Tight Montana Senate race spotlights tribal safety concerns

The hotly contested Montana Senate race is shining a spotlight on the public safety concerns of the Native American communities in the state, who were a critical voting bloc in the 2018 reelection of Sen. Jon Tester (D).

The Montana Democrat is no stranger to tight races. He won his first reelection in 2012 by around 18,700 votes and narrowly beat out now-Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) by just more than 17,900 votes in 2018. A surge in Native American voters helped deliver him that victory, according to the Char-Koosta News.

These voters are again poised to play a pivotal role in the Montana Senate race between Tester and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, who won the Republican primary in June. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest a “toss up,” and former President Trump won the state by more than 16 points, or nearly 99,000 votes, in 2020.

Crime has been a hot-button issue in the 2024 election, and public safety concerns including missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP), fentanyl and law enforcement shortages are top issues for tribal leaders.

“We’ve got fentanyl, opiates, other things that are on the increase and so the increase in law enforcement’s even more critical,” William Snell Jr., executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, told The Hill.

Tester, a longtime member and former chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, last week pressed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review “unacceptable” public safety efforts by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Montana.

He expressed concern with an “extreme lack” of trained law enforcement and insufficient detention facilities and officers raised during “direct conversations” with Montana tribal leaders.

Asked about the timing of the letter, Jeff Stiffarm, president of the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Nations of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, responded, “It’s an election year.”

“He’s running for reelection; he needs votes. But it should have been done years ago,” said Stiffarm, who added he’s been working on this issue since he was elected president three years ago.

There are eight federally recognized Native tribes living on seven reservations in Montana, according to the BIA. Native Americans made up 6.4 percent of Montana’s more than 1.1 million residents in 2023, according to the Census Bureau, a sizable pool of voters roughly four times Tester’s previous margins of victory.

Snell, a former BIA police officer, said Tester has “always supported and made an effort to make something happen regarding addressing the issue.”

“I don’t think it’s just because of the race,” Snell said.

Both sides have made overtures to Native Americans in Montana. 

This spring, Montana Democrats launched a seven-figure outreach campaign to mobilize Native American voters.

While the Montana GOP did not respond to questions about whether it had launched a similar outreach effort, Sheehy appealed directly to Native American voters during a rally earlier this month with Trump, who has endorsed Sheehy.

“To our Native American brothers and sisters, what have the Democrats ever done for you?” Sheehy asked at the rally.

In a statement to The Hill, Sheehy said, “Montana communities, especially tribal communities, are being devastated by drugs and crime because Jon Tester rubber-stamped Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ radical open border, pro-amnesty, pro-illegal immigration agenda.”

“It’s disgraceful that Jon Tester and the America Last Democrats prioritize sending billions to illegal immigrants and foreign countries before securing our communities here at home,” he continued. “As Senator, I’ll do what it takes to secure the border, stop the invasion, ensure our tribal neighbors have the resources they need to keep their communities safe, and put America First.”

Sheehy in May attacked the “sham” bipartisan border bill that was killed by Senate Republicans after Trump labeled the proposal as “meaningless” and a “gift” for the Democrat’s reelection chances. He also criticized Tester’s support for the bill as Democrats sought to underscore Republican resistance to a proposal to tackle one of the GOP’s biggest concerns ahead of the election.

“Senator Tester has led the charge to make sure Congress upholds its treaty and trust responsibilities to Indian Country,” Tester press secretary Eli Cousin said. “Tester’s record delivering on behalf of Montana Tribes is extensive.”

The first piece of legislation Tester introduced as a senator in 2007 was a bill for federal recognition of the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe, which went from state to federal recognition as part of the 2020 Defense authorization bill.

He also applauded the nomination of Montana Attorney Danna Jackson to be a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the first Native American to serve as a federal judge in the state.

Tester helped negotiate the bipartisan infrastructure law with five Republicans, securing hundreds of millions of dollars for tribal water rights settlements, $3.5 billion for Indian Health Service Sanitation Construction Program, $2 billion to support the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and $3 billion for the Tribal Transportation Program. 

Public safety issues and law enforcement shortages in Native American communities in Montana have also been a priority for Tester, who has notably kept the Harris-Walz ticket at arm’s length.

In his letter to the GAO last week, he said he was working through his seat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee “to ensure that the BIA has sufficient resources to hire officers and bolster other public safety activities,” but wanted to ensure it was being used appropriately.

“I will keep fighting for these critical funds, but it is clear that more oversight is required to make sure these funds are being used effectively,” Tester wrote.

Snell said the issue was not only the ability to hire and retain officers, but also increase their ranks.

The BIA is “always willing to listen and hear but then the issue is implementation,” Snell said. 

“It’s not just a matter of awareness and knowledge, but action that’s needed to be able to address the issue effectively. And I think that’s just kind of where it gets stuck.”

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in May on the president’s budget request, Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland told the panel the U.S. only funds the department’s public safety and justice programs at 13 percent of the total need even with recent increases.

Newland had raised the same figure the day before at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on public safety, saying, “It’s clear there is a massive gap between present funding levels and our present obligation to public safety in Indian Country.”

When Newland testified again the following day before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester pressed him on underfunding tribal law enforcement.

“You know better than anybody, law enforcement in Indian Country is not so good,” Tester said, noting the challenges of covering large areas of land with only a few officers.

Newland agreed that “we need more officers, we need more funding for law enforcement officers in Indian Country.”

Tester told Newland he needs the assistant secretary “to be more vocal” about the funds needed to do so.

Joshua Barnett, a BIA spokesperson, said the bureau “is grateful to work with members of Congress who recognize the chronic underfunding of public safety in Indian Country.” 

“We similarly value Tribal involvement and input to effectively combat crime throughout Indian Country,” Barnett added.

The BIA provides direct law enforcement services to two tribes, with 14 officers currently at the Crow Agency and seven officers at Northern Cheyenne Agency. Other tribes have elected to take over the management and operation of programs including law enforcement through self-determination contracts and self-governance compacts.

Tester also raised concerns earlier this year that he’d heard from tribal leaders that local law enforcement personnel funded through federal contracts were paid less than BIA officers for comparable positions. The Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana raised similar allegations when it sued the BIA, including Newland, in 2022.

In an amended complaint filed last November, the tribe says the “current funding is insufficient to provide the most basic law enforcement services to the Tribe” and alleges the bureau “arbitrarily and capriciously appropriated the Tribe’s 638 contract funds over the years,” referring to the contracts through the federal government to provide specific services such as law enforcement.

“As a result, the Tribe experiences a chronic shortage of patrol officers and dispatch personnel and it experiences chronic, high levels of violent crimes, property crimes, and substance abuse,” according to the complaint.

The BIA denied both allegations in its response to the complaint, filed in March after the judge denied its motion to dismiss the case. Barnett, the BIA spokesperson, declined to comment on ongoing litigation.

Stiffarm said success for him would be “not only for Fort Belknap to be able to increase their funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but other tribes that are in the same boat we are.”