Montana News
Tester trails Sheehy in Senate race, according to AARP poll
With Montana News, I'm Eleanor Smith. New polling data shows Democrat John Tester trailing Republican challenger Tim Sheehy in the race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate. MTPR's Edward O'Brien reports. The new poll by AARP Montana shows Sheehy leading tester by eight points when third-party candidates are included. In a head-to-head matchup, Sheehy leads tester by six points. The late August survey of 1064 voters has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. Political analyst Lee Banville reminds voters polls represent a snapshot in time, but he does say this data indicates a tight race. However, Banville, director of the University of Montana School of Journalism simultaneously cautions that the tester campaign faces significant hurdles. Issues like abortion, access, and protecting women's right to choose, protecting democracy, things that seem to be resonating particularly with Democratic voters are a lot lower down the list of issues that people are citing as the things that they're most worried about. The poll found immigration, border security, and inflation as top issues for Montana voters. AARP Montana says voters over the age of 50 are the state's largest and most enthusiastic voting block this election cycle. The full AARP Montana poll can be found at our website at mtpr.org. Reporting from Missoula, I'm Edward O'Brien.