Sheehy wins 2024 Senate race in Montana, CBS News projects. View the race results.

Washington- According to CBS News forecasts, Republican Tim Sheehy will defeat Sen. Jon Tester in the Montana Senate race, taking a seat away from Democrats to strengthen it GOP majority in the upper chamber.

Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company, received his party’s endorsement as Tester’s candidate. The 38-year-old sought to contrast with Tester by portraying himself as an outsider during the campaign, portraying the Democrat as an establishment candidate with close ties to Washington. He also campaigned on bringing his company jobs to Montana, which made him wealthy enough to finance his campaign.

Sheehy, who grew up in Minnesota, was criticized for lacking Tester’s deep roots in the state. He was also questioned about inconsistencies in his story about how he sustained a gunshot wound. Meanwhile, Tester tried to paint his opponent as an out-of-touch carpet salesman, comparing the GOP candidate to wealthy out-of-state folks who have flocked to Montana in recent years.

Tester is a third-generation Montana farmer. He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and has a good reputation in the state. Despite his rather conservative politics, he had already won re-election twice as a moderate Democrat.

But Montana’s political landscape has changed. In 2020, Donald Trump won Montana by more than 16 points, and trends suggest the state’s influx of new residents is largely Republican. The state’s changing dynamics presented a serious hurdle for Tester — the only Democrat to hold statewide office in Montana.

The Montana Senate seat was a key target for Republicans and was among the last Democratic holdouts in the Great Plains and red states in general.

Entering Election Day with a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, Democrats had little room for error after Sen. Joe Manchin decided not to seek re-election, which all but guaranteed the Republican a seat flip in West Virginia. And besides a change in Ohio, Republicans saw Tester’s seat as the next best opportunity to gain ground.