Jon Tester

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Jon Tester
Junior Senator from Montana
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2007 Serving with Max Baucus
Preceded by	Conrad Burns
Born	August 21, 1956 (1956-08-21) (age 51) Havre, Montana
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sharla Tester
Alma mater	University of Great Falls
Religion	Church of God (Anderson)

Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an organic farmer and junior U.S. Senator from the state of Montana, and a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his election in 2006, he served as President of the Montana State Senate.

[edit] Background

Tester was born in Havre, Montana to Helen M. Pearson and David O. Tester.^[1] He grew up in Chouteau County, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on the same family land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1916. The small town is also the birthplace of Jeff Ament of rock band Pearl Jam, who played a concert in Missoula in support of Tester's U.S. Senate bid.^[2]

Tester grew up helping his family on their conventional farm, as well as helping run their butcher shop. Beginning in the late 1980s, Tester moved toward the more profitable organic farming; his family now grows organic wheat, barley, lentils, peas, millet, buckwheat, alfalfa and hay. They still operate their butcher shop for close friends and relatives, but no longer utilize it as a source of income.^[3]

As a child, Tester lost the middle, index, and ring finger on his left hand in an accident while working with a meat grinder.

Tester has a Bachelor of Science degree in music from the University of Great Falls. He was subsequently a music teacher in the Big Sandy School District for a brief time, before returning to farming.

Tester’s wife, Sharla, also grew up in north-central Montana and comes from an agricultural family. Jon and Sharla have a daughter, Christine (son-in-law James), a son, Shon, and one grandchild, Kilikina.^[4]

[edit] Political career

Tester served five years as chairman of the Big Sandy School Board of Trustees and served on the Big Sandy Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Committee and the Chouteau County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) Committee.

Tester was first elected to the Montana State Senate in 1998. He was elected the minority whip for the 2001 session. After being re-elected in 2002, he became minority leader for the 2003 session. In 2005, Tester was elected President of the Montana Senate, the chief presiding officer of the Montana Legislature’s upper chamber.

His election as President marked a significant transition for Montana Democrats as they moved into the majority leadership of the Senate for the first time in more than a decade.

Term limits would have prohibited Tester from running for state Senate for a third time.

[edit] 2006 U.S. Senate race

Main article: Montana United States Senate election, 2006

Tester announced his candidacy in May 2005 for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Republican senator Conrad Burns. Tester was the second Democrat to jump into the race, after state Auditor John Morrison. While Tester was seen as having a greater following among his fellow legislators and progressives,^{[citation needed]} his opponent, whose grandfather was governor of Nebraska, was able to raise significantly more money and had greater statewide name recognition.

Morrison collected $1.05 million as of the start of 2006, including $409,241 in the last three months of 2005,^[5] but "Morrison’s advantages in fundraising and name identification have not translated into a lead in the polls,"^[6] most of which showed the race exceedingly tight, some calling it a "deadlock" as of late May.^[7] On May 31, 2006, Paul Richards, another candidate in the race, citing the closeness of the race, and his own position in the polls, threw his support to Jon Tester.^[8]

On June 6, 2006, Tester won the Democratic primary by a margin of over 25 points, much larger than expected given the previous polling. Burns easily won the Republican primary. On election day, Tester received 198,302 votes versus 195,455 for Burns. Tester was declared the winner on Nov. 8, 2006.^[9][10]

[edit] Senate career

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on National Parks
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security
  • Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration
• Committee on Indian Affairs

[edit] Electoral History

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Jon Tester official Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jon Tester profile
• About.com — Jon Tester profile
• Jon Tester U.S. Senator-Elect official campaign site

&Articles

• "Montana Senator in Fight of Political Life," Associated Press, October 15, 2006
• Interview with Tester, Newsweek, August 22, 2006

v • d • e United States Senators from Montana Class 1: Sanders • Mantle • Clark • Gibson • Carter • Myers • Wheeler • Ecton • Mansfield • Melcher • Burns • Tester Class 2: Power • Carter • Clark • Dixon • Walsh • Erickson • Murray • Metcalf • Hatfield • Baucus