A super PAC supporting Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy in Montana is starting its initial general election advertising campaign that aims at Senator Jon Tester's comments on the southern border.
More Jobs, Less Government, a pro-Sheehy super PAC, is investing about $1.5 million in the advertisement, which focuses on statements from Tester objecting to a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and giving credit to President Biden for his management of the border. Details of the ad campaign were exclusively obtained by The Hill.
The 30-second ad mentions an interview where Tester said Biden had “assisted” in securing the southern border, as well as a March 2023 interview with NPR where he stated that “a wall from sea to shining sea is not the way to go.”
While Tester has criticized the southern border situation recently, the ad shows how Sheehy's supporters are trying to connect him to Biden, who remains unpopular with much of the public.
“No matter how much Jon Tester tries to convince Montanans that he is some kind of ‘moderate,’ there is no escaping from his pro-Biden, leftwing record on the border,” Andy Surabian, chief strategist for More Jobs, Less Government, said in a statement to The Hill.
“Tester has backed Biden’s open border agenda every step of the way and no one has opposed building President Trump’s border wall more than he has,” Surabian added.
The advertisement will be aired from May 7 through June 3 on cable and broadcast channels in the Missoula and Bozeman markets in Montana, as well as digitally.
Tester, who is also one of the most vulnerable senators up for reelection, has been vocal at times about the situation at the border, especially regarding fentanyl entering the U.S. He confronted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at a hearing last month about the situation.
“The reality is the border needs to be fixed, and we need to act as Congress, the administration needs to act, you need to act,” Tester said, his voice rising in volume.
“If we’re able to do that, we can fix it, but it’s going to take continuous vigilance at the border to make it happen,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Tester’s campaign for comment.
There has been limited polling in the race between Tester and Sheehy, but surveys that have been published show a close contest.
A March survey from Emerson College Polling/The Hill published in early March found that when Montana voters were asked about a hypothetical Senate match-up between Tester and Sheehy, 44 percent backed Tester, while 42 percent supported Sheehy. Fourteen percent of respondents said they were undecided.
A poll published in late March from J.L. Partners found Sheehy leading Tester by 3 percentage points, 48-45.
