National Republicans are taking aim at Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-MT) ties to President Joe Biden in a new television ad released on Tuesday, ahead of a tough Senate reelection campaign in 2024.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee is working to highlight Tester’s support for Biden, a strategy it hopes will hurt his reelection campaign in deep-red Montana.
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“Joe Biden’s policies are crushing Montanans, but Jon Tester continues to support him. Montanans deserve a leader who will stand up to Biden, not be his biggest cheerleader,” NRSC spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said.
The ad features a video clip of Tester saying, “Joe’s the right guy for this country. He’s the right guy for president.”
“Tester has voted with Biden 91% of the time,” the narrator says, citing FiveThirtyEight.
“Even after all that, Tester is still standing by Joe’s side.”
“Joe Biden, he’s absolutely 100% with it. He’s doing a good job,” Tester says in a video clip included in the ad.
Republicans see Montana, where former President Donald Trump won by more than 16 percentage points in 2020, as a key pick-up opportunity in 2024. Republicans, including NRSC Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT), are rallying around former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy to challenge the three-term Democratic senator. However, Sheehy may not be the only one running. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), who narrowly lost a challenge to Tester in 2018, has been considering a rematch.
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National Republicans have made it clear their paths to retaking control in the Senate in 2024 relies on wins in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, four states with Democratic incumbents up for reelection. Democrats only control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, meaning Republicans only need to net two seats to win control.
In the second quarter of 2023, Tester’s reelection campaign announced he raised $5 million, breaking his record for non-election-year fundraising. The filings showed he had $10.5 million on hand.
