Tester, 66, who has represented Montana in the U.S. Senate since
2007, is a reliable moderate Democrat who has won three tight
races in the past in an increasingly Republican state.
"Montanans need a fighter that will hold our government
accountable and demand Washington stand up for veterans and
lower costs for families," Tester said in a Twitter post
declaring his reelection campaign. "I will always fight to
defend our Montana values. Let's get to work."
Two Republicans now serving in the U.S. House of Representatives
-- Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke -- are seen as potential
candidates in Montana's 2024 U.S. Senate Republican primary.
State Attorney General Austin Knudsen is also viewed as a
possible contender.
Tester - a former music teacher with a reputation for folksy,
down-to-earth authenticity - defeated Rosendale by less than 4
percentage points in 2018.
He will likely face a tough battle for reelection, even with an
incumbent's advantage, in a Western state where Republicans have
swept statewide races by wide margins in recent years.
In 2020, Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines bested former
Democratic Governor Steve Bullock by more than 10 percentage
points. That same year, Republican President Donald Trump
defeated Democrat Joe Biden in Montana, winning the state by
more than 16 points while losing the national election.
Montana is one of several states, including West Virginia, Ohio
and Arizona, that present challenges to the Democrats' ability
to hold on to their Senate majority going into 2025.
Arizona U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema in December left the
Democratic Party, changing her registration to independent.
While she continues to caucus with President Joe Biden's party,
along with two other independents, her move could lead to a
three-way race in the Southwestern state in 2024 between the
incumbent, a Democratic candidate and a Republican challenger.
Democratic U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego last month said he
would seek his party's nomination to challenge Sinema.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton and David Morgan in Washington;
Editing by Richard Cowan, Alistair Bell, Chizu Nomiyama and
Jonathan Oatis)
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