Thursday, 26 December 2024

GOP Flips Another Senate Seat, Expands Majority

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Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy defeated incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), flipping another seat in the upper legislative chamber.

According to Decision Desk HQ, Sheehy leads Tester 53.4% to 44.8% with 95% reporting.

“The FOX News Decision Desk projects that Republican Tim Sheehy will win in Montana, unseating longtime Democrat Sen. Jon Tester. Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, campaigned as an outsider determined to shake up Washington, contrasting himself with Tester’s establishment ties,” Fox News stated.

Per Fox News:

His win increases the Republican majority in the Senate to at least 52, per the Associated Press projections.

All eyes were on the Big Sky State’s competitive Senate race that saw three-term Senator Tester, the only statewide Democrat elected in Montana, facing former Navy SEAL and businessman Tim Sheehy.

Early on in the cycle, the Montana race was deemed one of Republicans’ best pickup opportunities and one of Democrats’ most vulnerable seats of the 2024 cycle.

Sheehy launched his Senate bid exclusively with Fox News Digital in June 2023, calling for “a new generation of leaders to step up” in Congress in his bid to oust the red state Democrat.

“THANK YOU, MONTANA!! We The People made our voices heard, we completed our mission, and now we will secure our children’s future and save America together!!” Sheehy said.

NBC News reports:

Tester tried to defy the partisanship of his state by leaning into his deep roots as a third-generation dirt farmer and touted his bipartisan bona fides, including his clashes with Biden’s administration on issues like immigration. Tester and his allies also cast Sheehy as the embodiment of the state’s wealthy new residents, arguing they have driven up costs and threatened Montanans’ access to public lands.

But Sheehy was ultimately able to withstand those attacks. Republicans touted him as a top recruit with a military background who built an aerial firefighting business in the state, though his business record and the state of his cattle ranch faced scrutiny in the campaign.

The campaigns and outside groups blanketed the Montana airwaves with more than $250 million in ads.

Republicans had been increasingly confident they could defeat Tester ahead of Election Day, arguing that the state had shifted too far to the right for Tester to overcome, and that many of the state’s new residents leaned toward the GOP.

The victory in Montana is the third Senate seat to flip red in the 2024 election.

Republicans flipped Ohio and West Virginia Tuesday evening.

The GOP currently holds 52 Senate seats.


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