MT-SEN: The battle to defeat Jon Tester in Montana is personal for Republicans
A self proclaimed “seven-fingered dirt farmer” could stand between Republicans and the Senate majority in 2024.
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection next year, has bedeviled Republicans since 2006, winning reelection twice in a deep red state whose other senator, Steve Daines, is now in charge of gaining back the majority for Republicans as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“He’s pretty wily,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who once led the NRSC, of Tester. “He’s been able to hold on a long time.”
Republicans hope to change that this time, with Daines and his longtime top aide Jason Thielman, the NRSC’s executive director who is also from Montana, working to recruit a top-flight challenger to Tester and using their expertise to plot his defeat from their perches at the organization. They argue the state has changed rapidly since the last time Tester won, and their bet is that Montanans will no longer let their affection for the likable senator with a penchant for salty language override their increasing alienation from the Democratic Party.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/22/jon-tester-montana-senate-race/
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