| Jon Tester | |
|---|---|
| United States Senator from Montana |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2007 Serving with Max Baucus |
|
| Preceded by | Conrad Burns |
| President of the Montana Senate | |
| In office 2005–2007 |
|
| Governor | Brian Schweitzer |
| Deputy | Dan Harrington President pro tempore |
| Preceded by | Bob Keenan |
| Succeeded by | Mike Cooney |
| Member of the Montana Senate from the 45th District | |
| In office 1998–2005 |
|
| Succeeded by | Jim Shockley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | R. Jon Tester August 21, 1956 Havre, Montana |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Sharla Tester |
| Children | Christine Tester Shon Tester |
| Residence | Big Sandy, Montana |
| Alma mater | University of Great Falls (B.S.) |
| Occupation | Organic Farmer |
| Religion | Church of God (Anderson) |
| Website | Senator Jon Tester |
R. Jon Tester[1] (born August 21, 1956) is the junior United States Senator for Montana, serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served as President of the Montana Senate.
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Tester was born in Havre, Montana,[2] one of three sons of Helen Marie (née Pearson) and David O. Tester. His mother was of Swedish descent.[3] Tester grew up in Chouteau County, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on the land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1912.[4] At the age of 9, he lost the middle three fingers of his left hand in a meat-grinder accident.[5] In 1978, he graduated from the University of Great Falls with a B.S. in music.[6]
He then worked for two years as a music teacher in the Big Sandy School District before returning to his family's farm and custom butcher shop.[7] He and his wife continue to operate the farm; in the 1980s, they changed over from conventional to organic farming,[8] raising wheat, barley, lentils, peas, millet, buckwheat, and alfalfa.[6] 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.[9]
Tester was first elected to the Montana State Senate in 1998, after his neighbor, a Republican State Senator, decided not to run for re-election.[9] He was elected the minority whip for the 2001 session. In 2002, he won re-election with 71% of the vote.[10] In 2003, he became minority leader. In 2005, Tester was elected President of the Montana Senate, the chief presiding officer of the Montana Legislature’s upper chamber.[9]
His election as President marked a 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. While serving as Senate President, Tester supported increased funding for public education and cutting taxes for small business owners and the working poor. He also worked to make health insurance more affordable and require public utilities to use more renewable energy.[11]
Tester announced his candidacy in May 2005 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent 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,[12] 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,[13] but "Morrison’s advantages in fundraising and name identification have not translated into a lead in the polls,"[14] most of which showed the race exceedingly tight, some calling it a "deadlock" as of late May.[15]
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 won the Republican primary over former state Senate President Bob Keenan. On election day, Tester received 199,845 votes versus 196,283 for Burns. Tester was declared the winner on Nov. 8, 2006.[16][17] His victory, along with that of Jim Webb in Virginia, was one of the two closest and last decided Senate races in the 2006 midterms, which saw the Democrats regain control of the Senate.
He is running for re-election to a second term. He will face Republican U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg.
He has made government reform a top priority issue. Tester criticized Republicans in Congress for making policy that is designed "for those who write the biggest campaign checks".[18] He has stated that Washington culture is "controlled by K Street cronies."[18] He has spoken against gay marriage and flag burning, but sees Constitutional bans on each issue as unnecessary. Instead of avoiding class issues, Tester has also taken them head-on. On Meet the Press, he asserted that "there’s no more middle class" because of Bush Administration policies.[19]
Tester is a more liberal Democrat on other issues. He is pro-choice and supports embryonic stem cell research, and he has also voted to increase funding for Medicare and SCHIP. In the Senate, Tester continues to advocate increased funding for public education, just as he did in the Montana Legislature. Tester supports middle class tax cuts. He has voted against repealing the Estate Tax and Alternative Minimum Tax, policies he sees as favoring only the wealthy. When criticized for being soft on national security, Tester stated that "the Patriot Act has very little to do with the War on Terrorism" and asserted that "I don't want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it.".[20] Tester is also a strong supporter of alternative energy, voting to increase wind and solar power funding and decrease emissions. He states that the Kyoto Protocol needs American support in order to have global legitimization.
Tester supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, voting for it in December 2009.[21] Tester voted for the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.[22]
Tester voted to confirm Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
On December 18, 2010, Tester voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.[23][24]
During a Billings press conference, the Tester campaign released a statement from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledging to give Tester a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee, regardless of whether Democrats wrested control of the Senate from Republicans, "as soon as possible."[25] On January 13, 2009, Tester's second session of Congress, he was given a seat on the Appropriations Committee.[26]
| Montana U.S. Senate Election 2006 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Jon Tester | 199,845 | 49.2 | ||
| Republican | Conrad Burns (Incumbent) | 196,283 | 48.3 | -2.3 | |
During Tester's senior year in college, he married Sharla Bitz.[27] Like Jon, Sharla Tester comes from an agricultural family and grew up in north-central Montana.[28] The couple has two children: a daughter Christine, born in 1980; and a son Shon, born in 1985.[27]
| United States Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Conrad Burns |
United States Senator (Class 1) from Montana 2007–present Served alongside: Max Baucus |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Sheldon Whitehouse D-Rhode Island |
United States Senators by seniority 68th |
Succeeded by John Barrasso R-Wyoming |
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