Montana
U.S. Senate Dems will prioritize Montana and Ohio seats, campaign chief says • Daily Montanan
![U.S. Senate Dems will prioritize Montana and Ohio seats, campaign chief says • Daily Montanan U.S. Senate Dems will prioritize Montana and Ohio seats, campaign chief says • Daily Montanan](https://dailymontanan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TesterBrown-2048x1365-1.jpg)
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said Tuesday his top priority this November is defending incumbents in tough races — placing Montana’s Jon Tester and Ohio’s Sherrod Brown at the top of the list for resources.
Gary Peters, who is also the U.S. senator from Michigan, said he sees several opportunities for Democrats to pick up seats as well, though he stressed that those campaigns are too close to predict just yet.
“To be candid, my number one priority is to bring back all of the incumbents,” Peters said. “But we also want to go on the offense, and offense is going to be very important. And right now our focus is Texas and Florida.”
Peters said that during the last few weeks Democrats have seen positive trends in polling in those two states that could increase the odds they flip from red to blue.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is facing a challenge from Democratic Rep. Colin Allred and Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott is running against former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Democratic support continuing to rise in those two states could have an impact on how much money Democrats dedicate to those campaigns, Peters said.
“As we make our decisions on resources, we play to win,” he said. “And when we see opportunities like we see in Texas, we’re going to invest accordingly.”
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the Senate campaigns in Michigan, Montana and Ohio as “toss up” races, while it places Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the “lean Democrat” category.
All seven of those seats are currently held by Democrats, making the map especially challenging for Peters.
Florida and Texas fall into the “likely Republican” category, signaling the odds are somewhat long for Democrats, though not completely out of reach.
Peters said during the panel interview with the Regional Reporters Association at the DSCC headquarters in Washington, D.C., that he believes GOP Senate candidates rank on a spectrum from “flawed to very flawed,” potentially boosting Democrats chances.
In Montana, defending Tester
Peters argued that in Montana, Republican candidate Tim Sheehy’s character is one of the reasons Tester remains within the margin of error in the vast majority of polls, despite the fact that voters favor Republican presidential candidates by double-digit margins.
“The list of flaws of Sheehy are long,” Peters said. “And that’s why folks in Montana are rejecting him, even in a state that’s going to be voting heavily for Donald Trump.”
Peters said some of Sheehy’s problems stem from calling himself a rancher despite living on a “dude ranch” and owning a company that is “hemorrhaging money.”
Montana’s relatively small population, Peters said, means that face-to-face conversations with voters and a candidate’s reputation can have a significant impact on a campaign’s outcome.
“Retail politics can make a huge difference,” Peter said. “Just think of Maine with Susan Collins when she won. It’s because it’s a small state. Retail politics matter. People knew Susan Collins.”
Collins, a Republican, in 2020 defeated her Democratic challenger, despite being considered one of the year’s most vulnerable senators.
Tester has a similar connection with voters in Montana, potentially edging him out over Sheehy, who is a more recent transplant to the state, he said.
“People know Jon Tester in Montana,” Peters said. “He is a long time Montana person, third generation dirt farmer. His roots are there. He’s had opportunities to get to know a lot of folks in Montana in a personal way. He can do that in a lot more effective way than I can in Michigan with 10 million people.”
Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines, who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said this summer during a panel interview with journalists in the RRA that his home state represented the best pickup opportunity for the GOP.
And just last week, Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, moved Montana from the toss up category to “Leans Republican.”
“The upshot of this rating change is that there are now 51 Senate seats rated as Safe, Likely, or Leaning Republican, so this move solidifies the Republicans as clear favorites to flip control of the Senate this November,” wrote Kyle Kondik, the publication’s managing editor.
Kondik later stressed that “Montana is a challenging state to poll, and both sides remain very heavily invested there.”
NRSC Spokeswoman Maggie Abboud released a written statement shortly after that ratings change, criticizing Tester as the wrong person to represent Montana in the Senate.
“Jon Tester is a diehard liberal who hates Donald Trump and votes for the Harris-Biden agenda 95% of the time,” Abboud wrote. “That’s why poll after poll shows him losing ground rapidly against Tim Sheehy. Montanans aren’t buying Tester’s moderate shtick anymore.”
‘Candidate quality’ in Ohio
In Ohio, where Brown is hoping to secure reelection against GOP candidate Bernie Moreno, the DSCC hopes to outrun a shift toward Republicans based on “candidate quality.”
