A Montana farmer with a flattop and ample lobbyist cash stands between the GOP and Senate control

— After 17 years in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Jon Tester is a well-known commodity in Montana — a plain-spoken grain farmer with a flattop and a carefully cultivated reputation as a moderate. He chatted with veterans who supported him and some who didn’t, then stood behind a lectern in the Bigfork High School gymnasium to promote his biggest recent accomplishment: expanded federal health care for millions of veterans exposed to toxic smoke at military “burn pits.” Tester has survived three close elections and a changed national political landscape to emerge as the lone Democrat still holding high office in Montana. He’s taken in almost $20 million for next year’s election, ranking Tester sixth among Senate candidates nationwide, according to Federal Election Commission data through September. With West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s decision against seeking another term, Tester has become a top target for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his massive fundraising operation. When Tester entered the Senate, Democrats held almost every statewide elected office in Montana, from governor, secretary of state and attorney general, to two of the state’s three seats in Congress.