Tim Sheehy, the wealthy businessman whose campaign was plagued by controversies, is projected to defeat incumbent Jon Tester to represent Montana in the U.S. Senate.
A shift toward conservative ideology in the state benefitted Sheehy, 38, despite allegations that he lied about obtaining a bullet wound injury in Afghanistan and injuring himself during a trip to Glacier National Park.
The battle over Montana’s Senate seat became one of the most-watched in the nation.
Tester, a conservative Democrat, was running behind his Republican opponent for months. And D.C. Democrats didn’t fly in to help out, either: Tester, 68, and his campaign made clear throughout that they were largely running against their party’s brand, not alongside it.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, hoped that by winning the seat in deep-red Montana he would doom any Democratic notions of holding on to the Senate.
Ultimately, he bet correctly.
Abortion rights were Tester’s lifeline as he sought to hang on, hammering the issue nonstop for months.
But Tester’s bet that even in deeply conservative areas, GOP restrictions on the practice will be too unpalatable for voters to handle did not pay off.
Sheehy was recruited by his Republican colleagues to run against Tester in part due to his experience as a combat veteran – which they hoped would appeal to traditional conservatives in Montana. But a convoluted story about his experience in Afghanistan became an issue for Sheehy’s campaign.
This past spring, The Washington Post reported that Sheehy was hospitalized in 2015 after his firearm discharged at Glacier National Park – a crime – and he allegedly accidentally shot himself in the arm.
But Sheehy told conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly that did not occur and he actually injured himself while hiking. He claimed he sought medical attention related to a previous injury he received while serving in Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL.
Sheehy alleges he was shot in the arm in Afghanistan during a friendly fire incident but never reported it because he did not want to ignite an investigation into a small injury. A spokesperson for Sheehy repeated this when asked for comment by The Post.
The Glacier National Park park ranger who responded to the incident reiterated that Sheehy did in fact injure himself during the 2015 incident.
It is unclear what exactly happened that day but ultimately the confusing story did not deter conservative voters from supporting Sheehy.
On Wednesday morning, Sheehy thanked Montana voters for their support
“We The People made our voices heard, we completed our mission, and now we will secure our children’s future and save America together!!” Sheehy wrote on X.
