Tester marks Trump’s Montana visit with ads touting accomplishments

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) marked President Trump’s visit to Montana on Thursday by taking out a full-page ad in a number of newspapers thanking the president for signing legislation backed by Tester.

The effort comes as Trump steps up his efforts to help Republicans unseat Tester and a number of other incumbent Senate Democrats who are up for reelection in states the president won handily in the 2016 election. 

“Welcome to Montana, and thank you President Trump for supporting Jon’s legislation to help veterans and first responders, hold the VA accountable, and get rid of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government,” the ad states, according to a report by The Associated Press.

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Tester took out ads in the Great Falls Tribune and newspapers in northern and eastern Montana. The senator’s campaign also intends to run radio ads throughout the weekend, the AP reported. The ads note that Trump has signed 16 pieces of legislation that the senator sponsored or co-sponsored. 

Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in Montana on Thursday, ostensibly to support State Auditor Matt Rosendale, who is challenging Tester in November.

Trump has previously targeted Tester over his role in derailing the nomination of Adm. Ronny Jackson to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs. Tester circulated a list of allegations about Jackson’s workplace misconduct, which eventually led to Jackson’s withdrawal.

Trump blasted Tester, calling the senator “dishonest and sick,” and vowing he’d pay a price for dooming Jackson’s nomination. 

Tester is considered one of the more vulnerable Democratic senators in the upcoming midterms. Trump won Montana by roughly 20 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump was in North Dakota last week in a visit aimed at hurting Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), another top GOP target.

The most recent polling in Montana, from early June, showed Tester with an 8-point lead over Rosendale.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as likely Dem.