HELENA — MTN is continuing our “Truth Be Told” series, taking a closer look at some of the claims Montana voters have seen in the huge volume of political ads in the U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Tim Sheehy.
Recently, Sheehy’s campaign has sought to tie Tester to lobbyists. In a TV ad, entitled “Bullsh*t,” a pair of ranchers criticizes Tester’s record, with one calling him “the number-one recipient of lobbyist campaign cash.” Sheehy repeated that claim at his debate with Tester last month.
The nonpartisan, independent research group OpenSecrets tracks money in politics, including money from lobbyists – but Sarah Bryner, OpenSecrets’ research director, says lobbyist contributions aren’t the biggest topic for them these days.
“In our post-Citizens United world, lobbyists really are a fairly small portion of the money in politics pie now,” she said.
“That isn't to say that lobbyists don't deserve their own special degree of scrutiny, because they work in a profession where they are expected to get policy outcomes, essentially, in exchange for their work,” Bryner went on to say. “So when that type of person starts contributing private money, then, yeah, that does open up a degree of scrutiny that maybe isn't merited for everybody. But in terms of sheer dollar amount, they still are a fairly small to midsize industry.”
OpenSecrets has two different breakdowns of contributions from lobbyists. The first includes money from federally registered lobbyists who have actively lobbied Congress in the last year. It shows Tester is the top recipient for the 2024 election cycle, with $489,440. He’s followed by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; former House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
The other calculation is described by OpenSecrets as including “members of the lobbying industry.” Bryner said that could include people who lobby at the state level, as well as people who work for a lobbying firm but aren’t registered lobbyists themselves. That list has Tester as the number-two recipient for the cycle, with $495,260. Cantwell is number-one, and the rest of the top five includes Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn.; Heinrich; and Senate candidate Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.
According to the first calculation, OpenSecrets reports Sheehy has received $109,676 from registered lobbyists. The list for the second calculation only includes the top 20 recipients among Senate candidates, and Sheehy is not included, but OpenSecrets told MTN he raised about $147,000 from the lobbying industry overall.
These numbers include 2023 and the first six months of 2024. They do not cover the latest round of federal fundraising reports, submitted last week, in which Tester reported raising another $32.1 million and Sheehy another $9.7 million.
Bryner said, while the specific numbers and positions on the list may change, the overall trends remain relatively stable. She said they have found lobbyists donate to members of both parties and that they typically see the most contributions go to sitting lawmakers – especially to members of leadership and to smaller-state Democratic senators.
“The reason we see outsized donations from lobbyists to Western or purple-state Democrats in particular is because they oftentimes don't have the money in their own state to go to,” said Bryner. “If you represent California or New York as a Democrat, you can just go down the street, and your local Silicon Valley millionaire is going to be able to help you out.”
Bryner said OpenSecrets’ data on lobbyists has been used in political ads before, but she doesn’t have a “normative evaluation” that receiving contributions from lobbyists is inherently a problem.
“It’s a far more nuanced story than that,” she said.
Montana’s Senate race is, of course, one of the most hotly contested in the country this year, with Tester and Sheehy’s campaigns together raising more than $100 million – more combined than in any election this year except the presidential race and the Senate races in Texas, Ohio, Maryland and California. That further emphasizes that money from lobbyists has played a relatively minor role.
Prior to the most recent report, Tester’s campaign had raised about $42 million during this election cycle. The $495,260 from the lobbying industry would be just over 1.1% of that. Sheehy’s campaign had brought in more than $13 million before the last report, and his $147,000 would be just under 1.1% of that.
Tester’s campaign responded to MTN with a statement.
“Tim Sheehy has leveraged his lobbyist ties for his own self interest for years,” said spokesperson Harry Child. “He started his own lobbying shop and buttered up bureaucrats and politicians to line his own pockets, and then accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbyist cash despite telling Montanans he wouldn’t. Montanans are going to re-elect the third-generation dirt farmer this November – not the rich out-of-stater who refuses to tell the truth.”
Sheehy's campaign also shared a statement with MTN.
“The undisputed #1 recipient of lobbyist cash Jon Tester became a multimillionaire on the taxpayers’ dime and even broke his own ethics pledge by letting lobbyists write his bills, funneling billions to companies bankrolling his campaign, and taking over $100,000 from former members of Congress turned lobbyists,” said spokesperson Jack O'Brien. “Jon Tester is bought and paid for by D.C. insiders, and he’s gotten rich the last 18 years by selling off his vote to the highest bidder. It’s time to fire Jon Tester and bring in political outsiders like Tim Sheehy who can’t be bought to restore service, sacrifice, and accountability back to DC.”
