Tim Sheehy, a pro-Donald Trump conservative and ex-Navy SEAL, cruised to victory in Montana’s Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, securing the nomination to take on the three-term incumbent Democratic senator. Jon Tester in November.
A newcomer to politics, Sheehy entered Tuesday’s primary as a heavy favorite, with support from Trump, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and several other high-profile Republicans. The Republican establishment rallied around the millionaire businessman because of his military background and his ability to self-finance his campaign. Sheehy has spent more than $2.1 million of his own money on his bid so far, campaign documents show — a number that is likely to grow dramatically over the next five months.
The Associated Press called the race around 10:30 PM ET on Tuesday, with 25% of ballots counted and Sheehy securing 75% of the vote. He defeated his two main opponents, Brad Johnson and Charles Walkingchild, by wide margins.
Tester also handily defeated his primary opponent, Michael Hummert, on Tuesday.
Tester, a third-generation farmer who has held the Senate seat since 2007, is widely considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election. Recent poll shows that the race between Sheehy and Tester is currently neck and neck.
During his campaign, Sheehy has sided with Trump and largely stayed close to the Republican Party’s talking points while working to portray Tester as a “radical” and “two-faced” career politician. In a video Posted last month on
“We want a safe border, safe streets, cheap gas, good schools, boys are boys, girls are girls, cops are good, criminals are bad,” he said. “That’s it. Pretty easy.”
But like so many other Republicans, Sheehy rushed to Trump’s defense after a jury hearing last week found the former president guilty on 34 felony cases in the New York hush money trial. Sheehy condemned the case as “state-sponsored political persecution led by the party of Joe Biden and Jon Tester,” parroting a conspiracy theory rampant in Republican circles. And on Monday he brought one campaign advertisement focused on Trump’s condemnation, accusing Tester of “supporting Joe Biden’s witch hunt every step of the way.”
Like his alleged antipathy towards criminals, Sheehy’s record is not as clear as he would have voters believe. Media reporting has shed light on everything inconsistent accounts about how he suffered a gunshot wound, to his aerial fire company continued embrace of climate science while Sheehy campaigned against a so-called ‘climate cult’.
In what could prove to be one of his more problematic campaign missteps, Sheehy last year advocated for federal lands to be “transferred” to states – a position that has historically not been well received by Montana voters. In May, the Montana Outdoor Values Action Fund, a super political action committee of the environmental group Montana Conservation Voters, released a statewide TV ad condemning Sheehy’s seemingly clear embrace of transferring public lands.
Sheehy’s campaign tried that walk back what he said.
Sheehy managed to avoid what would one day be a competitive and expensive primary. In February, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who ran unsuccessfully against Tester in 2018, launched a second bid for the Senate seat. But within hours of Rosendale announcing his campaign, Trump endorsed Sheehy. Rosendale said in a statement at the time that “with Trump supporting my opponent and the lack of resources, the hill was just too steep.”
Things have only become sloppier for Rosendale from there. Shortly after running for re-election to the House of Representatives, he withdrew from that race, citing death threats against his family and “slanderous rumors” about a alleged affair with a member of his staff.
Trump and other Republicans saw Sheehy as best equipped to potentially unseat Tester in the November general election. In a video Posted to Sheehy’s account on