“Sherrod has been able to win statewide because of who he is as a person, and that’s a big deal,” Peters said, noting that Senate races are often viewed differently by voters than the presidential race.
Moreno is a flawed candidate and a fraud, Peters said.
“The stories that he has, stories of coming to Ohio and starting a business as an immigrant with no resources, have been shown not to be true. That he actually comes from a family, one of the wealthiest families in Columbia,” Peters said, referring to a New York Times article that Moreno has refuted.
Moreno was also sued by employees at his car dealership for not paying overtime, setting up “a pretty clear contrast” with Brown, who has supported labor unions throughout his career, Peters said.
The DSCC is putting “substantial resources into Ohio” to help Brown win, he said.
Around the battlegrounds
Other battleground states have Senate races that will run down to the wire, with many of the Democrats expected to remain neck-and-neck with the GOP challengers until the polls close.
Peters said that should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the last few election cycles.
“Just because you have a really good candidate doesn’t mean that you win,” he said. “You also have to run a really good campaign in order to win, and particularly on the ground.”
That is one of the reasons why the DSCC is putting considerable resources into ensuring that voters can actually get to the polls this fall.
“Last cycle, for the first time in history, we spent more money on the ground than we did on the air, turning out voters,” Peters said. “It was something that I thought was incredibly important.“
The DSCC is planning to follow that same strategy again this year, ensuring that Democratic supporters in swing states are able to cast their ballots.
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Montana
Longer fire season in Montana means more days with low air quality
![Longer fire season in Montana means more days with low air quality Longer fire season in Montana means more days with low air quality](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3a7a310/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1008+0+62/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fea%2Fc8%2F3f9bc351483aaaacebb705a82d09%2Fdadsf-2-7-1.jpg)
BILLINGS — Much of Montana might be covered in smoke and haze due to the wildfires in Idaho, but it’s something the state has seen all summer. According to a study conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, wildfire season in Montana has grown longer, contributing to more days with lower air quality.
For Billings resident Holly Caufield, the hazy air meant a change in plans.
“We were going to go paddleboarding, but it was kind of gross and hazy, so we decided, I don’t know, it was just kind of depressing,” said Caufield at the Billings Rims Monday.
Mother Nature had different plans, which meant Caufield opted to walk her dog Maze on the Rims.
Justin McKinsey/MTN News
“Just kind of depressing. Gross, muggy, kind of makes us tired. Headaches,” Caufield said.
That’s true for people across much of the state with the smoke affecting communities from Missoula to Miles City.
“In the central part of the state, it’s at the unhealthy level right now… right now we’ve just moved into, we’re approaching unhealthy levels in the Billings area,” said Billings National Weather Service meteorologist John Wetenkamp.
Wetenkamp said longer fire seasons mean hazier skies in Big Sky Country.
“There’s been an uptick in fire activity, so yeah, most likely we’re experiencing more days of poor air quality than we have, historically, just do the uptick in wildfires,” Wetenkamp said.
Alina Hauter/MTN News
According to a study recently conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, fire seasons have grown significantly longer with the length of fire weather season increasing 18.7% from 1979 to 2013.
Some forests in Montana have seen fire season lengthen by 36 days on average each year. In Eastern Montana, including the site of this year’s massive Remington Fire, fire season is 42 days longer compared to 30 years ago.
“A lot of that has to do with changes in precipitation patterns, warmer temperatures, and also just us as a society becoming more vulnerable to wildfire and wildfire impacts as the population increases in some of the more fire-prone areas,” said Wetenkamp.
More fire means more smoke, and in the case of Caufield, more headaches, even though her dogs might not mind.
“They like it, they enjoy it, I don’t think it really bothers them,” Caufield said.
Montana
Storm of Smoke Hits Montana
![Storm of Smoke Hits Montana Storm of Smoke Hits Montana](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6d7dc22/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1008+0+36/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2F69%2F3e061bce4138a9d5facb21c79c79%2Fspecial.png)
An AIR QUALITY ALERT is in effect for parts of central and western Montana.
