Jon Tester speaks at a rally in Billings on Nov. 1, 2024, just five days before the 2024 Election (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
It’s not unusual for locals to take advantage of our local treasures. Just as many of us who live in Montana forget that people travel from all over the world to visit Yellowstone or Glacier parks, we also tend to overlook the people who have helped make us who we are.
For 18 years, Jon Tester left his farm in Big Sandy every few weeks to fly back to Washington to serve as our U.S. Senator, and you can bet that if he had made any missteps during those 18 years, someone would have found a way to dig it up and make sure it got into the press.
Tester fought tirelessly for veterans farmers, Native Americans, and especially issues around water, which is going to be one of the most important issues of our time. And he managed to walk the fine line that’s always been an important part of Montana politics, not offending the far left and managing to also appeal to conservatives with his stances on gun control. He served as chairman on two of the most powerful committees in the senate, the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Tester is highly regarded as one of the most effective senators in the current iteration of that august body.
Tester is also a prime example of someone who worked his way up to this job rather than having others pay for it. He worked as a butcher, then as a high school music teacher, eventually dipping his toe into public service by running for the school board, which he still calls the hardest job he ever had. He then served in the Montana Senate for eight years, serving as president of the senate for the last two, before finally diving into the senate race against incumbent Conrad Burns.
It seems particularly short-sighted of Montanans to dismiss someone who is truly one of their own, especially when you consider how much power in the Senate is based on seniority. We have essentially handed over one of the highest ranking senate leaders to a fellow who became the hand-picked candidate by the people who really seem to matter most in Montana nowadays, which are the political action committees. There is no better example of our state making a decision with very little thought about the consequences.
The quality that most defined Tester was making an honest-to-God connection with the people of Montana. If you’ve ever met Tester in person, there is an authenticity about him that is undeniable. He’s not out there kissing peoples’ backsides to make sure he holds onto power. He’s genuine in a way that is rare in today’s politics. I’ve seen him at an event with a huge stain on his shirt, either completely oblivious or completely unconcerned.
Which makes it that much more confusing, and disappointing, that Montanans made the choice to unceremoniously show Tester the door, in favor of a man who has lived in Montana for only a little more than half the time Tester has been our senator.
Tester deserved a better ending to a career where the only dirt that anyone ever found on him was the soil from that farm up north. He was the latest in a long line of Montana politicians, from both sides of the aisle, whose dedication to Montana grew right up from their roots, and never wavered. And like so many of his predecessors, he should have had the opportunity to walk away when he made that choice himself.