural residents (behind Vermont, Maine, West Virginia and Mississippi), with 46.6% of its residents living in remote areas. Incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), who is running for a fourth term this November, is a bona fide lifelong rancher who lost several fingers in a farming accident as a child. So Sheehy has been trying to persuade voters of his rural credentials, saying in a 2023 interview that he "grew up in an old farmstead... surrounded by farmland."

But according to the Daily Beast, Sheehy's upbringing in Minnesota was actually in "a multi-million-dollar lake house in Shoreview, Minnesota, a quiet Twin Cities suburb just north of St. Paul with a population of roughly 27,000."

"According to a 1990 deed, Sheehy’s childhood home on Turtle Lake is 13 miles from the Minnesota State Capitol, 13 miles from the home of the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium, and just over 20 miles from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America," the Beast's Riley Rogerson wrote. "The property sits just three miles from a Trader Joe’s market—much closer than the nearest Fleet Farm, a fishing, hunting, and farm supply store popular in the state."

The Beast further reported that Sheehy claimed the Shoreview home as his residence as recently as 2016, before his parents ultimately sold it for more than $2 million the following year. Rogerson described the community as "a desirable slice of middle to upper-middle class suburbia with quiet spaces and good schools." Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, who authored The Great Gatsby, was educated at the nearby St. Paul Academy, the same exclusive private school where Sheehy graduated.

"Niche, a popular online source for school rankings and community reviews, called Shoreview 'one of the best places to live in Minnesota' and even bestowed the community with the distinction of '#1 Best Suburb to Buy a House in Minneapolis-St. Paul Area,'" Rogerson wrote, adding that residents described Shoreview as "the stereotypical suburb."

This isn't the first fib Sheehy has told about his upbringing. Last November, the GOP senate hopeful, who runs an aerial firefighting business, said on a podcast that when launching his company, he and his wife "bought our land, and we lived in a tent, literally, for months, and we built the barn that we lived in for four and a half years. And it was like bootstrap central." However, the Beast reported that his parents actually provided him with a $100,000 loan to get his business venture off the ground.

The Montana US Senate race is one of the most hotly contested elections this November, and could decide which party controls one half of the legislative branch for the next two years. Tester is the only remaining Democrat representing the Big Sky State in any statewide office, and he has amassed an impressive war chest in his bid for another six-year term. OpenSecrets reports that in the 2024 campaign cycle, Tester – who chairs the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee — has raised more than $24 million.

Sheehy also trails tester in polling. RealClearPolitics' polling average has Tester ahead by more than five points in a head-to-head matchup with Sheehy, and he has not trailed in any previous poll conducted thus far. Montana remains a GOP stronghold, however, and former President Donald Trump is heavily favored to carry the state in November, having easily won it with comfortable majorities in both 2016 and 2020.

Click here to read the Beast's full report (subscription required).