by Tara Gallagher, Hamilton
A born-and-raised Montanan I know was lobbed the insult “communist s.o.b.” (and expletive) while making calls for Montana Sen. Jon Tester recently. For supporting our home-grown, dirt-farmer senator who supports our veterans, seniors, small businesses, Tribes, youth, farmers, ranchers, and everybody in between? You don’t get more rock-solid than the guy who’s been our voice in the U.S. Senate for three terms. Montana has called itself one big community with a very long main street – neighbors from one side of the state to the other. So, neighbors, we’ve gotta ask ourselves, why such unneighborly slurs?
No, Washington hasn’t changed Jon Tester. He provides a voice of practicality, compromise, and reason, actually solving problems through legislation. That’s the job. He’s rated the 4th most effective senator for the number of his bills that became law. He works across the aisle with anyone to benefit everyday people. He magnifies our voices on committees like Veterans’ Affairs (chairman) and Indian Affairs.
Montana’s changing, but we’re still rural. Tester gets that rural America faces unique challenges. Securing disaster relief for farmers, keeping our mail facilities in Montana, improving your rural internet connection, helping fund our rural hospitals and lowering prescription med costs, helping protect seniors from scams, adding VA clinics here and increasing mental health benefits for veterans, keeping our Job Corps centers open, protecting our public lands and waters – these and more have resulted from Jon’s hard work.
Let’s reelect Jon Tester and keep our strong, effective voice in the Senate.