We are gathering information from all statewide candidates as a resource for the 2024 Primary Elections. Responses were limited to 200 words per question. Political attacks may have been removed, but otherwise, the responses are published unedited.

What is your full name as it will appear on ballots?

Jon Tester

What is your age?

67

Where do you live?

Big Sandy, MT

What is your education background?

College of Great Falls, Bachelor of Science in Music

Please list your current and previous occupations.

U.S. Senator, dirt farmer, music teacher for Big Sandy public schools

What motivated you to seek a seat in the U.S Senate? 

Simply put, the Montana we know and love is changing. Everything from housing to groceries is more expensive as out-of-state multimillionaires move here and buy up our land, using Montana as their personal playground.

It’s putting a strain on everything – on prices, on our local infrastructure, on our towns and our parks and our public lands. With so much changing, we’ve got to have somebody in the Senate who’s willing to fight for our Montana way of life.

I still farm the land just outside of Big Sandy that my grandparents homesteaded more than 100 years ago. I feel those changes that are going on in Montana right now, every day.

Montana needs somebody back in Washington, DC who understands rural America. Someone who fights for our freedoms and goes to bat for our veterans, our family farms and ranches, our working families, our health care workers and our teachers. I’m running to keep up the fight for those folks, and to make sure our kids and grandkids can grow up in the same Montana we know and love. Montana is the greatest state in the greatest country in the world and it’s damn sure not for sale.

What, if anything, should the Senate do to address the federal deficit? 

The deficit is out of control and both parties are to blame. In Montana, we know how to balance a budget and live within our means. That is why I authored a balanced budget proposal. It would protect Social Security and Medicare benefits that our seniors have earned while still forcing the federal government to stop racking up the debt and passing it along to our kids and grandkids. We also need to hold massive corporations accountable and make them pay their fair share.

Yes or no, do you support a federal ban on abortion?

NO.

Montanans of all stripes don’t want the federal government telling them what to do, and they don’t want politicians or judges stripping away their personal freedoms. Just last year, politicians in Montana ignored the voices of the voters and passed abortion bans. I opposed these bans and will always fight to protect Montana women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions.

What, if anything, should the Senate do to address climate change? 

There is no question about it, climate change is impacting our economy and our way of life. Sharla and I see these impacts firsthand on our farm, where significant droughts have led to some of the toughest harvests in recent years. Wildfire seasons burn longer and more intensely, and taxpayers are stuck with the bill, paying untold billions of dollars to rebuild after extreme weather events.

We should be developing clean energy technologies to tackle climate change, create good-paying American jobs, and secure our energy independence, and Montana has the opportunity to lead the way. China is actively working to beat America in the clean energy sector in hope of taking over as the world’s strongest economy. We can’t afford to lose this competition. That’s why we should invest directly in Montana companies researching next-generation energy technologies that are affordable and lower costs for consumers. And my Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill secured investments to update our energy grids to prevent and protect against wildfire. Traditional energy sources like oil and gas remain a critical part of how we power our country, so we need to continue to invest in development of technologies like carbon capture and storage to reduce carbon emissions.

What changes, if any, should be made to the way elections and campaigns are funded? 

Elected leaders should work for the people, not those who can cut the biggest check. It’s way past time to kick dark money out of politics. We should have done it yesterday.

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision was disastrous. It flooded our elections with mind-boggling amounts of money and made a mess of our democracy. Since then, I’ve fought to overturn that decision with my “Corporations Are Not People” constitutional amendment, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join me in making sure hardworking Montanans, not massive corporations and out-of-state billionaires, get to pick their elected officials.

I will also continue fighting for better transparency in campaign finance, like my Sunlight for Unaccountable Non-profits (SUN) Act, which would take huge strides towards eliminating dark money by requiring the IRS to publicly disclose donors who give over $5,000 to certain tax-exempt groups engaging in political activity.

Hardworking Montanans should be the ones deciding their elections, not out-of-state special interest groups. I will always defend the voices of Montanans and put them first.

What, if anything, should the Senate do to improve the nation’s immigration laws and security at the southern border? 

What’s happening on the southern border is unacceptable, and dedicating more manpower and resources is crucial to keeping Montanans safe.

That’s why I’ve called on President Biden to step up and do everything in his power to secure the border, and it’s why I supported a strong bipartisan deal to get our border under control earlier this year. This bipartisan bill would have hired more border patrol agents, cracked down on the fentanyl crisis, and tightened asylum standards – that’s why it received the strong endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues decided to play politics and voted to keep the border open for another year so they could campaign on the issue.

