Trump-Tester Dust-Up Could Heat Up MT Senate Race

As a Democrat running for re-election in a state Donald Trump won by 20 percentage points, Jon Tester should have been among the most vulnerable incumbents in the upper chamber this year, but Republican recruitment troubles, a lackluster primary, and the state's recent history of ticket splitting allowed the U.S. Senate race in Montana to float below the national radar.

That all changed last week when the two-term lawmaker made himself a highly visible blip on the president’s screen.

After Tester detailed allegations against Adm. Ronny Jackson that prompted his eventual withdrawal as Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, the president lashed out at the accuser on multiple high-profile occasions, casting a bright light on the contest.

Republicans have the burden and uncertainty of a crowded primary, and they won't know who will take on Tester until votes are cast on June 5. But GOP operatives in the state hope the president's active disparagement of the incumbent through a twitterstorm, a television interview, a press conference with a foreign head of state, and a campaign rally in the Midwest will undercut Tester's calling card as a Democrat who can work with Trump.

"This is one of those things where you have such a large megaphone with the White House and the president, and I don't think the president is going to stop," said one Montana Republican. "For the president, this is a personal mission. He's extremely pissed."