Why 'two Montana guys' are duking it out in the Senate
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, chair of the Republicans' Senate campaign committee, told reporters at a Monitor Breakfast that he and the state鈥檚 other senator, Jon Tester, "get along just fine." So why is one trying to get the other fired?
Sen. Steve Daines (R) of Montana, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and his wife, Cindy, in Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in August 2023.
Courtesy of Sen. Steve Daines Office
Washington
About 45 minutes into our Monitor Breakfast last week with Sen. Steve Daines, I finally asked him the question: 鈥淪o how's your relationship with Jon Tester these days, given that you're trying to get him fired?鈥�
Senators Daines and Tester of Montana are one of the few remaining 鈥渙dd couples鈥� of Congress鈥� upper chamber 鈥� one a Republican, the other a Democrat. And as chair of the Senate Republicans鈥� campaign committee, Mr. Daines is indeed working hard to defeat Mr. Tester in November. Control of the Senate, currently in Democratic hands, is on the line.
But in response to my question, Mr. Daines insisted all was well. 鈥淥h, we get along just fine,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 two Montana guys.鈥�
Then Mr. Daines suggested perhaps a bit of tension. In 2020, he said, when he was up for reelection, Mr. Tester had tried to get him 鈥渇颈谤别诲.鈥�
It鈥檚 kind of like high school football, he said. 鈥淵ou're wearing one color jersey, and your opponent's in the other color jersey. You鈥檙e taking hits against each other.鈥� Afterwards, 鈥測ou say 鈥榞ood game,鈥� and you move on.鈥�
Indeed, both men are affable Montanans. Mr. Daines had a career in the private sector, including six years in China working for Procter & Gamble, before going into politics. Mr. Tester is a third-generation dirt farmer and former schoolteacher, first elected to the Senate in 2006. I once ran into him at Costco (here in Washington, not Montana) 鈥� he鈥檚 hard to miss with his distinctive flattop 鈥� and we had a nice chat.
But there鈥檚 no denying the yin and yang of their relationship. At our well-attended May 2 breakfast, Mr. Daines was soon taking another dig at his state鈥檚 senior senator: 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost as if there's two different states represented, truly. If you look at Jon Tester鈥檚 voting record, it鈥檚 95% with Joe Biden.鈥�
And, Mr. Daines added for good measure, 鈥淚'm pretty sure by the time we get to November, Montanans will have a very clear view of what his voting record has been like.鈥�
Maybe this Montana odd couple鈥檚 days are numbered. But with six months to go before Election Day, the game has just begun.