West
‘Whoever gets elected’: Vulnerable Dem Tester digs in heels on not endorsing Harris
Vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is continuing to defend his decision not to endorse in the 2024 presidential race ahead of his tough re-election, but the Democrat’s opponent suggests his “record” signals support for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tester recently revealed that he would not be making an endorsement in the presidential race in order to focus on his re-election, despite being a key player in Harris’ recruitment to the Senate.
Tester served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) from 2015 to 2017, leading the efforts of the campaign arm to elect Democrats to the chamber when Harris first announced her senatorial aspirations. And after Harris launched her California Senate bid, the Los Angeles Times reported in January 2015 that, according to an adviser, Tester was one of the players who encouraged her to run.
Asked again about withholding an endorsement, Tester’s response was that he would work with or hold accountable whichever presidential candidate gets elected.
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“Unfortunately, my opponent would rather talk about a national race that will be decided by the people of Montana. Whoever gets elected to the U.S. president, I can guarantee you one thing, just like all previous ones, I’ll work with them when they’re doing good things for Montana, and I’ll hold them accountable when they’re not,” Tester told MTN News in an interview.
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Tester endorsed Harris when she was selected as President Biden’s 2020 running mate. “My friend @KamalaHarris is a proven fighter and an excellent pick for Vice President. As VP, I’m confident she will continue to fight for working families across this country. Looking forward to supporting her and @JoeBiden in November,” Tester wrote in an August 2020 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Montana Republican nominee and Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, who endorsed former President Trump in the presidential race, suggested that Tester’s voting record is his endorsement for Harris.
“Jon Tester votes with Kamala Harris 95% of the time. His voting record is his endorsement of the failed Harris agenda, and every time Montanans needed him to stop the insanity in Washington, he was the deciding vote to further her progressive liberal agenda,” a spokesperson for Sheehy for Montana told Fox News Digital.
“That same agenda has made costs for things like groceries and gas skyrocket, it’s brought us record high inflation, and has given us a wide-open southern border that has brought crime and deadly drugs into our communities. Tester also voted to allow benefits for illegal immigrants paid for by the American taxpayer – a hallmark of the Harris agenda. We can’t afford to re-elect Jon Tester because his voting record in Washington proves he’s changed and is and will continue to support the radical America Last agenda.”
Tester is running for re-election in red state Montana, a race that could likely determine which party controls the chamber, and recent polling and political forecaster predictions suggest that Sheehy is currently leading the race just weeks before Election Day.
A recent AARP survey found that Sheehy is leading by six percentage points in a head-to-head matchup against Tester. His lead against Tester widened to eight points in a multi-candidate field that included the state’s Green Party and Libertarian candidates.
The Cook Political Report, an independent nonpartisan elections handicapper, recently shifted the race from “toss-up” to “lean Republican,” while Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics moved the race to “leans Republican.”
Tester’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time of publication.
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Montana
Forget the VP debate. Montana’s Senate debate is more important
On Tuesday, Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will square off in New York for the only vice presidential debate of the election. Polling from Prolific exclusive to The Independent shows the debate has a chance to tip the scales.
But in truth, whoever wins the White House will not be able to do much if they do not control the Senate, which not only passes bills, but also ratifies treaties and most importantly confirms cabinet and judicial nominees.
That is why both Democrats and Republicans are pouring in money to determine Montana’s Senate race results. Senator Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent who first won the seat in 2006, is running against Tim Sheehy, a retired Navy SEAL. Polling shows Democrats lead in Senate races with incumbents in Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada, as well as in open Senate races in Michigan and Arizona.
But Democrats faced a major blow when Senator Joe Manchin — the former Democrat-turned-independent Senator from West Virginia, a state where every county voted for Donald Trump — announced last year that he would not seek re-election, almost guaranteeing the seat would fall into Republican hands. That left Democrats with only 50 Senate seats, and few opportunities to flip seats save for longshot attempts in Florida and Texas, and turned the spotlight on Montana’s race.
On Monday evening, Tester and Sheehy traded barbs in a debate at the University of Montana at Missoula on everything from abortion to immigration to health care.
The debate focused heavily on reproductive rights given that Montanans will vote on a constitutional amendment that would codify abortion rights, which Tester said he would support.
