Republicans Flip Third Senate Seat, Ousting Three-Term Democrat
Montana voters showed Democratic Sen. Jon Tester the door on Tuesday, padding the Republican majority by at least one vote in the Senate.
Political newcomer Tim Sheehy, a Navy SEAL veteran endorsed by now-President-elect Donald Trump, defeated the three-term Tester with 53.3 percent to 44.9 percent of the vote, The Hill reported Wednesday.
It was one of at least three Senate seats to flip in the election and push Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the road back to minority leader in 2025.
“THANK YOU, MONTANA!!” Sheehy wrote in a Trumpian, all-uppercase post on the social media platform X.
“We The People made our voices heard, we completed our mission, and now we will secure our children’s future and save America together!!”
THANK YOU, MONTANA!!
We The People made our voices heard, we completed our mission, and now we will secure our children’s future and save America together!! pic.twitter.com/tAhb05grPG
— Tim Sheehy (@SheehyforMT) November 6, 2024
With Democrats holding 47 seats and the support of four independents, they held control of the Senate going into Tuesday’s voting. Republicans, who held 49 seats, needed two seats to win the Senate majority.
They were basically assured of picking up one seat in the Senate thanks to the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin, an officially independent senator who spent a lifetime as a Democrat before leaving the party this year. He still caucused with the Democrats, though, maintaining the party’s majority in the Senate.
He will be succeeded by Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who was elected to the Senate in a Mountain State landslide with almost 70 percent of the vote.
They won the majority with the results in Ohio, when three-term Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown was defeated by Republican Bernie Moreno, 50.2 to 46.4 percent of the vote.
So with Sheehy defeating Tester, the GOP majority grew by a vote.
And social media was watching:
It’s time for fresh perspectives in the Senate, and Sheehy’s military background will surely bring a much-needed focus on national security and conservative values!
— Aam (@Aam7860) November 6, 2024
With Sheehy’s win and Bernie Moreno flipping Ohio, that gives the Republicans a Senate Majority. Trump just got his 4th Supreme Court Pick confirmed.
— Burnouts3 (@Burnouts3s3) November 6, 2024
Yes! This is huge! Just as big as Moreno’s win over Brown!
— PaulBunyan2020 (@bunyan2020) November 6, 2024
As of early Wednesday, five Senate races remained too close to call, according to NBC News, with Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin still awaiting results.
However, even if Democrats won all of them, Republicans would still be in control in the upper chamber in January.
The big question then will be who will be the party’s leader, since longtime GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConell announced in February that he’s stepping down from leadership this month.
Meanwhile, control of the next House of Representatives was still up in the air Wednesday morning because the results of too many House seat elections weren’t yet clear, according to The New York Times.
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