Wildfire smoke is having an extreme impact on the air quality across Big Sky Country with a lot of Montana facing unhealthy conditions being outside. This is the worst air quality of this wildfire and summer season. Some places in southwest Montana including the Bitterroot and the Helena Valleys had “very unhealthy” air at times on Monday morning. Hamilton even had “hazardous” air quality. In these conditions, everyone should avoid being outside for long. This is not good weather conditions to hike or run or do things that require physical exertion outside. Recent hot weather allowed wildfires to grow across southwest Montana, Idaho and Oregon. The wind direction is carrying the smoke right across Montana resulting in the poor air. Changes are coming though that will result in better air quality. Tuesday will be cooler with less wind. Highs will be in the 70s to low 80s. The air quality will improve somewhat across northern Montana as the flow switches around to the north. The southern and western parts of the state will continue to have “unhealthy” air at times. A few isolated thunderstorms will pop Tuesday evening. A larger storm will begin moving into the state on Wednesday with mostly cloudy skies and scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be in the 80s east, 70s central and west. Low pressure will move across the state from Wednesday night into Friday. Thursday will be mostly cloudy or overcast with widespread showers, thunderstorms and rain. Highs will be in the 50s and 60s west, 70s east. Rain and mountain snow will fall on most of the state’s wildfires. Rain will also fall on Idaho and Oregon fires as well. This along with cooler temperatures will slow the fire activity and thus the smoke output. These conditions will also be more advantageous for firefighters to be more productive in their efforts. Areas of rain will continue Thursday night into Friday. Some locations in western Montana could see between 1-2″ of rain! Showers will continue on Friday before the storm moves away. Air quality will improve significantly through Thursday into Friday. Friday will be stronger wind as well with highs in the 60s. This weekend will be partly cloudy with cleaner air and highs in the 70s to around 80. Looking farther down the road, several storms are likely through the end of summer and the end of September. There will be multiple opportunities for rain and snow on the wildfires. Conditions will be improving and fire/smoke season will be getting closer to its end thankfully.
Have a nice day,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
Montana
Kilted vlogger makes journey across Montana
![Kilted vlogger makes journey across Montana Kilted vlogger makes journey across Montana](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/14cbc01/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1008+0+36/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdc%2F49%2F543f0c6e45f4af1c3296d8b85dda%2Fkrtv00004.png)
GREAT FALLS — If you decide to be a travel vlogger, you have to do something to set you apart from the hundreds of others. If you’re Paul, that means leaning into your Scottish lineage.
“I thought, well, that would make me a little bit different to the other 10,000 people,” said Paul, the content creator behind Paul Wheel Drive on Youtube.
So for nearly four years, Paul has been wearing a kilt.
“Just gives me a bit of an idea, people who are trying to follow me on YouTube,” Paul said. “…Oh, yeah. He’s the guy with the kilt.”
Paul is a van life vlogger, which is exactly what it sounds like. He films his life living out of a 2003 Volkswagen Winnebago Rialta.
“It is my accommodation, my home, my recluse, the whole thing,” Paul said.
Paul has traveled around the world twice, and four years ago decided to drive around Australia, creating YouTube videos to help people learn tips and tricks when traveling on the road. Every video ends with the same information:
“How much in fuel, how much in accommodation, how long it took me to get there and how far it really was,” Paul said.
After three years touring Australia, Paul got a six-month Visa and decided to help Americans out.
“I really didn’t find much in the way of tourist offices. Not in California anyway,” Paul said, “So I thought, ‘Well, that definitely reminds me why I came here, to make up what I had made in Australia for Americans.’”
MTN News
If you’ve ever wanted to strike out and do some van living on your own, let the man with the kilt show you how. It’s not always pretty, but that isn’t the point.
“The real joy of travel isn’t being at a place, although, you know, there’s obviously benefits of it,” Paul said. “It’s just the travel itself.”
Even if that means living in a 22-foot, 20-year old RV that Paul finds is plenty big enough.
“I think it’d be fine for two [people], but I’ve never really had two to be traveling with,” Paul said. “But, like, for one it’s just perfect.”
If you want to try this for yourself, Paul says to rent the house and the equipment, and if you are with a partner, prepare for a somewhat rude awakening.
He noted, “Now, they might have been married for 20 years and think they know each other really, really well, but suddenly when you’re in this room, it’s just like, ‘Get out of here, get out.’”
It’s not financially viable. It’s not especially luxurious, but it will give you memories and experiences that last a lifetime and are priceless.
Click here to check out Paul’s channel on Youtube.
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