Voters in the deep-red state of Montana heavily back former president Donald Trump
— who endorsed Sheehy earlier this year
— but have elected Democratic incumbent #Jon #Tester three times.

https://jontester.com/

“Montana will always come first for me
– and I will take on anyone,
from any party,
to defend our state,”
Tester said in a statement.

“I’m honored to have the support of Montana Republicans who have stood with me to fight for our veterans,
protect our freedoms,
and keep the government out of our personal lives.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tester-campaign-launches-republicans-tester-130118299.html

Montana GOP Senate candidate #Tim #Sheehy touts his business.
-- It’s losing millions.

As he campaigns in one of the nation’s most competitive U.S. Senate races, #Montana Republican #Tim #Sheehy recounts how he
started an aerial firefighting business in his barn
and built it into a publicly traded company on the front lines of increasingly dangerous wildfires.
“That’s a success story,” he said in a June television interview.

Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in recent months tell a different story about Bridger Aerospace, known for its “Super Scooper” planes that can remove up to 1,400 gallons at a time from a body of water to dump on a nearby wildfire.

Bridger is facing a cash crunch so dire that there is “substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue,” according to public filings that show the company lost $77.4 million last year and $20.1 million in the first three months of 2024.

Several directors have left, including one who flagged concerns about internal auditing, as an unusually slow wildfire season in 2023 put the company at risk of defaulting on its debt.

And then last month, Sheehy said he couldn’t devote enough time to running the company and resigned
— a move that Bridger, which had promoted his key role in “every facet” of the business, previously said would happen if he was elected to the Senate.

https://jontester.com/

️“Montana will always come first for me
– and I will take on anyone, from any party, to defend our state,”
#Jon #Tester said in a statement.

“I’m honored to have the support of Montana Republicans who have stood with me to fight for our veterans, protect our freedoms, and keep the government out of our personal lives.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tester-campaign-launches-republicans-tester-130118299.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/10/tim-sheehy-firefighting-company-losses-wildfires/

Sen. #Jon #Tester (D-Mont.) is locked in a tight race in Montana as former President Trump boasts a wide lead over Vice President Harris in the state, polling shows.
A new Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey puts Trump-backed Republican #Tim #Sheehy with a 2-point lead over Tester, 48 percent to 46 percent. Another 5 percent were undecided. 
Tester is one of the most vulnerable incumbents this cycle, a rare Democrat holding office in a state Biden lost back in 2020, and his race could determine which party ends up controlling the upper chamber.

The poll also marks a shift from March, when the same pollster found Tester up by 2 points over his Republican challenger. 

Because the gap falls within the survey’s 3-point margin of error, the race remains a potential tie between the two Senate race rivals. 

This week, Tester launched a
“Republicans for Tester” group to rally support from across the aisle as he braces for a competitive November contest. 

At the top of the ticket, Trump is a whopping 15 percentage points ahead of Harris, but the vice president’s 40 percent support is a notable 5-point improvement from the 35 percent President Biden garnered back in March.

https://jontester.com

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4816495-tester-locked-in-tight-race-in-montana-trump-holds-wide-lead-over-harris-poll/

Since the start of the year, there have been
$723 million worth of campaign ad buys
for just three Senate races:
in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana, according to AdImpact data.

A fierce battle for control of the Senate is fueling the expected record-breaking ad spending this election cycle.

The investment so far points to the races both parties deem most critical for the majority.

Democrats have long held a fundraising advantage over Republicans, which is helping them play defense in nine competitive Senate races.

Ohio is the only Senate race in which Republicans have been spending more than Democrats on campaign ads and reservations
— though this is largely due to it having one of the only highly competitive Senate GOP primaries this year.
Republican Bernie Moreno won the Ohio primary and will face Democratic incumbent Sen. #Sherrod #Brown in November.

The showdowns between Sen. #Bob #Casey (D) and Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania
and Sen. #Jon #Tester (D) and Tim Sheehy in Montana
come in second and third for ad spending and booking for both parties, so far.

The $70.5 million of spending in California was driven by heated Senate primary. Rep. #Adam #Schiff (D-Calif.) is expected to have an easy general election in November.

Totals include ad reservations made so far through Election Day, though those reservations are expected to keep coming.

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/07/senate-campaign-2024-election-ad-spending-republicans-democrats