Candidates for federal offices to represent Montana continue to rake in millions of dollars to finance their campaigns. Most money is going into candidates for the U.S. Senate. The western House race is also pulling in millions.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is far in the fundraising lead in the U.S. Senate race after a $10.5 million haul in the second quarter of the year.
That’s twice as much as Republican challenger Tim Sheehy raised during the same period. Sheehy’s total includes a $1 million personal loan to his campaign.
Tester’s campaign says the latest round of fundraising is a “powerful show of strength” as the three-term Democrat aims to hold onto his seat in a state that’s grown more conservative since his last election. He’s expected to face a tight race, and has now raised $43 million total.
His campaign coffers three months out from the election are more than double what Tester raised for his entire 2018 campaign.
Sheehy’s campaign said in a statement that Tester's warchest shows he can “buy” the election, and that it’s time to replace longtime politicians with “political outsiders who cannot be bought.” Sheehy has raised $14 million since launching his campaign.
Libertarian Sid Daoud and Green Party candidate Michael Downey, also running for U.S. Senate, did not report fundraising.
In the race for Montana’s Western U.S. House seat, Republican Incumbent Congressman Ryan Zinke brought in $1.7 million in the second quarter, while Democrat Monica Tranel trailed behind him with a little over $1 million during the same period. However, Zinke’s total fundraising is more than double Tranel’s.
For the Eastern U.S. House seat, and what’s considered a less competitive race, Republican Troy Downing raised about $1 million dollars after winning a crowded GOP primary in June. His Democratic opponent, John Driscoll, did not report any fundraising.
