Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) rejected the label “national Democrat” in favor of his own brand as he courts former President Donald Trump’s voters in deep-red Montana.
Tester recently took part in the first debate with his Republican opponent, Tim Sheehy, and has been trailing in the polls.
“Look, I’ve got my own brand here in the state, and it’s different than national Democrats,” he said in an interview with NBC News. “I would have never been elected the first time or any other times if it had been the same as a national Democrat.”
That brand embraces immigration restrictions, the Second Amendment, and a “number of things” that Trump believes, according to Tester. That could be crucial to drawing away some Trump support from Sheehy in a state the New York Times rated in the former president’s favor 57% to 40%. Convincing voters to split their tickets will be crucial if Tester wants to keep his seat.
It’ll be a first-time gambit for Tester, who has never been on the same ballot as Trump. In the one election in which Trump had influence, against Trump-endorsed Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) in 2018, he garnered 50.33% of the vote and won.
But Tester appears to have been somewhat successful so far with ticket-splitters — he polled 8 points behind Sheehy in the same poll, 52% to 44% — but polling like that likely isn’t enough for Tester to win a fourth term in the Senate.
Another part of a winning equation for Tester, other than support from ticket-splitting Trump voters, will be courting Native Americans in the state, who comprise 7% of the state’s population but are mistrusting of the ballot booth.
“Native Americans, they have a long history with the government of mistrust, even the voting,” Cinda Burd-Ironmaker told NBC News. “They don’t want to give their names, they don’t want to give their addresses — afraid of this or that would happen.”
“It’s a lot of convincing and it’s a lot of storytelling from your own perspective of why our vote is important and why this election is so important,” she said.
Native American groups in the state have slammed Sheehy for a recording that showed him making insensitive remarks about Native Americans, allegedly saying, “A great way to bond with all the Indians [is] while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.”
Sheehy acknowledged the incident but insisted it was taken out of context.
“The reality is, yeah, [it was] insensitive. I come from the military, as many of our tribal members do. We make insensitive jokes and probably off-color sometimes,” he said.
Montana is key to Republicans controlling the Senate. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT), Tester’s fellow senator in the state and a prominent player in the GOP’s Senate campaigns, is targeting Tester’s abortion stance in his appeal against Tester.
“The last Democrat standing [in Montana] is Jon Tester,” Daines told NBC News. “And what’s happened here, I think the Democrats have just moved too far left as a party, as an ideology.”
But Tester has touted his abortion stance, and it could assist him in the election. Democrats are hoping an abortion referendum on the ballot will drive voters to the polls to cast their votes for Tester.
“On abortion, women need to make the decision. Reinstate Roe v. Wade. That’s my message, and that’s absolutely the message. That’s the biggest removal of freedom in my lifetime. And we ought not be doing that kind of stuff,” he said.
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Tester could be Democrats’ last beacon of hope in the state.
“Jon Tester is the linchpin,” Montana political operative and strategist Pepper Peterson said. “He’s the cornerstone of the entire Democratic Party in Montana. And if they lose him, then they’re just going to fade.”