Montana state Auditor Matt Rosendale (R) has won his crowded four-way primary to face Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in what could be a hotly contested race this fall.
Rosendale led the field with 34 percent of the vote to 29 percent for former judge Russell Fagg (R), with two other candidates hovering below 20 percent as of 1:38 a.m. EST. The Associated Press called the race.
Rosendale’s tight win comes in spite of a major edge in outside support in the race. He and Fagg both spent less than $1 million on the race, according to the latest candidate disclosures, but the big-spending conservative group Club for Growth dropped almost $2 million to help boost Rosendale. He also had endorsements from Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY).
Tester has never topped 50 percent of the vote in the GOP-leaning state, which President Trump carried by 20 percentage points in 2016. And he has done little to ingratiate himself with Trump voters, picking fights with the White House more often than most other red-state Democrats — moves that Republicans think have made him newly vulnerable.
“Not only is Matt Rosendale a staunch fiscal conservative, he is a proven winner who stands an excellent chance of defeating liberal Sen. Jon Tester in the fall. It’s time for Sen. Tester to be held accountable for his tax-and-spend record, and Matt Rosendale is the man for the job,”Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement.
But Democrats say (and some Republicans admit) that Tester starts off as the favorite given his strong fundraising and folksy brand. Democrats also believe they can tar Rosendale, who spent most of his life in Maryland as a real estate developer before moving to Montana more than 15 years ago, as a carpetbagger.
“The choice for Montanans this November couldn’t be more clear. Jon Tester is a third generation Montanan who still farms the land homesteaded by his grandparents,” Tester’s campaign said in a statement. “Matt Rosendale is an East Coast developer who looks out for himself. Maryland Matt uses Montana to boost the outside special interests that are funding his Senate campaign.”
Rosendale a staunch fiscal conservative? Well it’s high time the GOP had one of them again after their budget busting $1.6 trillion Trump spending bill they just passed.
spam flagged
Tester’s righteous screed over the tax cut bill –written by lobbyists and with amendments scribbled in the margins– was a thing of beauty. I would love to hear the response from Rosendale, this staunch fiscal conservative, how he would’ve voted for the sham of a bill.
Oh, and one more thing about that strange post above …
President Dumpsterfire, is that you?
Tester has a pretty good history in the state. The problem will be not going entirely negative, because the opportunities are too many.
Come on really Club for Growth. Clearly you just have a clever name for what is truly a partisan organization, not some bastion for economic success or accountability. I get it, Obama solid returns, although not flash just did not do it for you. You prefer that Snake oil method:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/188165/annual-gdp-growth-of-the-united-states-since-1990/
The economic growth from Clinton to Obama far surpasses anything that the GOP has brought to the table, and I know we could get into a whole discussion about how much the US government has an influence on the US economy, but if we just look at the numbers the evidence is clear. Dems win. They call for better enforcement, better regulation, and better protections for consumers. This results in solid growth, so when you say Tax and spend in regards to a democrat, well sir/organization, you are talking about a strawman. The GOP is not fiscally responsible, otherwise they would not have passed this Tax bill or the GW Bush tax bill, yet they did, and it again those few in America who are comfortable with an oligarchy.