Newcomer Tim Sheehy for U.S. Senate?

Sen. Steve Daines, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee has forwarded a confusing plan. On one hand, he and Republican leadership are putting forth the story that the battle against incumbent Sen. Jon Tester is an incredibly important senatorial race. Perhaps the number one in the nation. However, Daines and the NRSC are pushing a newcomer from Bozeman, the honorable Tim Sheehy, in the race against Tester.

Why put forward a newcomer to the political world with no political resume to his name? It appears that a Politico article from March 22 answers this question:

“The NRSC’s new chair, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, has placed an emphasis on trying to secure candidates who are either exceptional at fundraising or personally wealthy, according to a source familiar with his thinking who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about strategy.”

This appears to the top criteria for the NRSC in this Montana Senate race as Sheehy is the founder of Bridger Aerospace, which was valued at $869 million in 2022.

The first move that Tim Sheehy made was to visit a slew of Washington D.C. lobbyists just prior to his announcement. This may seem logical, but the reality of these meetings is that Mr. Sheehy started his campaign for the Senate seat by seeking money with strings attached. Par for the course in what I call the “Uni-Party” at the federal level.

Putting forth only wealthy candidates with D.C. lobbyist strings to represent a state with a very low average income along with Montanans distaste for D.C. corruption does not seem reflective Montana’s populace. Do wealthy and elite CEOs resonate with Montanans? Not in my view.

The NRSC and Montana Republican leadership is pushing Sen. Mitch McConnell’s and Sen. Daines’ pick for this race. Mr. Sheehy is a newcomer in a Senate race that has historically been very unkind to newcomers.

There is a story being told on the conservative side around the nation that Tester is vulnerable. I think this is wishful thinking and I don’t see the statistics to support that theory.

Republican leadership in Montana seems to be working at distancing themselves from the people with the current plan, and I believe the plan, and Mr. Sheehy will fail.

I am not endorsing any candidate from another party with these comments. I am just critical of this plan.

Sid Daoud is chair of the Montana Libertarian Party. He lives in Kalispell.