Montana Senator Jon Tester challenges negative poll results in his re-election campaign: "Give me a break"

A recent poll showing Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., losing his Senate seat in Montana led two prominent political handicappers to adjust their race ratings in favor of Republicans.

He told reporters on Thursday that the AARP poll shows inconsistency with reality.

Tester raised concerns about the similarity of his polling standing to Vice President Kamala Harris.

In the poll, Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Republican Senate candidate, had a slight lead over Tester with 49% to 41%, while former President Donald Trump led Harris 56% to 41%.

The Montana Democrat stated, "I need some time off" after receiving the same percentage as Harris.

He added that it's a good poll, despite what was previously stated.

According to Tester, "It's a margin-of-error race right now."

The AARP poll was conducted by a bipartisan team of Fabrizio Ward (R) & David Binder Research (D). A total of 1,064 likely voters were interviewed between August 25-29, with an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Reporters were informed by the tester that he had no thoughts regarding the Cook Political Report classifying his race as "leans Republican."

He stated that he was not worried about being behind in the polls when asked about it.

For the first time, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Steve Daines, R-Mont., stated in a recent interview with Planet Chronicle Digital that the Republicans would regain the Senate majority in the upcoming election.

"We will win the Senate majority," he said.

"We need to reach 51. Although there's potential to surpass this, 51 is our current objective," he stated.

Tester explained on Thursday why he hasn't endorsed Harris, stating, "I want to focus on Montana."

Tester was reportedly responsible for recruiting Harris to run for the Senate in 2015, even though he did not explicitly endorse her.

Recently, Tester expressed support for President Biden's selection of Harris as his running mate in 2020, stating on X, "My friend @KamalaHarris is a proven fighter and an excellent pick for Vice President. As VP, I'm confident she will continue to fight for working families across this country. Looking forward to supporting her and @JoeBiden in November."

Trump has won Republican Montana twice, in both 2016 and 2020, but the tester has not appeared on a ballot with him.

Sheehy notably boasts the endorsement of Trump going into the competitive election.