"In late June 2024, a group of concerned residents in Billings, Montana, gathered near I-90 for a protest. The dissenters-30 in total-were upset with Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate in the state's highly contested Senate race. The group chanted "public lands in public hands," nodding to Sheehy's fenced-off hunting ranches. They held up signs calling out "Shady Sheehy" and telling him "Don't Minnesota My Montana," a reference to his former residence in the Land of 10,000 Lakes."
"In truth, though, there were almost no real Billings residents at the protest. Among the 30 people who showed up were at least 20 Tester campaign staffers from all over the country and a few interns, myself included. My job that week had been to recruit local Montanan protesters. Though our campaign argued that Tester was the "authentic" Montana candidate, maybe five actual Montanans showed. I saw the same trend every day of our campaign-a disconnect between our claim to authentic Montanan populism and the reality on the ground."
In late June 2024, a small protest near I-90 in Billings featured roughly 30 people chanting for public lands and criticizing Tim Sheehy, the Republican Senate candidate. Campaign communications celebrated local turnout, but most attendees were Tester campaign staffers and interns brought in from around the country. The organizer-intern's role focused on recruiting genuine Montanans, yet only about five actual locals participated. The campaign consistently presented Tester as an authentic Montanan populist while daily operations and events often relied on nonlocal staff, producing a tangible gap between rhetoric and reality.
Read at The Nation
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