The Messenger: Republicans Want Self-Funders to Run for Senate. Their Record is Far From Stellar.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 15, 2023
CONTACT
monica@mtdems.org
Helena, MT – New reporting today from The Messenger highlighted challenges Montana newcomer Tim Sheehy would face should he run for U.S. Senate. Read more:
The Messenger: Republicans Want Self-Funders to Run for Senate. Their Record is Far From Stellar.
By Dan Merica
June 15, 2023
The track record of such self-funding candidates, however, is far less sterling and demonstrates the hubris of thinking money can paper over voters' skepticism.
The path to the Senate is littered with failed candidates who poured tens of millions of dollars into their campaigns. In 2020 and 2022, not a single Senate candidate who gave their own campaign over $1 million won their seat, according to tracking of self-funding candidates by Open Secrets, a nonprofit that compiles data on money in politics.
The reasons wealthy candidates lose are numerous and complex. In some cases, the candidates attempt to use a cash advantage to camouflage a lack of genuine support, oftentimes looking to quell grassroots dissension in the primary only to be overwhelmed in the general election.
In other cases, opposing campaigns use these candidates’ wealth to paint them as out of touch or looking to “buy” a Senate seat. These attacks are often facilitated by financial disclosures required of candidates running for Senate.
[Tim] Sheehy is the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, an aerial firefighting company, and founded Ascent Vision Technologies before the company was sold for $350 million in 2020.
Republican operatives believe he can self-fund a campaign against Tester, but the standing of his aerospace company is in question, with the company disclosing in an SEC filing earlier this year that it has “incurred significant losses since inception” and is “not currently profitable.”
Sheehy did not respond to The Messenger’s request for comment.
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