by Chris Love, Corvallis
We have a lot to lose if we don’t return Jon Tester to the US Senate Nov 5.
Contrary to all the negative ads blasting Jon with lies, he is far too valuable to be replaced by a recent Montana transplant with zero legislative experience and a quickly developed reputation for deceiving voters about everything from the source of his gunshot wound to his recent board membership for PERC, an organization with a history of supporting the interests of private over public land ownership.
Jon, by contrast, is a native Montanan who has served our state for decades. As Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he has prevailed to bring Montana twelve new VA Clinics. Two of these — Missoula’s new primary care/multi-specialty clinic and the Hamilton clinic now being built to offer local primary care, mental and women’s health — give Missoula and Ravalli County Vets direct access to VA health care.
Jon has also earned a well-deserved reputation for working effectively across the aisle with Republicans when he sees value for Montanans. He voted three times for Republican bills to fund the border wall and challenged Biden on loosening immigration policy. He also backed the recent popular bipartisan immigration bill — a bill strongly supported by the Border Patrol but tanked by Trump to keep immigration as an election issue. Tester also helped write the bipartisan infrastructure bill that is creating Montana jobs and improving our roads and bridges. Jon consistently supports our access to public lands, women’s reproductive rights, and strong Medicare and Social Security benefits, all critical to Montanans. He knows his way around Capitol Hill and is respected by his peers on both sides of the aisle.
Tim Sheehy is a candidate with no public policy experience and no expressed interest in working across the aisle to find solutions for all. His wealth and multiple multi-million-dollar homes render him out of touch with the basic needs of most Montanans. Worse, he threatens two of our dearest freedoms: free access to public lands and women’s reproductive rights. Lacking Jon’s respect, experience and committee leadership in the Senate, Sheehy would be just another freshman senator trying to find his way around.
Would you trade gold for an unknown metal? Don’t vote to trade Jon’s deep experience, his respect among his Senate peers and his long-term commitment to Montana’s needs for an unknown newbie whose value to Montana is unclear and untested. The only thing we know for sure about Tim Sheehy is that he was hand-picked by Steve Daines to run for Senate to gain a Republican majority – not for his potential value to the people of Montana.
Vote for Jon Tester Nov 5.