Montana GOP Senate Front-Runner’s Campaign Rides Turbulence as Voters Head to Polls

Tim Sheehy is favored to take on three-term Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, but questions about his youth, business dealings, and a bullet in his arm shadow his odds.

Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, with one of his sons on his shoulders, greets people along Montana State University’s Homecoming Parade route in October 2023 in Bozeman. Tim Sheehy for Montana

HELENA, Mont.–The candidate’s resume is perfect: former Navy SEAL combat veteran with a “V” for Valor Bronze Star and Purple Heart, successful entrepreneur, rancher, energetic young father who is a conservative in a red state, and endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

By all indications, Tim Sheehy, 38, appears to be the ideal Republican candidate to unseat Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who has defied the odds three times since 2006 to be elected to the U.S. Senate in GOP-dominated Montana.