I have been talking with Montanans, sheriffs, and mayors across the state, they all are feeling the consequences of the situation at the southern border, from stretched law enforcement budgets to fentanyl in the communities. I was proud that my bipartisan FEND Off Fentanyl Act passed to place sanctions on countries engaged in international trafficking of illegal fentanyl and give law enforcement the resources they need to battle the fentanyl crisis.

What, if anything, should the Senate do to ensure Social Security and Medicare benefits meet the needs of older adults? 

I will never cut Social Security and Medicare. Full stop. For many older Montanans, Social Security is their only source of retirement income, and Medicare is their only way to access affordable life-saving health care. These are essential benefits that Montanans have spent their entire lives paying into, and I will always fight to ensure these benefits are protected – not just for today’s seniors but for all of Montana’s future generations.

There are some politicians who want to end Social Security or cut those benefits. I oppose any plan to do so. I will also stand tough against any plan to privatize Medicare, because our seniors have paid into that their whole lives and should be able to rely on it. I was also proud to pass legislation that allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices – including capping the price of insulin for seniors at $35/month – and I will fight to ensure that Montana’s nursing homes stay open and fully-staffed. Montana’s seniors can count on me to defend their hard-earned health care benefits.

What should be the top priority when managing public land?  

As a lifelong Montanan, I know our public lands are foundational to our way of life and to our state’s economy. You don’t need to be a millionaire to hunt, fish, or hike in these treasured landscapes, because they belong to all of us. Our public lands play a key role for ranchers looking to graze their cattle, or local sawmills in need of timber to harvest. That is why I oppose the call from some politicians who have said they want to transfer our public lands, which would make it easier to sell our wide open spaces off to the highest bidder.

Montana has a long history of local collaboratives working together to improve management of our public lands. I worked with Montanans to protect special places like the Rocky Mountain Front, Glacier National Park, and the Gateway to Yellowstone National Park. I am also incredibly proud to have secured full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and it’s because of that work that conservation and recreation priorities for Montana’s public lands will be funded for generations to come. And I will continue to fight for bills like the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act to protect thousands of acres of public lands for future generations.

What, if anything, would you do if elected to build trust in the Senate?

When I first ran for U.S. Senate, I made a promise to Montanans that I would go above and beyond on ethics and transparency and work for them – not special interest groups.

Every day since, I’ve worked tirelessly to uphold that promise. The first thing I did was post my Senate schedule online for all Montanans to see. I was the first Senator to do this and still do it to this day – unfortunately, I’m one of the only U.S. senators who does. So I’ve introduced a bill to make that mandatory for all of my colleagues, because the American people deserve to know who their elected officials are meeting with.

I’m also fighting to crack down on lobbyist influence. I’m working to shut the revolving door by banning members of Congress from becoming lobbyists – ever. And I routinely invite retired Montana judges to conduct a voluntary ethics audits of my office, to ensure my office and I meet the high standards we set for ourselves. I think all of my colleagues should join me.

Like most Montanans, I believe a handshake means something and our word is our bond. That’s how trust in the Senate should be built – by earning it.

The Covid-induced tourism boom to Montana introduced a new audience to the Clark Fork River. For two summers, boats, tubers, kayakers, paddleboarders and river boarders had campgrounds and fishing access sites clogged.

That visitation surge has settled, but once tasted, more people are using the incredible water resources today, and who can blame them? 

Most water recreation can be done with common sense safety but whitewater rafting is best done with an experienced company unless the person behind the oars has been safety certified. That’s because it’s a far cry from rowing with your buddies from Forest Grove to the Big Eddy Fishing Access sites casting flies all afternoon. 

There are several rafting companies that specialize in whitewater rafting with experienced guides that will make an incredible memory for families with lots of fun, laughter and the stories they share. The shuttle back to your vehicle is happy rafters telling their favorite parts of the day.

“The Alberton Gorge is one of the most beautiful sections of river in Montana and during the summer it has incredible scenery and whitewater opportunities. It’s our specialty! But our scenic wildlife viewing floats on gentle water are becoming more popular. And these are the heart and soul of Montana River Guides,” said Mike Johnston who started the company in 1994. 

