For more on the U.S. Senate race in Montana, tune into CNN’s “Inside Politics with Manu Raju” this Sunday at 8 a.m. ET.
Bozeman, Montana CNN —
Tim Sheehy stumbled behind closed doors earlier this week amid a crowd of supporters eager to propel him into the Republican Senate majority seat.
But the 38-year-old political novice also didn’t want to be seen outside those doors.
Sheehy and his campaign, encouraged by former President Donald Trump, are facing media scrutiny as they attempt to take advantage of the red state of Montana to oust three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester in November. We are taking all possible measures to avoid this.
Sheehy gives few interviews with local or national news outlets, while his campaign does not discuss his schedule or provide information about his events, which tend to be private.
And after CNN learned this through sources this week after Boseman was refused entry to an event, his campaign orchestrated Boseman’s exit, with TV cameras filming his exit. They even dispatched a pickup truck to stop them. Cameras were installed to allow Sheehy to leave without being seen by other vehicles.
After it was all over, Sheehy bragged about the event on X, writing that the audience was “standing room only.”
All of this underscores the critical juncture in one of America’s most powerful Senate races. Mr. Sheehy said Mr. Trump is likely to lead Montana by a double-digit margin, the number of split-vote voters is decreasing, and he is running in a poor state. He is the most likely candidate to win. There has been a surge in new residents, which political observers here believe will benefit Republicans. An “R” next to his name could be enough to oust Mr. Tester and flip the Senate, barring any major missteps.
“What Tim has done here is working,” said Sen. Steve Daines, a fellow Montana Republican and leader of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Why change your strategy here when you have a month left? And keep your head down and keep working hard at the grassroots.”
Daines described a “huge crowd” at Sheehy’s event, said Sheehy was running “a grassroots movement unlike any politician I’ve ever seen,” and the Republican senator said “he I wish you had seen his actions,” he added.
Mr. Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL who ran an aviation firefighting company and came to the state 10 years ago, was recruited by Mr. Daines, who backed Trump’s wealthy political newcomer and won him the primary. succeeded in encouraging support for the election campaign. And Sheehy has used campaign ads to grill Tester on issues such as his relationships with national Democrats like Kamala Harris and the U.S.-Mexico border.
“So he’s developed a persona that he’s a young conservative veteran, and he doesn’t want to deviate from that or have anyone question him. What do you think about this issue? Where did you get the money? Where are you from? Who the hell are you? Mike Dennison, a longtime political journalist in Montana, said of Sheehy’s strategy:
“He’s pretty much shielded himself from the media,” Dennison added.
Sheehy has participated in two debates with Tester, including one last week where the candidates debated abortion, immigration and character. Sheehy attacked Tester over campaign contributions from lobbyists, while Tester brought up Sheehy’s past statements, including regarding Native Americans, and accused Tester of trying to privatize rights programs.
And while Tester defended his handling of immigration, he pointed to Sheehy’s opposition to a bipartisan border security bill that Republicans rejected in Congress earlier this year, saying his Republican opponents were He said he was only listening to what the boss said. Tester did not mention the former president by name, but it was Trump who urged Republicans to repeal the bill.
Mr. Tester, 68, is the last remaining Democrat in the state and has won each of his three terms by narrow margins, all with Mr. Trump coming out on top.
Split voting has become rare in the Trump era, with only one state out of 69 elections in 2016 and 2020 selecting a Senate candidate who is a member of a party different from the president’s chosen party. And to win, Tester will likely need to lead Harris by at least 15 to 20 points, a difficult task in this polarized political environment.
That’s one reason why testers like to distance themselves from the top of the ticket.
Asked about his decision not to support Harris, Tester told CNN in Missoula, Montana this week, “It’s because I don’t want to nationalize this race, just like they want to nationalize it.” Ta. “I want to talk about Montana. That’s what this race is about.”
Asked if he would vote for Harris, Tester said: “That’s between me and the ballot box.”
Tester’s seat is one of three Democratic seats in the state that Trump easily won in the past two presidential elections. The West Virginia seat vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent earlier this year, is almost certain to go to the Republicans, while Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio They are competing for seats. He will face Republican challenger Bernie Moreno. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to hold seats in seven other states, but their only chances remain in Florida and Texas.
That means Democrats essentially have to run the table to simply keep the Senate 50-50, hoping a Harris victory will give them control of a divided chamber. For that to happen, testers have to win.
Throughout the ad, Tester slams Sheehy as outdated on issues such as health care and abortion rights, the latter of which is on the ballot in Montana and could boost the incumbent Democrat. Both teams have already spent a staggering $139 million on the broadcast, with another $69 million to come, making it the most expensive race in state history.
In the interview, Tester downplayed Trump’s influence at the top of the Republican field, saying in 2018 that the then-president repeatedly tripped up Tester’s then-opponent, Matt Rosendale, and that the final He pointed out that he lost the election campaign.
“When I ran for office in 2018, he came to the state four or five times, more times than I had a finger on my left hand,” Tester said at the time. He talked about the three fingers he lost in a meat grinder accident. he was a child “And it’s part of the lawn and part of what we do.”
But in this week’s debate, Sheehy pointed to some of Tester’s past criticisms of Trump, including saying in 2019, “I think you should go back and punch him in the face.”
Asked about those comments this week, Tester said: “That was a completely figurative remark, and what I meant was fact, he’s tough on us, you have to be tough on him.” That means you can’t do it,” he said.
But Mr. Tester also supported votes to convict Mr. Trump in his two impeachment trials, another issue Mr. Sheehy is focused on.
Asked if he regretted those two votes, Tester told CNN: No, I mean, the case was set up, I was on the jury, you make the call. ”
Earlier this week in Missoula, Mr. Sheehy spoke at an event with conservative activist Charlie Kirk and made the case for how a Democratic-controlled Senate could pose a problem for Mr. Trump, something his campaign also did not disclose.
“If Trump doesn’t win and take control of the Senate, you can expect him to be impeached on the first day,” Sheehy said at an event Monday. “And if he wins and takes the Senate, he can accomplish things like appointing Supreme Court justices.”
Sheehy then left Buck without taking questions from the press.
CNN’s Morgan Rimmer and David Wright contributed to this report.
