Former President Donald Trump He was headed to Montana on Friday night for a rally hoping to oust the state’s Democratic senator, but his plane had already been diverted to an airport on the other side of the Rocky Mountains because of a mechanical problem, according to airport workers.
According to Jenny Mockel, administrative assistant at Billings Logan International Airport, Trump’s plane was headed to Bozeman, Montana, when it was diverted to Billings, 228 kilometers east, on Friday afternoon. The former president arrived in Bozeman via private jet.
The former president came to Montana hoping to wrap up some unfinished business from 2018, when he campaigned repeatedly in Big Sky Country in an unsuccessful attempt to oust incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
Tester has tried to convince voters that he is at odds with Trump on many issues, mirroring his successful strategy six years ago. While that worked in a non-presidential election year, it faces a more significant test this fall with Tester’s opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, trying to tie the three-term incumbent president to Trump. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris,
Trump began his rally about 90 minutes later than scheduled and immediately began attacking Tester. “We’re going to beat the radical left-wing Democrat Jon Tester, he’s terrible,” Trump said. He also gave his new opponent a nickname, adding, “We’re going to take out crazy Kamala.”
Harris has benefited from a wave of enthusiasm among core Democratic constituencies nationally who quickly united around her after she withdrew from President Joe Biden’s campaign last month. She has drawn large crowds in swing states, touring this week with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, her choice as her vice presidential running mate.
Meanwhile, Trump’s only rally this week will be in a state he won by 16 percentage points four years ago, rather than the November battleground state. Facing new pressure in the race from an increasingly euphoric candidate, trump On Thursday, he called questions about his lack of swing state stops “stupid.”
“I don’t have to go there because I’m leading those states,” he said. “I’m going because I want to help senators and congressmen get elected.”
He’ll also make fundraising stops in Wyoming and Colorado.
Trump could be decisive in Montana’s Senate race
Thousands of GOP supporters are expected to attend Friday’s rally at Montana State University, which is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Mountain time. Still, the former president’s bigger impact could be having his name above Sheehy’s on the ballot in November, said Rob Saldin, a political analyst at the University of Montana.
“There is a segment of the electorate that will vote if Trump is on the ticket,” Saldin said, and that could benefit Sheehy, who is a Trump supporter and new to politics and who has made a lot of money in the aerial firefighting business.
Republicans have dominated Montana for more than a decade and now hold all state offices except Tester’s.
Tester, who has won his previous Senate contests by narrow margins, has portrayed himself as a plain-speaking farmer who builds personal relationships with people in Montana and is willing to break with his party on issues that are important to them. He has also become an active fundraiser.
The race has drawn national attention because Democrats are holding on to a slim majority in the Senate and winning far more seats than the GOP this year. Tester is considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic candidates.
For him to win, a large number of Trump supporters would have to come out in support of the Democratic senator, forming a split vote.
Trump’s effort to oust Tester dates back to the lawmaker’s work as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs in 2018. Tester exposed past misconduct by Trump’s personal physician Ronny Jackson, which led to Jackson’s nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs
Then-President Trump took the matter personally and came to Montana four times to campaign for Republican Matt Rosendale, who was then the state auditor. Rosendale lost by 3 percentage points.
Tester has distanced himself from national Democrats
Ahead of Trump’s recent visit, Tester has tried to defend himself from accusations of being part of the Democratic establishment by bringing up the names of his supporters, including former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot. His campaign highlighted more than 20 bills, many related to veterans’ issues, that Tester sponsored and Trump signed.
Tester was also the only Democratic delegate from Montana who held off on a vote to endorse Harris as the party’s presidential nominee after Biden withdrew. And when the Democratic National Convention takes place in Chicago later this month, Tester will be back in Montana and “farming and meeting the people of Montana face-to-face,” campaign spokesman Harry Child said.
Tester last attended the Democratic National Convention in 2008. That was the last time a Democratic presidential candidate came even close to winning in Montana, and President Barack Obama lost by 2 percentage points.
In an interview while waiting for Trump’s rally to begin Friday, Sheehy dismissed the idea that Tester could escape Montana’s rightward tilt. “Jon Tester is more than 95% in step with the Biden-Harris agenda,” Sheehy said. “So I don’t think his attempt to portray himself as a moderate is going to work.”
A similar situation is developing in Ohio, where three-term Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown faces a tough contest in a state that is expected to vote for Trump.
Harris visited Ohio when the two were Senate colleagues and to raise money for Brown’s 2018 campaign, but Brown has said she has no plans to campaign with him this year. Like Tester, Brown has also highlighted legislation she worked on that was signed into law by Trump.
Friday’s rally will be in Gallatin County, which Tester has come to rely on heavily during his political career.
He lost the county in his first Senate race in 2006, but his support has grown since then. His large margin of victory in Gallatin in 2018 helped him overtake Rosendale.
Republican Don Seifert, a former Gallatin County commissioner, said he voted for Tester that year and plans to do so this year.
Seifert supported Trump in 2016 and said he continues to support other Republicans, including Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Senator Steve Daines.
“The people of Montana vote for the person, not the party,” Seifert said. “For the state of Montana, John is the person who can do what we need.”
But Sheehy says Tester has lost touch with his home state and is out of step with Democrats in Washington. The Republican said in a message to supporters this week that Tester was “responsible for the rise of Kamala Harris” as he served as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2015 to 2017, when she was elected to the Senate from California.
Tester has more than three times the lead over Sheehy in campaign donations reported to the Federal Election Commission. However, outside groups supporting Sheehy have helped the Republican close the gap. Spending in the election is expected to exceed $200 million as ads from both sides saturate Montana’s airwaves.
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