2018 General Election Elected 50 – 47
There was a special election in Montana recently. Montana elected a Republican Congressman the day after he slammed a reporter to the ground and kept on punching. The Republican was sick and tired of being asked about health care. He will be asked about health care again and again — by people who keep their distance. Jon Tester’s opponent will be asked about health care a lot, too.
Despite the special election loss, Democrats can win in Montana. There is a Democratic governor and a Democratic Senator — Jon Tester.
Even though Jon Tester is not always responsive to his party’s leadership, Chuck Schumer and other Democratic leaders urge us to help Jon Tester http://www.jontester.com/ win in Montana. Jon Tester is seeking his third term as Senator from Montana. Even though Democrats can and do win in Montana, any Democratic victory there is extraordinary. A Democrat winning three times is otherworldly.
Weighing in at 300 pounds or so, measuring well above six feet tall, it is pretty hard to imagine Jon Tester being bullied by Donald Trump shaking his hand (even if Trump tried to shake Jon Tester’s left hand which has only two fingers). Grandson of a homesteader, Jon Tester took over the family farm in 1978. Even while farming he taught music in an elementary school and at Big Sandy High School to supplement his farm income and to do something he also loved (a big man with little kids). He made his farm pay by focusing on organic crops and, as his dad did, by serving as the local butcher even though he lost three fingers in a meat grinder while doing his chores as a child. After he stopped teaching, Tester served for ten years on the local school board.
A couple of words about Jon Tester’s neighbors: One neighbor in Big Sandy, a devoted Republican, puts out a sign for Jon’s opponent as soon as there is an opponent (It was that family for whom Jon was grinding meat when he lost his fingers.). Another Republican neighbor retired from the State Senate. Jon ran to replace him and won, opposing the deregulation of utilities that had led to substantial price increases. A third neighbor in this community of about 700 people became the bassist for the band Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam plays at fund raisers for Jon Tester.
Jon Tester became a thoroughly successful politician. He moved quickly into leadership positions in the state Senate. He was minority leader and was even, briefly, the Senate President. Term limited, he changed districts and then, twenty years after taking over the family farm, ran for the US Senate. He beat the favored Democrat in a primary and beat the Republican incumbent who had been weakened by his own primary and by the Jack Abramoff scandal.
In the Senate, Jon Tester,has been an advocate for transparency and ethics reform — consistent with his campaign against the corruption of his predecessor. He made his schedule public, listed all Montana-focused projects for which he advocated, and rejected lobbying from any former staffers. On legislative issues, he was more idiosyncratic than most. He opposed bank bailouts and the auto industry bailout. He opposed a jobs act he thought would not create jobs. He advocates for public educationand has been a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act. As would be expected from a Senator from a rural state, he supports preserving clean air and water and maintaining small airports. He has a great interest in creating forestry jobs — both in restoring forests and creating light logging areas.
It would be fair to describe Jon Tester as a pro-gun, anti-big business Democrat. He has changed a little during his tenure in the Senate — becoming more accepting on social issues such as gay rights, but also becoming less confrontational with corporations. For instance, he supported new credit card regulations while also supporting a long time-period lead-in for those regulations to begin.
Winning a third election as Democratic Senator in Montana will not be easy. He knows that Montana does not respect incumbency. He defeated a Republican incumbent to get to the Senate in the first place. Help Jon Tester http://www.jontester.com/win in Montana. Democrats need him and every incumbent Senator to retain the strength that the current strength and, perhaps, to regain control of the Senate.