GREAT FALLS — Democrats are bringing new energy to their convention in Chicago next week, but that enthusiasm isn’t carrying over to a race in a rural state that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

In Montana, three-term Senator John Tester is in a neck-and-neck race with Republican Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL.

Tester has refused to endorse Kamala Harris, and his campaign says he will not attend the DNC because it is harvest time and he is busy on his farm near Big Sandy, Montana. His campaign says he is also too busy for interviews.

But Tester is a well-established and proven brand in Montana, so maybe it doesn’t matter. The airwaves here are full of ads reminding Montanans that he’s a third-generation native, the only working farmer in the Senate, and hardly a Democrat from the coastal elite.

In a video commercial, he turns seriously to the camera and says: “I protect our freedoms because the people of Montana will not let anyone, especially not the government, tell them how to live.”

Backlash against the rich

The Democrats also criticize his Republican opponent, Tim Sheehy, for being a wealthy newcomer from another state with a ranch and vacation homes in the upscale Big Sky neighborhood and on Flathead Lake.

But in the state capital of Helena, experienced politicians like columnist George Ochenski are questioning the strategy of going after Sheehy’s wealth because voters admire a successful businessman.

“The Democratic strategists haven’t been getting along for quite some time, and now there’s only one Democratic seat left at the state level, and that’s Jon Tester,” Ochenski said. “And he’s scared. He’s really scared.”

Fear because Donald Trump won Montana by double digits in the last two elections. Since Tester didn’t speak, Sheehy made all the headlines recently when the former president attended a fundraiser at the Yellowstone Club of the super-rich and a rally in Bozeman.

Tester’s Republican challenger, 38-year-old Tim Sheehy, who moved to Montana in 2014 and started a firefighting aircraft company there, introduced Trump to an enthusiastic crowd, saying Tester was a rubber-stamper of the Biden-Harris agenda.

“The truth is that every time America has voted in the U.S. Senate, Jon Tester has voted differently,” Sheehy told the crowd.

Sheehy’s campaign did not respond to requests for an interview, but it seemed that most of the people at the rally and those who had been waiting in line for hours outside were there to see Trump.

Some even came from surrounding states, wearing MAGA gear. In Bozeman, which is normally crowded with tourists in the summer, pickup trucks with bright Trump flags drove off at intersections to cheers – and a few boos.

Republican Chair Jane Gillette says Trump’s visit is crucial to lower Republican turnout, but she says some voters still see Sheehy as an establishment choice.

“I will eventually get to the point where I will fill the bubble next to Tim Sheehy because I want to see what is best for the party,” Gillette says. “But I have to say there are some who would rather see Tester in office because they think there will be another opportunity later to beat him with the right candidate.”

This could be a factor. Since 2006, Tester has never won by more than four percent.

Montana used to be known for its purple streak, but today, if you leave the liberal college towns or wealthy resorts, it’s clear that Trump’s modern Republican message is resonating even in rural areas that feel more left behind.

At a roadside farmers market in White Sulphur Springs, Jeffrey Campbell says he always voted for Tester because he lives nearby.

But this year he won’t. He says Tester’s entire campaign is “just slandering Sheehy. He doesn’t talk about what he’s going to do, he just says – ‘shady Sheehy.'”

But you still see Tester signs in pastures, even next to Trump banners painted on barns.

In the blue-collar Great Falls, once a Democratic stronghold, Tester’s campaign is again counting on independent voters like Michael Winters to vote for the people rather than their party. Winters is a Republican, veteran and former mayor.

He says Tester is “a third-generation Montanan. He’s friendly. He has no qualms about walking up to you, extending his hand and saying, ‘Hi, I’m Jon, let’s have a beer,’ you know.”

Winters says it would be foolish of Montana to send Tester away since he sits on the powerful Budget and Veterans Affairs Committee.

A poll conducted before Trump’s campaign rally showed familiar territory for the Democrat that is within the margin of error.

Copyright: NPR