Jon Tester

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Jon Tester
United States Senator from Montana
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2007 Serving with Max Baucus
Preceded by	Conrad Burns
President of the Montana Senate
In office 2005 – 2007
Governor	Brian Schweitzer
Deputy	Dan Harrington President pro tempore
Succeeded by	Mike Cooney
Born	August 21, 1956 (1956-08-21) (age 52) Havre, Montana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sharla Tester
Children	Christine Tester Shon Tester
Residence	Big Sandy, Montana
Alma mater	University of Great Falls
Occupation	farmer
Religion	Church of God (Anderson)

Jon Tester (born August 21, 1956) is an organic farmer and junior U.S. Senator from the state of Montana, and a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his election in 2006, he served as President of the Montana State Senate.

[edit] Background

Tester was born in Havre, Montana to Helen M. Pearson and David O. Tester.^[1] He grew up in Chouteau County, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on the same family land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1916. The small town is also the birthplace of Jeff Ament of rock band Pearl Jam, who played a concert in Missoula in support of Tester's U.S. Senate bid.^[2]

Tester grew up helping his family on their conventional farm, as well as helping run their butcher shop. Beginning in the late 1980s, Tester moved toward the more profitable organic farming; his family now grows organic wheat, barley, lentils, peas, millet, buckwheat, alfalfa and hay. ^[3]

As a child, Tester lost the middle, index, and ring finger on his left hand in an accident while working with a meat grinder.^[4]

Tester has a Bachelor of Science degree in music from the University of Great Falls. He was subsequently a music teacher in the Big Sandy School District for a brief time, before returning to farming.

Tester’s wife, Sharla, also grew up in north-central Montana and comes from an agricultural family. Jon and Sharla have a daughter, Christine (son-in-law James), a son, Shon, and one grandchild, Kilikina.^[5]

[edit] Political career

Tester served five years as chairman of the Big Sandy School Board of Trustees and served 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 the Montana State Senate in 1998. He was elected the minority whip for the 2001 session. After being re-elected in 2002, he became minority leader for the 2003 session. In 2005, Tester was elected President of the Montana Senate, the chief presiding officer of the Montana Legislature’s upper chamber.

His election as 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 would have prohibited Tester from running for state Senate for a third time. While serving as Senate President, Tester supported increased funding for public education and cutting taxes for small business owners and the working poor. He also worked to make health insurance more affordable and require public utilities to use more renewable energy.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2006 U.S. Senate race

Tester announced his candidacy in May 2005 for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Republican senator Conrad Burns. Tester was the second Democrat to jump into the race, after state Auditor John Morrison. While Tester was seen as having a greater following among his fellow legislators,^{[citation needed]} his opponent, whose grandfather was governor of Nebraska, was able to raise significantly more money and had greater statewide name recognition.

Morrison collected $1.05 million as of the start of 2006, including $409,241 in the last three months of 2005,^[6] but "Morrison’s advantages in fundraising and name identification have not translated into a lead in the polls,"^[7] most of which showed the race exceedingly tight, some calling it a "deadlock" as of late May.^[8]

On June 6, 2006, Tester won the Democratic primary by a margin of over 25 points, much larger than expected given the previous polling. Burns easily won the Republican primary. On election day, Tester received 198,302 votes versus 195,455 for Burns. Tester was declared the winner on Nov. 8, 2006.^[9][10]

[edit] Political views

The political watchdog group OnTheIssues.org has ranked him a "Moderate Liberal" [1]. He has made government reform a top priority issue. Tester criticized Republicans in Congress for making policy that is designed "for those who write the biggest campaign checks" [2]. He has stated that Washington culture is "controlled by K Street cronies." [3].He has spoken against gay marriage and flag burning, but sees Constitutional bans on each issue as unnecessary. Instead of avoiding class issues, Tester has also taken them head-on. On Meet the Press, he asserted that "there’s no more middle class" because of Bush Administration policies.

Tester is a more liberal Democrat on other issues. He is pro-choice and supports embryonic stem cell research, and he has also voted to increase funding for Medicare and SCHIP. In the Senate, Tester continues to advocate increased funding for public education, just as he did in the Montana Legislature. Tester supports middle class tax cuts, but has voted against repealing the Estate Tax and Alternative Minimum Tax, policies he sees as favoring only the wealthy. When criticized for being soft on national security, Tester stated that "the Patriot Act has very little to do with the War on Terrorism" and asserted that "I don't want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it."[4]. Tester is also a strong supporter of alternative energy, voting to increase wind and solar power funding and decrease emissions. He states that the Kyoto Protocol needs American support in order to have global legitimization.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Money

Tester returned $4,750 in potentially illegal campaign donations tied to Norman Hsu, whose fundraising is being investigated by the FBI. None of the money was donated to Tester directly from Hsu. [5]

[edit] Committee Promises

During a Billings press conference, the Tester campaign released a statement from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledging to give Tester a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee, regardless of whether Democrats wrest control of the Senate from Republicans. Senator Tester was not placed on the Appropriations Committee in his first session. The release, however, did say “as soon as possible." [6]

On January 13, 2009, Tester's second session of Congress, he was given a seat on the Appropriations Committee. [7]

[edit] Senate career

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
  • Subcommittee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Policy
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration
  • Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight
• Committee on Indian Affairs
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs

[edit] Electoral History

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Jon Tester official Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jon Tester profile
• About.com — Jon Tester profile
• Jon Tester U.S. Senator-Elect official campaign site

&Articles

• "Montana Senator in Fight of Political Life," Associated Press, October 15, 2006
• Interview with Tester, Newsweek, August 22, 2006

v • d • e United States Senators from Montana Class 1 Sanders • Mantle • Clark • Gibson • Carter • Myers • Wheeler • Ecton • Mansfield • Melcher • Burns • Tester Class 2 Power • Carter • Clark • Dixon • Walsh • Erickson • Murray • Metcalf • Hatfield • Baucus