Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is sinking fast against Republican challenger Tim Sheehy in deep-red Montana, two new polls show.
Sheehy’s summer surge has continued through the fall, with the challenger now leading safely ahead of the margin of error.
A New York Times/Siena Research Poll shows Sheehy at 52 percent to Tester’s 44 percent – an eight-point swing towards Sheehy from its previous poll:
And a Public Opinion Strategies survey conducted for the Montana GOP shows Sheehy up with 51 percent to Tester’s 45:
A political neophyte, the businessman and former Navy SEAL Sheehy emerged from the Republican primary well behind the battle-tested Tester, whose name has been on the ballot in Montana for decades. He has leaned on his business acumen and military record, while blasting Tester and his party’s leftward shift as out of touch with Montana.
Sheehy’s appeal appears to be working.
Montana’s trends follow those in other states with high percentages of working-class voters, where polls, spending, and reports from the ground suggest Vice President Kamala Harris is a weight on down ballot races, increasingly worrying Democrats.
On Monday, the Cook Political Report shifted the Wisconsin Senate race from “lean Democrat” to “toss up” as Republican Eric Hovde continues to whittle away at incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-WI) lead. Democrats are moving money to Wisconsin for the race, which they had considered safe.
Tester and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) were widely projected as the most endangered Democrat senators of the cycle. With Tester’s chances increasingly dire and Brown’s not far behind, Republicans have gone on offense in other states, many with similar blue collar bona fides.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC closely allied with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), recently purchased $67.5 million in additional TV, radio, and digital ad buys in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
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Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
