Matt Rosendale released an ad on Friday in which President Donald Trump states that Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is one of the top recipients of lobbyist cash during the 2018 election cycle and that he “will never drain the swamp because he loves the swamp.”
Rosendale’s latest campaign ad features President Trump speaking at a recent rally in Billings, Montana, wherein the president chides Sen. Tester for being one of the largest recipients of lobbyist cash and says Tester “loves the swamp” and, thus, will never “drain the swamp”:
In late August, Sen. Tester became the largest recipient of lobbyist cash during the 2018 election cycle, only to be recently beaten out by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) this week. Sen. Tester has raised $401,478 during this election cycle.
Tester beat out Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) as the second highest-ranking Democrat to raise the most money during this election cycle.
Sen. Tester has raised $1,168,071 from lobbyists during his career.
When Tester first ran for U.S. Senate in 2006, he promised to be immune to the money and influence of K Street lobbyists.
“You’ve got to have somebody who will go to Washington, DC, and fight for you. … I won’t sell you down the road by cutting deals with K Street lobbyists. … [Montanans] need the greatest representation not encumbered by high-dollared lobbyists,” Tester said in 2006.
Calvin Moore, a National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman, said in a statement in August:
Senator Tester got to Washington and became exactly the kind of swampy career politician he promised Montana he wasn’t going to become. Montanans deserve a Senator who will put their needs first, not another mouthpiece for high-dollar lobbyists and Washington special interests like Jon Tester.
Tester faces an increasingly competitive race, as a recent poll found that Rosendale now leads in the battle for the Montana Senate seat.
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