Corrected 6:47 p.m. | Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s announcement Wednesday that he will run for a fourth term provided some relief to Democrats seeking to hold on to their narrow majority while facing a perilous map next year.
Instead of the party having to scramble to find a candidate, Tester is a former state senator with high favorability ratings who led potential challengers in an early poll by a Republican consultant. But Montana has gotten more Republican since his last race, and Democrats’ high hopes there have been smashed there before. In 2020, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock spent almost $48 million trying to unseat Republican Sen. Steve Daines, and Daines beat Bullock by 10 percentage points.
Tester’s statement Wednesday tried to assure residents he was still connected to them despite his years in the nation’s capital.
