Senator Jon Tester will seek reelection in 2024 as Democrats face the difficult task of protecting multiple seats in battleground states in order to keep their majority.
(Bloomberg) — Senator Jon Tester will seek reelection in 2024 as Democrats face the difficult task of protecting multiple seats in battleground states in order to keep their majority.
“It’s official. I’m running for reelection,” the Montana Democrat said on his Twitter account. “Montanans need a fighter that will hold our government accountable and demand Washington stand up for veterans and lower costs for families.”
Tester’s reelection bid is seen as crucial to helping his party hold onto the seat from Montana, which is otherwise a reliably Republican state. Former President Donald Trump won the state of Montana by 16 percentage points in 2020.
Republicans who may seek the seat include Ryan Zinke and Matt Rosendale. Zinke, a House member from 2015-2017 before becoming Donald Trump’s first interior secretary, raised almost $7 million to narrowly win a comeback to the House last year in the more competitive of Montana’s two congressional districts.
Rosendale is a former Montana auditor who was the 2018 Republican Senate nominee against Tester, losing by fewer than 4 percentage points. He was first elected to the House in 2020. In the speaker’s election at the start of the current 118th Congress, Rosendale drew attention for refusing to vote for Kevin McCarthy on all 15 ballots.
Key States
Democrats will also have to defend seats in other key battleground states including West Virginia, Arizona, Michigan and Ohio.
Senator Sherrod Brown has said he is running for reelection in Ohio. But Debbie Stabenow has already announced she would not seek reelection from Michigan. Joe Manchin, the powerful Democrat from very Republican West Virginia, has not yet announced his plans.
Democrats face a tough landscape in the Senate in 2024 with 23 seats held by Democrats or senators who caucus with Democrats up for reelection, compared with only 10 seats currently held by Republicans. Democrats currently hold a slim 51-49 majority.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee jumped on Tester’s announcement, vowing to oust him.
“The Tester-Biden agenda has given Montanans rising crime, higher taxes, and an open southern border that is flooding communities with deadly fentanyl. Montanans are going to send Joe Biden’s favorite Senator packing in 2024,” Spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said in a statement.
Tester previously served in the Montana Senate before joining Congress.
Tester’s legislative priorities include veterans issues and defense policy. He serves as the Chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
–With assistance from Greg Giroux and Billy House.
(Updates with possible contenders in fourth paragraph.)
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