A new poll of 538 registered voters in Montana shows Republican candidate Tim Sheehy leading incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) by 6 points, 50.8 percent to 44.7 percent.
The poll, commissioned by NonStop Local, a regional network of television stations, and conducted by American Pulse Research and Polling, was conducted Saturday through Monday.
It showed Sheehy’s favorable rating at 49.8 percent and Tester’s at 44.7 percent.
It also showed that 50.6 percent of respondents think Sheehy would do a better job on the economy and inflation, while 42.1 percent thought Tester would do a better job.
And 56.2 percent of voters said Sheehy would do a better job on the issue of immigration, compared to 39 percent who said they have more faith in Tester, who previously served as senior Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.
Surprisingly, the poll showed 45.3 percent of voters gave Sheehy an edge on the issue of abortion, while 42.9 percent said they had more confidence in Tester’s handling of abortion rights.
The poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
Monica Robinson, a spokesperson for Montanans for Tester, dismissed the latest polling results.
“Jon Tester will be re-elected in November because of his strong record delivering for veterans, fighting to lower costs for working families, and defending Montana’s way of life. Jon is focused on delivering for Montana families, not inaccurate polls from partisan pollsters,” she said.
A spokesperson for Sheehy said the Republican candidate is “winning the ground war.”
“It’s clear Tim is winning the ground war by traveling from town to town across Montana, looking Montanans in the eye, and sharing his commonsense agenda to defeat inflation, bring down costs, seal our border, fight for Montana families, and put America First!” said Jack O’Brien, a spokesperson for Sheehy for Montana
Some Democrats are questioning the credibility of the poll, which did not ask voters about the Libertarian candidate in the race, Sid Daoud, whom National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has encouraged to drop out of the race.
The pollster, American Pulse, is not among the more than 500 polling firms FiveThirtyEight, a website that compiles polling averages, has rated for transparency and accuracy.
Dustin Olson, the managing partner for American Pulse, has worked extensively for Republicans and is a Fox News and Newsmax contributor.
Maggie Abboud, a spokeswoman for the NRSC, said Tester’s “steadfast support for the Harris-Biden agenda” are “coming back to haunt him.”
“Montanans have had enough,” she said.
Updated at 10:38 a.m.