“I believe women should be, should be able to make their own health care decision,” Tester. “It shouldn’t be the federal government. It shouldn’t be a bureaucrat. It shouldn’t be a judge. Women should be able to make their own health care decisions. That’s what Montanans like.”
Tester sought to criticize Sheehy for previously opposing the amendment being on the ballot. But Sheehy tried to pivot by saying that he supported exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother and trotted out a known lie, claiming that Tester and Democrats are extremists wanting abortion up until the moment of birth.
“When a baby is born alive, they refuse to enshrine protection for that life,” he said, a common talking point that former president Donald Trump has also made, which is not true and Tester called “total bunk.”
“It’s a lie. It doesn’t happen,” he said. “Those lives are already protected. Tim, you know it, you’re saying it to try to politicize this issue more than it already is.”
Republicans think they have a decent shot at winning the Montana race. Senator Steve Daines, Montana’s junior senator, serves as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and played a major role in clearing the field for Sheehy to avoid a bruising primary. In addition, the Cook Political Report recently changed the rating in Montana’s Senate race from “Toss-up” to “Lean Republican.”
Sheehy attacked Tester on immigration, which has become a top-of-mind issue for many voters, saying it contributed to the increasing cost of housing and sought to tie Tester to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tester in turn tried to hit Sheehy for opposing a bill that would have tightened restrictions at the US-Mexico border, though Sheehy noted he was not a senator at the time.
“They’ll point to a bill that maybe would have done something that didn’t pass, and have yet another messaging opportunity to distract from the issue that they selectively and intentionally opened the border, stood by and let it stay wide open for years,” Sheehy said.
Montana voted for Trump by double digits in 2016 and 2020. And Trump has frequently criticized Tester — who as the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committeee, sank Trump’s nominee to lead the department in 2018. In August, Trump traveled to Montana to hold a rally for Sheehy.
During his closing remarks, Sheehy pointed to Tester’s opposition to Trump.
“He also voted to impeach Donald Trump twice. [He] said on CNN, we should punch him in the face” Sheehy said.
Monday’s debate was likely the final direct match up between Tester and Sheehy. But while all eyes will be on the debate in New York, Big Sky Country might determine the fate of either Trump or Harris’s agenda.
Nevada
Nevada Republicans Freak Out Over ‘Deplorable’ Statue of a Giant, Naked Trump
A 43-foot effigy of an entirely nude Donald Trump that mysteriously appeared outside Las Vegas over the weekend has been condemned by Nevada Republicans, who slammed the “deplorable” sculpture as “pornographic.” The statue, which weighs 6,000 pounds and is made from foam and rebar, is titled “Crooked and Obscene” and is expected to be brought to other cities as part of a nationwide tour, the anonymous artist behind the project told The Wrap. Local station KSNV reported that the statue would next be brought to other key swing states. The Nevada Republican Party “strongly” condemned the installation, saying in a statement that families driving through Vegas would be “forced to view this offensive marionette, designed intentionally for shock value rather than meaningful dialogue.” But spectators certainly had a lot to say about the statue as it loomed over Interstate 15 on Saturday and Sunday, swinging from a crane. One told KTVX that the statue made him “scared to come to work, because I felt like, what if I’m going to get shot or noosed up just because of the way I look?” Others took it in stride. Special education teacher Alex Lannin told the New York Post that he was “a little worried about [the statue] getting a sunburn, but other than that, I love it.” The sculpture had been dismantled by Monday.
Read it at KTVX
New Mexico
Lawsuit filed over paid time off for New Mexico judicial employees
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The New Mexico court system is suing the state over what it claims is interference with how it pays its own employees. The Administrative Office of the Courts said the state is illegally meddling in the way judicial employees are paid for time off, enforcing restrictions on when workers can use leave, and not allowing it to roll over year after year.
New Mexico Game and Fish Department offering free beginner fishing class
They said the courts should be able to make those decisions. “We think we tried hard to talk this through with DFA and work through our concerns and their’s. But unfortunately, that didn’t work and it didn’t leave us other options,” said Director Karl Reifsteck, Adminsitrative Office of the Courts.
The Department of Finance and Administration said AOC’s policy is illegal and that it is the state’s job to oversee that spending.
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