Montana River Guides has certified whitewater rescue instructors and they have been training search and rescue, fire departments, and rafting companies for many years from as far away as Costa Rica and India. They are affiliated with the Whitewater Rescue Institute and every guide is trained in swiftwater rescue. They are so secure that they are the Discovery Channel’s only choice for whitewater safety.

The foundation of the rafting company is family-oriented whitewater rafting and picturesque river floating.

“We’ve always been off the beaten path, a little bit, being in Alberton,” Johnston explained. “And the longer we’ve had our company, the more we appreciate that we are not near a national park as it’s not near as crowded. That we’re not in a part of Montana that gets overwhelmed with tourism.” 

However, the business has been growing steadily as more people move into Missoula and the Spokane and Coeur ‘d Alene areas as those are the repeat customers which are a huge chunk of revenue. 

“A lot of our customers are local people and families,” Johnston said. “And then their visiting friends and families come and try it out. They come back year after year. But we also have a lot of tourists who used to drive through the area but have realized there’s a lot of stuff to do here for all ages so it’s almost a destination.” 

Something Johnston shares that he’s noticed in his 30 years of taking people rafting is heartening. 

“Families today not only include kids and maybe grandparents, but more and more people ask about floating with their dogs. We accommodate it whenever we can. Of course, we can’t do it in big whitewater but on the scenic floats on the Blackfoot or other rivers we float, we have different sized life jackets designed especially for dogs and we’ve never had a bad experience.” 

Just to ensure that other rafters might not be dog-people, the requesting party must rent the entire boat, which happens anyway with so many friends and family members.

Johnston is a director of the Mineral County Chamber of Commerce as a personal supporter of local businesses but also to refer his visitors to other local establishments. Where to eat, spend the night, play pool, fill propane tanks, campgrounds that are nearby, etc. Float information and scheduling is done online at montanariverguides.com.

Voters have waited with baited breaths for their ballot to arrive in their mailboxes.  A caller this morning inspired me to this post about the ballots just mailed out…all three of them.  

A coworker agreed with this topic choice, then added, “My father-in-law called me last night, asking questions about the ballots.”  I suppose it’s understandable.  We expect something pretty clearcut and it’s not quite.  For those new to voting, or anyone confused by what they received, let’s see if I can help.

The state of Montana does not document party affiliation for a resident when they register to vote.  The voter cards mailed earlier do not list party.  In the primary election, such as now in May, a voter is free to decide which party races they will vote in.  So a Montanan can cast a ballot for either Democrat, Republican or Green.  Others in the state have four ballots in their packet.

The most important sheet of paper in the ballot packet is the Voting Instructions.  Follow these steps and your choices will be respected and counted.

While the steps are pretty straightforward, number 1 states “Choose ONE Ballot to Vote.”

Translated: No, please don’t mark all three or four and send them in.  Waste of your vote.  The Elections office will not count them.  A voter is free to choose the one party‘s races they care about and will participate in by voting.

Another caller this morning urged listeners to fill out their ballot and turn it in as soon as possible.  Why?  The only reason a voter should sent it in ASAP is if they will mail it.  The Postal Service will need days for delivery.  Like the Instructions clearly says at the top “a postmark is not accepted.”  The best practice is to deliver in person.  That being said, you have until June 4th to carefully think about your choices and fill out the ballot, then turn it in to the Elections Office or drop it in an official ballot box.  As of the date of this article, you have time.

“Who Should I Vote For?”

This is a risky question to ask.  A radio guest suggested that if you absolutely don’t know who to vote for in a particular race, ask someone who follows all this political stuff and who can tell you who to vote for.  I’m a little bothered by this advice because at first blush it seems like ceding control of your vote to another person.  But then who do you ask?  I will therefore add that you should ask someone who is knowledgeable and whom you trust, and they should give you concrete information or point you where to look for yourself.  Answers like “Vote for him, he’s a (political view)” or “I met her, nice lady” is not nearly enough to make an informed choice.

Perhaps a better question is “Who do you recommend for this specific race, and why?”

Still, do your homework.  An incumbent candidate has a voting record; look it up.  How did they vote on key issues when it mattered most?  What they say in news articles and on media should again be taken with salt.  Politicians say all manner of things.  Their social media may give some insight. Their votes and their actions are their true voice.  And again, you have time.

The key message I have is that you should be in control of your vote.  Don’t give your power to someone else with an unfilled ballot or have someone other than the Postal Service deliver it for you.  That piece of paper, that ballot, is truly your power in these elections.