Sen. Jon Tester fundraised with group that vowed to ‘dismantle the system’

Sen. Jon Tester — whose moderate, simple-farmer image has keyed his elections in a red state — was invited last week to fundraise with a Mississippi criminal justice group linked to an organization that pushed bail funds during riots in the summer of 2020 and backs the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

The 66-year-old Tester (D-Mont.) was asked to deliver the keynote address on June 9 at the Mississippi Association for Justice’s annual convention in New Orleans and given time for a special fundraiser beforehand, The Post has learned.

The association worked with the Mississippi Center for Justice (MCJ), which advocated donating to bail funds in June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and opposed a state law passed last year that banned K-12 schools and universities from teaching that any race is superior or inferior or that people should be treated differently based on their race.

In a March 3, 2022, press release, the MCJ said the state law claims to “root out critical race theory in Mississippi’s public schools, but will actually whitewash history and attack academic freedom.”

The Mississippi Association for Justice has been listed as one of the MCJ’s “social justice partners” helping to “dismantle the system” in the state “through a potent combination of direct legal services, strategic policy advocacy and community outreach,” in the words of the group’s 2020-2021 impact report.

Attorneys for the MCJ have also praised Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement from cracking down on the use of undocumented migrant workers.

The Mississippi Association for Justice hailed Tester last week as “a third-generation Montana dirt farmer who brings his Montana values with him to the U.S. Senate” and is “relentless in defending Montana from outsiders coming into the state that are hell-bent on buying the elections, taking public lands, and chipping away at personal freedoms.”

“Jon’s work has improved access to services for our veterans, increased accountability in Washington, lowered prescription drug costs, secured more resources for our Border Patrol and military, and delivered on rural priorities for Montana,” the invitation read.

Tester, who is running for a fourth Senate term, has taken in more than $3 million from individual contributions to his primary campaign fund in the first quarter of 2023, most of which came from out-of-state donors.

The Montana Democrat raised more than $2.6 million from individual contributors in other US states and the District of Columbia, while taking in a little more than $400,000 from residents of the senator’s home state, FEC data show.

Half of Tester’s out-of-state fundraising — roughly $1.3 million — came from donors in DC, New York and California.

In March, Tester showed up at a swanky Palo Alto fundraiser, where donors — including a partner from the recently collapsed Silicon Valley Bank — paid between $250 and $6,600 to attend.

Tester is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2024 and could face another challenge from Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who lost to the senator in 2018 before winning a House seat in 2020.

Former President Donald Trump won Montana by a margin of 16 points the same year.

The Tester campaign did not respond to a request for comment.