In a testament to the importance of the Montana race for U.S. Senate, former President Donald Trump held a rally in Big Sky Country for the first time in six years. At the Aug. 9 event in Bozeman, Montana, Trump drummed up support for Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, who is seeking to unseat longtime Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
That Senate matchup has drawn national attention for its potential to help flip the Senate to Republican control. Republicans hold a majority of the House seats, but GOP proposals have often died when they reach the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Tester remains the sole Democrat holding a high office in Montana, a formerly “purple” state—a mix of Republican red and Democrat blue—that has become reliably red during the Trump era.
Speaking to a crowd that overflowed the 8,455-seat Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University, Trump said the state and the nation need Sheehy to win.
Trump said that “for years, Tester has been telling Montana that he’s a moderate,” but Tester voted in line with policies that Trump blames for the border crisis. In 2019, Tester opposed constructing the U.S.–Mexico border wall. At the time, he denounced “a phony ‘emergency declaration’” as an “end-run around Congress” to divert military funds for use to build the wall.
Sheehy said, “You have a very important job to do, because if Donald Trump gets to the White House and doesn’t have a Senate, he’s not going to get things done.”
The crowd roared its approval when Sheehy committed to delivering on a theme that emerged during his 56-county tour speaking to Montanans: “They want common sense back. They want common-sense government. And what does ‘common sense’ mean to Montanans? They want a secure border, safe streets, cheap gas. Cops are good; criminals are bad. Boys are boys; girls are girls.”
To get to the Montana rally, Trump contended with a mechanical problem on his private aircraft, dubbed “Trump Force One.” Because it was leaking hydraulic fluid, the plane was diverted to Billings, Montana; Trump then traveled to a fundraiser in Big Sky before heading to Bozeman.
Meanwhile, his Democrat opponents, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned in Arizona. That’s a battleground state in the presidential race, whereas Montana is considered solidly in Trump’s column.
Taking the stage almost 90 minutes later than scheduled, Trump said he had traveled to many places across Montana that day. “I’ve gotta like Tim Sheehy a lot to be here,” he said.
Trump told Sheehy, “You'd better win.”
Thus far, Tester has a huge fundraising advantage over Sheehy, but Sheehy has been edging out his opponent in most opinion polls.
Those early polls came right after Tester and Sheehy had won their respective primary elections.
Sheehy won a three-way Republican primary with nearly 140,000 votes, 74 percent of the ballots cast; Tester drew a little more than 104,000 votes, trouncing his opponent, who earned only 3 percent of the vote.
Although Trump has attended fundraisers in Montana recently, his most recent rallies in the state occurred in 2018, while he was in office. Then, he visited Belgrade, Missoula, Billings, and Great Falls.
