HEADLINE: “Sheehy Skepticism Among Ultra-Republicans Still Lingers Going Into Primary”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 28, 2023
CONTACT
rehm@mtdems.org
New reporting reveals how “not everyone in Montana is as convinced” of “first-time candidate” Tim Sheehy
Helena, MT – New reporting from the Helena Independent Record reveals the cracks in Tim Sheehy’s coalition as Republicans remain skeptical of his candidacy.
Just two weeks before Montana’s primary, “many Republicans interviewed by the Montana State News Bureau still have a bad taste in their mouth about how Sheehy became the anointed candidate and are unsure if they will end up voting for him” after Sheehy’s candidacy was pushed by Mitch McConnell and national Republicans. As Eric Olsen, “a Yellowstone County conservative” put it: “How do you fight a billionaire club?”
The skepticism reveals the cracks in Sheehy’s support from Republicans in state, some of whom are planning to vote for Jon Tester. Read more below:
Helena Independent Record: Sheehy skepticism among ultra-Republicans still lingers going into primary
May 24, 2024
By Victoria Eavis
[Sheehy] moved about the crowd in an all-denim outfit, boots and a ball cap from the cattle ranch he co-owns (which he has received carpetbagger criticism over).
But not everyone in Montana is as convinced of the first-time U.S. Senate candidate.
With the vote less than two weeks away, many Republicans interviewed by the Montana State News Bureau still have a bad taste in their mouth about how Sheehy became the anointed candidate and are unsure if they will end up voting for him[]
Republican Sen. Steve Daines and the group he chairs, which is tasked with taking back control of the U.S. Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, are heavily backing Sheehy and tried to keep Rosendale out of the race for months.
“How do you fight a billionaire club?” asked Eric Olsen, a Yellowstone County conservative who's frustrated with how the candidate selection process played out.
Linda Harmon, a leader in the Daniels County GOP, said she’s unsure if she will vote for Sheehy in the general election.
“Montanans did not have a vote for Senate [in the primary],” she said. “I absolutely would have voted for Rosendale.”
The Sheehy campaign did not respond to a question about voters' concerns over how the GOP primary field turned out.
[Sheehy’s primary opponent] Brad Johnson served as Montana’s secretary of state from 2004 to 2008 and as the Public Service Commission chair representing District 5. He first got involved in Montana politics in the early '80s shortly after moving to Bozeman. He then went on to serve on the state party’s executive committee in the mid '80s.
“It isn't democracy if we've got these super-rich politicians pointing out their candidates. … They don't know the pain that the hard-working families are going through right now. I do,” Walking Child said.
Most Republicans interviewed by the Montana State News Bureau who are apprehensive about Sheehy are also big fans of Trump, who has endorsed Sheehy. In their minds, those two facts are not contradictory of each other, as there’s a common belief that Trump does not do his own bidding.
Olsen, who says he will not be voting for Sheehy in the primary and is unsure about how he will vote in November, said the Trump endorsement doesn't sway him.
Trump, however, was not able to tip the scales in Montana during the 2018 cycle when he came to Montana four times to campaign in support of Rosendale. This year the former president has his own race and legal battles to contend with.
Sheehy, a first-time political candidate, has faced a slew of bad headlines over the last few months, including a lie and conflicting stories about a gunshot wound, accusations that he's a "wannabe cowboy," misrepresentations about which groups his book proceeds are funneled to and more.
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