Tim Sheehy’s Rough Week: Private Jets and Errs on Bears

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 22, 2023

CONTACT
monica@mtdems.org

Sheehy scrutinized for two private jet trips he took to campaign events and for falsely claiming Montana has “more bears than people”

Helena, MT – It’s been a rough week for Montana newcomer Tim Sheehy, who repeatedly proved how out of touch he is with Montana families and our Montana way of life.

Sheehy was scrutinized for taking a private jet, registered to his company Bridger Aerospace, to two campaign events amid questions about his use of company resources to help his campaign and whether it violates his company’s ethics code. And he made an embearrassing error when he claimed there were “more bears than people” in Montana – overshooting the bear population of Montana by approximately a million.

Read the coverage below: 

National Journal: Hotline: Sheehy Flying High
September 15, 2023

• A plane registered to former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy’s (R) Bridger Aerospace took a roundtrip flight to South Dakota the same day the Senate candidate attended a campaign rally in South Dakota with former President Trump, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), and NRSC Chair Steve Daines. 
   

• HOTLINE ANALYSIS. But even though the use of a private plane is legal, Sheehy jet setting on a private plane stands in contrast to the everyman persona he has been trying to project as a Montana rancher in the Big Sky State. 

POLITICO Influence: Plane registered to Montana Senate candidate’s company mirrored fundraising itinerary
September 20, 2023

• TAKING OFF: A plane registered to the company run by Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy mirrored the executive’s itinerary today as he hit North Dakota for a fundraiser and speech as a political candidate, despite scrutiny over the ubiquitous presence of the aerial firefighting company — a federal contractor — in his campaign.
   

• But the flight comes amid scrutiny of the former Navy SEAL’s continued role atop Bridger Aerospace while running for office, which NBC News reported has restrictions on the use of company resources for political purposes, and the potential conflicts that could pose should Sheehy be elected — though his campaign has said Sheehy would step down from his roles with Bridger and comply with Senate ethics rules.
   

• And an RSVP link for Sheehy’s roundtable on the event’s agenda page leads to a WinRed contribution page for Sheehy’s campaign with the tag “MAJOR-DONOR” in the URL.

Daily Montanan: Senate candidate Tim Sheehy falsely states more bears than people in Montana
By Nicole Girten
September 19, 2023

• Montana has more cows than people, but more bears? Not exactly.
   

• Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Tim Sheehy said in a recent interview with Breitbart News there were more bears than people in Montana, which estimates don’t support, and by a long shot.
   

• Sheehy did not return a request for comment made through his campaign website by press time.
   

• “Fewer bears, deer, elk, combined than people,” Lemon told the Daily Montanan.

The Guardian: ‘Not accurate’: Republican wrong to say Montana has more bears than people
By Edward Helmore
September 20, 2023

• In the compendium of false claims, an offering from Tim Sheehy, a Montana 2024 Republican Senate candidate, is readily disprovable.
   

• But Sheehy’s estimate for bear – grizzly and black – is wildly off, notwithstanding that bears don’t respect state boundaries and aren’t easy to count – particularly outside of national parks.
   

• “We definitely don’t have more bears than people in the state,” Parks told the Guardian. “It’s not accurate at all. We have somewhere close to a million people in the state and nowhere close to that number of bear.”

###