The National Rifle Association on Tuesday launched a more than $2 million ad campaign targeting Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), whose seat is one of the most hotly contested going into November.
The seven-figure ad buy will target Tester over his stance on the Second Amendment and feature a TV spot that will air throughout Montana on satellite and cable networks. The NRA said the campaign was part of the gun rights group’s effort to influence competitive battleground races.
Tester, who has been in the Senate since 2007, faces a tough challengefrom Republican Tim Sheehy. The outcome could determine control of the Senate, as the Democrats have a slim two-seat majority.
“This November gun owners can’t afford to sit on the sidelines,” said NRA Political Victory Fund Chair Randy Kozuch. “The NRA is mobilizing considerable resources to support strong pro-Second Amendment candidates for Congress and the White House to ensure that Americans will be able to continue to exercise their right to keep and bear arms.”
The ad features a woman living in rural Montana preparing to defend herself as robbers break into her home.
“Where I live you can’t wait for 911. My family’s safety is in my hands alone but gun grabbers who’ve never been to Montana let alone out here want to take my rights away. My gun is in my pocket but my Senator is in theirs. Jon Tester failed to protect my right to self-defense and that’s why moms like me can’t wait to fire him in November,” the woman says in the ad.
Tester, who has attempted to distance himself from the Biden-Harris administration, has said that he “strongly” supports the Second Amendment and doesn’t support banning AR-15-style rifles. In 2022, Tester backed a bill called the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most expansive gun control law passed in decades and signed by President Joe Biden.
Kozuch questioned Tester’s positions on the Second Amendment, pointing to his record in the Senate.
“Though Tester likes to portray himself as a friend of gun owners, his voting record in the Senate makes clear he is not on the side of Montanans who support the 2nd Amendment,” he said. “He has voted to spend taxpayer dollars to promote state-level red flag laws, which are ripe for abuse, and deny gun owners basic due process protections. And he’s voted multiple times to criminalize private firearms transfers while supporting government blacklists.”
According to the average of polls taken in the state so far, Tester is trailing Sheehy by about five points.
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