There are less than two months until Election Day. All eyes will be on the race between GOP nominee Donald Trump, and his Democrat counterpart, Vice President Kamala Harris. But also on key Senate races throughout the country, which will determine the control of the upper chamber by 2025, regardless of who wins the presidency.
We reported previously that Republican Senate nominee Dave McCormick gives Democrat Senator Bob Casey nightmares. There’s also a good chance that West Virginia could turn red, thanks to Gov. Jim Justice’s Senate campaign and Sen. Joe Manchin retiring.
The Republican Party’s second-best hope (after WV) for a critical seat flip is the fumbling campaign of Democrat Senator Jon Tester.
Tester has been a senator since 2007. He represents a state that, while it tends to vote red for presidential elections, elects and re-elects Democrats more than any other party in the U.S. Senate.
Tester, who is a former Navy Seal and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, has been thrown into the fight of his life by Tim Sheehy. Sheehy was endorsed by Trump and is a Republican Senate nominee. According to an analysis by the Cook Political Report published in early September, this race had been reclassified from “toss-up” to “leans Republican,” taking into consideration a wave of summer polling results that were very favorable for Sheehy.
Tester’s reelection campaign received more bad news on Tuesday. This was due to a Montana Supreme Court ruling in a case filed by the Montana Democrat Party, involving the Green Party Senate Candidate, Robert Barb.
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed on Tuesday an earlier court ruling allowing the state’s Green Party Senate Candidate to remain on November’s ballot. This is a blow for Democrats who were trying to stop what they feared could be a spoiler of the tight race between incumbent Senator Jon Tester (D), and his Republican opponent, Tim Sheehy.
In late August, the Montana Democratic Party sued to contest the nomination of Green Party nominee Robert Barb. Barb finished second in the Green Party’s primary in Montana but was replaced by the state winner after he dropped out.
The Montana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Democrats had “failed” to prove that the Montana Green Party’s state central committee violated party rules when it appointed Barb to fill the vacant position.
You can read the full decision here.
We reported at the time that an AARP survey taken by a bipartisan firm in late August showed Tester trailing Sheehy by eight points in a four-way race (including Libertarians and Green Party candidates), and six points behind Sheehy when it was a two-way contest.
If current polling trends hold, then it is not only a question of whether Tester will lose to Sheehy this November but also by how much.
Keep an eye out for this one. Stay tuned.
