Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

The Billings Gazette today endorsed Jon Tester for U.S. Senate:

In January 2004, as a leader of Montana Democrats, state Sen. Jon Tester held a press conference at which he advocated increased worker training, responsible development of natural resources, expanded employee health care and better funding for education. The 2005 Legislature in which Tester served as Senate president made progress toward those goals:

• The colleges of technology received more building and equipment money than ever before.

• The Children’s Health Insurance Program was expanded.

• A prescription discount program was set up.

• Programs were established to make employee insurance costs affordable for small businesses and their workers.

• K-12 education got a bigger funding boost than it had in a decade….

To support work-force and entrepreneurial development, Tester would make two-year and four-year college programs more affordable with expansion of Pell grants, increased availability of low-interest student loans, work-study programs and student loan forgiveness to people in critical occupations (e.g. nurses, doctors, teachers) who agree to work in shortage areas….

Tester has pledged that, if elected to the U.S. Senate, he will adhere to stricter ethical standards than Congress requires in reporting and refusing lobbyist gifts. Contrast that with Burns’ decision to celebrate his 71st birthday with a $2,000-per-person party at a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm. Or his choice in September to take the Vonage private jet from D.C. to Bigfork to his annual golf tournament. Nothing illegal in either case, but is that the image Montanans want their senator to present?

For those Montanans who are appalled at the burgeoning national debt, concerned about U.S. foreign policy, alarmed that today’s spending will be paid for by our children and grandchildren and fed up with business as usual in Washington, D.C., Tester is a fresh alternative. Those who want change have an intelligent, hardworking, common-sense choice in voting for Jon Tester.

Read the entire endorsement here.

On Sunday, Jon Tester met Conrad Burns for the first debate of the election at the Montana Broadcasters Association convention in Whitefish.

The press reports from the debate demonstrate that Montanans have a clear choice in this election. From the Missoulian:

“If Sunday’s debate proved anything, it might be that Burns represents a status quo, with a focus on immediate fixes to immediate problems. Tester, on the other hand, emerged as a source of newly creative energy, focusing on long-term solutions consistent with a big-picture vision.”

You can help send a message that Montanans don’t want the status quo of Washington, D.C., by making a contribution today.

Your contribution before this Friday, June 30th will make a tremendous difference in how the press and pundits view this race.

Contribute today!

Tester Declared Winner

Matt Gouras of the Associated Press

Longtime state lawmaker and farmer Jon Tester stole a big win from the better-funded campaign of State Auditor John Morrison on Tuesday night by convincing Democrats he is the man best able to beat GOP incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns on the issue of ethics.

More at the Missoulian.

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Helena Independent Record: “Tester, Morrison Deadlocked”

“Lee Polls Show That Both Would Beat Burns”

“‘The thing that strikes me is that Morrison is still better known than Tester, but Tester has a higher favorable rating with Democrats,’ said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which conducted the poll. ‘Tester may have a little more upward mobility. He’s pretty well-positioned for the primary. I think it’s a close race, but if Tester won, it wouldn’t surprise me.’”

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