BILLINGS - Montana state Republican lawmakers are trying to pass a bill that would change the primary election for the 2024 U.S. Senate race, potentially making a tougher re-election for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.
The bill would establish a jungle primary for the seat, meaning that all candidates for the U.S. Senate would run in the same primary election regardless of their political party.
The top two vote-getters would advance to the general election, meaning that third-party candidates, such as Libertarians, Independents or the Green Party, would likely get left off the ballot.
Former independent candidate Gary Buchanan is one of the many Montanans who are unhappy about the potential change.
"It's not an experiment," Buchanan said. "It's a purposeful infringement of the electoral process. I think it is an attempt to disenfranchise anyone that wanted to be a part of the Libertarian party and I think that is a big, big mistake."
Part of the controversy surrounding the bill is because it will only affect one election — Sen. Tester's. The bill would apply to the 2024 Senate race, and then future elections would revert back to the status quo.
"Every Montana voter should be offended by one extreme part of the party trying to rig our elections," Buchanan said.
Sen. Tester's re-election bid will be one of the most watched elections in Montana history. Sen. Tester, who is seeking his fourth six-year term, is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats in the country.
"At a time when inflation and high costs are hurting Montana families, out-of-touch politicians in Helena are showing that they care more about power than addressing the real issues facing the state," said Tester's campaign manager Shelbi Dantic in a statement to MTN News.
But bill sponsor Greg Hertz, a Republican from Polson, is adamant that the motivation behind the bill is not to attack the Democratic Party.
"I'm not attacking Sen. Tester," Hertz said. "I just want to make sure that the individual that is the winning candidate gets the majority vote."
The bill would have general elections between only two candidates, so one of the two would have to receive 50% of the votes in order to earn the seat. It's something that Hertz said would help make election results more clear.
"When you have less than majority, sometimes people question the election and whether this individual has the full support of Montanans behind them," Hertz said.
Tester has won election three times. Of those three, he's received less than 50% of the vote twice, once in 2006 when he defeated incumbent Conrad Burns and once in 2012 when he defeated Republican challenger Denny Rehberg.
In the 2012 race, a Libertarian candidate was on the ballot, which Republicans claimed siphoned votes away from Rehberg.
In 2018, Tester breached the 50% threshold for the first time against challenger Matt Rosendale.
The problem most have with the jungle primary is that the two candidates who advance to the general election could be affiliated with the same party.
"This is an unprecedented way for people to try and rig an election," Buchanan said. "To try and exclude third party candidates or third party voters from the election is an attempt to rig the election for all Montana voters.
But Hertz said that is not the goal of the legislation, and he hopes it will become the norm for all Montana elections by 2028.
"My intentions are for this to be used for the congressional races in 2026 and then all races by 2028," Hertz said. "I don't want this to attack one political party. I just want whoever wins to receive majority of the votes and that could fit either one."
