Jon Tester

Tester grew up in Chouteau County, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1912.

At the age of nine, he lost the middle three fingers of his left hand in a meat-grinder accident.

Raymond Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an American politician and farmer serving as the senior United States senator from Montana, a seat he has held since 2007.

A member of the Democratic Party, Tester is the dean of Montana's congressional delegation and the only Democrat who holds statewide office in Montana.

In 1978, he graduated from the University of Providence (then called the College of Great Falls) with a B.A. in music.

Tester 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.

He and his wife continue to operate the farm; in the 1980s, they switched from conventional to organic farming.

Tester spent five years as chairman of the Big Sandy School Board of Trustees and was also 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 represent the 45th district in the Montana Senate in 1998, after his neighbor, a Republican State Senator, decided not to run for reelection.

Before running for State Senate, Tester served on the Big Sandy school board for a decade.

He served in the Montana Senate from 1999 to 2007, and as its president for his last two years in the chamber.

He is generally considered a centrist or moderate Democrat.

He was elected the minority whip for the 2001 session.

In 2002, he was reelected with 71% of the vote, and he became minority leader in 2003.

In 2004 he moved to the 15th district as a "holdover" because of redistricting.

In 2005, Tester was elected president of the Montana Senate, the chief presiding officer of the Montana Legislature's upper chamber.

Tester's election as Senate 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 prohibited Tester from running for State Senate for a third consecutive term.

Tester cited a prescription drug benefit program, reinstatement of the "Made in Montana" promotion program, a law to encourage renewable energy development, and his involvement with a bill that led to an historic increase in public school funding as accomplishments while in office.

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 had a greater following among his fellow legislators, Morrison, whose grandfather had been governor of Nebraska, raised significantly more money and had greater statewide name recognition than Tester.

Tester was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, defeating Republican incumbent Conrad Burns in one of the closest Senate races of that year.

Morrison had collected $1.05 million as of the start of 2006, including $409,241 in the last three months of 2005.

But "Morrison's advantages in fundraising and name identification [did] not translate into a lead in the polls", most of which showed the race as exceedingly tight; as of late May 2006, some polls called the primary a "deadlock".

In June 2006, Tester won the Democratic nomination by more than 25 percentage points in a six-way primary.

He was described as having "gained momentum in the closing weeks of the campaign through an extensive grass-roots effort".

While Tester's pledge to "end secret meetings with lobbyists" was a central issue in his campaign, CNN reported in 2023 that he had not fully followed through on it.

In the November 2006 general election, Tester defeated Burns, receiving 199,845 votes (49.2%) to Burns's 196,283 (48.3%).

Libertarian Stan Jones received 10,377 votes (2.6%).

Tester's victory was confirmed the day after the election.

Tester sought reelection to a second term and was challenged by Republican U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg.

The race was seen as pivotal for both parties.

During his first term, Tester split with Democrats on key issues like the Keystone XL oil pipeline; he had also voted with his party on issues such as the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd–Frank financial services overhaul.

When announcing his candidacy, Rehberg called Tester a "yes man" for President Obama, saying that he sided with the administration in 97% of his votes.

He narrowly won reelection in 2012 against U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg, and in 2018 against Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale.

He is running for reelection in 2024.

Tester was born in Havre, Montana, one of three sons of Helen Marie (née Pearson) and David O. Tester.

He is the descendant of Mormon pioneers on his father's side.

His father was of English descent and his mother was of Swedish ancestry.