{"id":4559,"date":"2025-01-07T19:48:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T19:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/meet-the-new-members-a-navy-seal-knocks-out-a-montana-fixture\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T19:48:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T19:48:42","slug":"meet-the-new-members-a-navy-seal-knocks-out-a-montana-fixture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/meet-the-new-members-a-navy-seal-knocks-out-a-montana-fixture\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the new members: A Navy SEAL knocks out a Montana fixture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The new member: <\/b>Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.)<\/p>\n

How they got here: <\/b>Sheehy won an incredibly expensive contest to oust three-term Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester by a 52.6 percent to 45.5 percent margin.<\/p>\n

Inside the campaign: <\/b>Spending the contest hit record-levels in the state, with an estimated $487 being doled out for each of the state\u2019s 648,000 active registered voters.<\/p>\n

As Democrats hoped to hold onto the seat despite the state\u2019s red tinge at the federal level, Sheehy faced scrutiny over how he sustained a gunshot wound in his arm \u2014 either during a visit to a national park or while serving in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Montana voters were bombarded with advertising and mailers throughout the contest, which Sheehy ultimately prevailed in. President-elect Donald Trump carried the state by nearly 20 percentage points.<\/p>\n

The issues he\u2019ll focus on:<\/b> Throughout the course of the campaign, Sheehy said repeatedly his top three issues would be immigration, education and securing the U.S. southern border. He\u2019s voiced support for eliminating the Department of Education, while also saying “public lands belong in public hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Background:<\/b> Sheehy was a political newcomer before his Senate victory. He served in the Navy SEALs and founded an aerial firefighting and wildfire management company back in 2014. He survived a 2019 fatal airplane crash in which he was a student pilot.<\/p>\n

National Republicans, including then-NRSC Chair Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), quickly backed Sheehy as their best shot to oust Tester, a well-liked previous political survivor, in a presidential year.<\/p>\n

Campaign ad that caught our eye: <\/b>One of Sheehy\u2019s spots features a number of Montana ranchers<\/a>, including one who memorably says, \u201cI know bullshit when I see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fun fact: <\/b>Sheehy received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart from Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) \u2014 a fellow Navy Seal \u2014 back in 2015.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re spotlighting new members during the transition. Want more? Meet <\/i>Rep. Cleo Fields<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new member: Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) How they got here: Sheehy won an incredibly expensive contest to oust three-term Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester by a 52.6 percent to 45.5 percent margin. Inside the campaign: Spending the contest hit record-levels in the state, with an estimated $487 being doled out for each of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}