Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is receiving a boost from an outside group soliciting college athletes in Montana to endorse the embattled red-state incumbent.
The initiative exploits new NCAA guidelines allowing college athletes to monetize their name and branding to essentially pay collegiate athletes to make a political endorsement.
“In early August, athletes from the University of Montana received an email from Jean Gee, the senior associate athletic director, about a potential Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal,” reported Lily Meskers, a track athlete and journalism major at the University of Montana, for Montana Talks. “The email forwarded by Gee said the opportunity was available to ‘Athletes who attend college in Montana and are interested in spreading the word about Senator Jon Tester and causes you care about.’”
According to Meskers, the group offered compensations between $400 and $2,400 for video recordings shared as Instagram Reels. Montana Together instructed athletes to film videos to “inform your audience about Senator Tester’s track record in office and encourage him to maintain his support for these vital policies.”
The effort has received pushback from athletes who believe Tester’s voting record in Washington is out-of-step with the state he represents.
Meskers writes that the dynamics of this year’s election cycle “are flushing out some of Tester’s votes that don’t sit well with Montanans, including his 2023 vote against the ‘Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.’ The act worked to amend Title IX to ensure that only biological women – and not men – could compete in women’s sports.”
Tester was one of all 51 Senate Democrats voting against the Republican-backed legislation.
Tester’s campaign denied communications with Montana Together or any knowledge of the actions to Fox News Digital.
There is precedent for political NIL deals, although none appear to have drawn the heat of the Montana Together solicitation.
Tester faces Republican and Navy SEAL veteran Tim Sheehy in November as he seeks a fourth term in the Senate.
“Jon Tester sided with woke DC Democrats when he voted to let men compete in women’s sports, now his dark money allies are trying to pay students off to cover up his far-left voting record,” NRSC spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Jon Tester is spiraling and resorting to every underhanded tactic in the book.”
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
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