BILLINGS, Mont. — Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy announced Tuesday he will seek the 2024 Republican nomination to challenge Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester as the Democrat tries to secure a fourth term.
Sheehy, 37, was recruited by GOP leaders eager to unseat Tester as they try to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats, who hold a slim majority and will have several vulnerable incumbents on the 2024 ballot, including Tester.
Sheehy runs an aerial firefighting company, Bridger Aerospace, which he founded near Bozeman after moving to Montana in 2014. This is his first run for public office, and he said in a telephone interview that his military service and business background will set him apart in the race.
“What I'm seeing now is kind of a government devoid of common sense,” he said Tuesday. “It's a lot of rhetoric, a lot of demagoguery, but not a lot of people sitting down actually trying to solve the serious problems we face as a country.”
His entry shakes up a GOP primary that was previously considered a potential battle between Montana's two U.S. representatives — Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke.
Zinke — also a former Navy SEAL and who served as Interior secretary under Trump — is now supporting Sheehy.
But Rosendale is still considered to be eyeing a run after losing to Tester in 2018. Rosendale aligns with the party's extreme right wing and has been heavily backed in past elections by the conservative…
