(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Sen. Jon Tester, to the relief of Democrats, will seek re-election in Montana [1]

['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-02-22  

The Democratic senator, though, has long cultivated his own brand that’s helped him survive in a difficult state for his party. Tester, who famously lost three fingers in a childhood accident, has emphasized during all of his campaigns that he’s a third-generation farmer who still works his farm.

That background came in handy during his 2018 re-election fight against Republican Matt Rosendale, where Tester’s team leapt on a report about how that the self-described "rancher" didn't own any cattle or actually ranch his property. Tester won 50-47 in a year where other red state colleagues were losing, and he’s continued to emphasize what Politico called in 2021 a “folksy, profane authenticity.” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has his own challenging re-election fight next year, said in that article, “He’s a real farmer and I’m, like, a politician … But the other thing is, his personality is bigger than life.”

A few Republicans have made noises about running against Tester, but it remains to be seen who will step up. Most of the talk has centered around the state’s two House members: Rosendale, who won a seat in the lower chamber two years after losing to Tester, and Ryan Zinke, who served a chaotic stint as Trump’s first secretary of the interior. The National Journal reported earlier this month that Attorney General Austin Knudsen is considering as well, while Gov. Greg Gianforte’s team didn’t rule out the idea back in November.

Tester, who has long gripped about his tough commute to D.C. (Politico last month said he needed to awake “before dawn on Mondays to get to the Capitol for 5:30 p.m. votes”), was one of the two red state senators that Democrats feared would retire, but we’re likely going to need to wait still longer to learn about the other’s plans. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin reiterated later in the day to radio host Hoppy Kercheval that he still was not sure if he’d seek re-election, though he once again made it clear he wouldn’t try and reclaim his old job as governor.

Manchin added, “I'm not running for president. I can assure you of that today,” though that last word keeps the door open to more speculation.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/22/2154416/-Sen-Jon-Tester-to-the-relief-of-Democrats-will-seek-re-election-in-Montana

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/