STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let's check in with one Democrat who is less cheerful than many others during this season of political change. The party has new energy after changing presidential candidates, and they're on their way to embracing Kamala Harris at next week's convention. The change has improved their odds in many congressional races, but to keep control of the Senate, Democrats have to win almost every tight race. In Montana, Senator Jon Tester is in a tight one against Republican Tim Sheehy. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports on the Democrats' bid to win in a red state.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Jon Tester has refused to endorse Kamala Harris, and his campaign says he won't be attending the DNC, because it's harvest, and he's busy on his farm near Big Sandy, Mont. - too busy, also, for interviews, according to his campaign.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)
JON TESTER: I'm Jon Tester, and I approve this message.
SIEGLER: But maybe for them, it doesn't matter. The airwaves here are blanketed with ads reminding Montanans that he's a third-generation local, the Senate's only working farmer and hardly a coastal-elite Democrat.
(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)
TESTER: I'm protecting our freedoms because Montanans don't like to be told how to live by anyone, especially the government.
SIEGLER: Democrats are also ripping his Republican opponent, Tim Sheehy, as a wealthy out-of-state transplant with a ranch and resort homes in elite Big Sky and on Flathead Lake.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SIEGLER: But in the state capital, Helena, longtime politicos like columnist George Ochenski question the strategy of going after Sheehy's wealth, because the electorate admires a successful businessman.
GEORGE OCHENSKI: The Democrat strategists have been off-base for quite a long time now, and now there's only one Demo statewide seat left, and that's Jon Tester. And he's scared. He's really scared.
SIEGLER: Scared because Donald Trump won Montana by double digits in the last two elections, and with Tester not talking, Sheehy got all the headlines the other day, when the former president arrived for a fundraiser at the ultra-wealthy Yellowstone Club and a rally in Bozeman.
(CHEERING)
SIEGLER: Introducing Trump to an adoring crowd was the 38-year-old Sheehy, who moved to Montana in 2014 and started a firefighting aviation company. He said Tester is a rubber stamp for the Biden-Harris agenda.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TIM SHEEHY: The truth is, every single time America's been on the ballot in the U.S. Senate, Jon Tester has voted the other way.
SIEGLER: Sheehy's campaign did not respond to interview requests. It did seem like most of the people at the rally and lined up outside for hours beforehand were there to see Trump, though. Decked out in MAGA gear, some even drove from surrounding states. In typically tourist-clogged Bozeman, pickups with Trump flags blazing peeled out in intersections to cheers and some jeers. Local Republican legislator Jane Gillette says Trump's visit is key for GOP down-ballot turnout, but she says some voters still see Sheehy as an establishment pick.
JANE GILLETTE: I ultimately will get to the point where I will fill in the bubble next to Tim Sheehy because I want to see what's best for the party, but I will say that there are some that would rather see Tester stay in place because they think that there's another opportunity to beat him with the right candidate later on.
SIEGLER: This could be a factor. Since 2006, Tester has never won by more than 4%. Montana used to be known for its purple streak, but today, when you leave the liberal college towns or prosperous resort valleys, it's clear the modern Trump GOP message resonates in rural areas that feel more left behind. At a roadside farmers market, Jeffrey Campbell says he always voted for Tester because he lives nearby, but he won't this year.
JEFFREY CAMPBELL: His whole campaign is just smearing him. He's not talking anything about what he's going to do. He's just shady Sheehy.
SIEGLER: But you still see Tester signs in pastures, even next to Trump banners, painted onto barns. In blue-collar Great Falls, once a Democratic stronghold, Tester's campaign is again counting on independents like Michael Winters to vote people over party. Winters is a Republican, veteran and former mayor here.
MICHAEL WINTERS: He's a third-generation Montanan. He's friendly. He doesn't have any qualms about walking up to you and stick his hand out and say, hi, I'm Jon. Let's have a beer.
SIEGLER: Winters says Montana would be foolish to send Tester packing, as he sits on the powerful Appropriations and Veterans committees. A recent poll ahead of Trump's rally here showed this race in familiar territory for the Democrat, within the margin of error.
Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Great Falls, Mont. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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