Tester, the most vulnerable Senate Democrat this cycle, is trailing Republican Tim Sheehy in the polls.
America’s most prominent gun-rights organization is launching another advertisement criticizing Senator Jon Tester’s (D., Mt.) voting record on the Second Amendment.
The National Rifle Association’s political victory fund is airing an advertisement hitting Tester’s “designer camo” and support for gun restrictions, National Review has learned.
Linking Tester to Vice President Kamala Harris, his party’s presidential nominee, the ad highlights Tester’s vote for left-wing Supreme Court justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson, all of whom have opposed majority rulings solidifying the Second Amendment.
“Of course the liberal, GQ, Hollywood hunters are with Jon Tester. But all the designer camo in the world can’t cover up his anti-Second Amendment record, can’t cover up votes for gun grabbers like Kamala Harris and putting gun grabbers on anti-Second Amendment judges on the bench.”
Tester is facing an uphill battle this cycle against Republican challenger Tim Sheehy, a military veteran and businessman who the NRA has endorsed. Sheehy is up five percentage points over Tester in the RealClearPolitics polling average and a bipartisan AARP poll taken last month showed Sheehy with a six point lead against the Democratic incumbent.
The NRA is spending more than $2 million to help defeat Tester, whose seat will be crucial in deciding whether Republicans are able to regain control of the senate. Earlier this month, the gun-rights group began its campaign against Tester with an ad featuring a mother asserting her Second Amendment right to defend herself.
“The Senate race in Montana is a crucial one for those who support the 2nd Amendment,” said Randy Kozuch, chairman of the NRA political victory fund.
“Tester has used his hunter facade as a shield against criticism for voting with radical Democrats on one anti-gun nominee or bill after another. But true hunters can spot a decoy when they see it. We are continuing our multi-million-dollar effort to help retire Tester this November, send Tim Sheehy to Washington, and secure a pro-gun majority in the Senate.”
Harris is attempting to moderate her positions on guns to help broaden her appeal down the stretch of the presidential campaign. At the most recent presidential debate, Harris said she is a gun owner and denied former president Donald Trump’s claim that she supports gun confiscation. And during an interview with Oprah last week, Harris said she would be prepared to shoot anyone who broke into her home.
As vice president, Harris is head of the Biden administration’s office of gun violence prevention and tasked with overseeing the White House’s regulatory agenda when it comes to firearms. The Biden administration has attempted to enhance gun regulations through the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. Harris is a proponent of those regulations and the bipartisan gun restriction bill Biden signed following the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde two years ago.
In the past, Harris voiced support for a mandatory “buyback” program and previously suggested that law enforcement should be able to enter people’s homes to check if they are handling their firearms responsibly. She continues to support banning assault weapons and closing the “gun-show loophole.”
On the campaign trail, Tester has emphasized abortion and healthcare, while attempting to distinguish himself from the Democratic Party’s national image and Harris’s name atop the ticket. Tester’s campaign has touted his bipartisan legislation to allow federal funding for hunting education classes in defiance of the Biden administration.