Like many super PACs, the origins of Last Best Place, a group that’s spent millions targeting a top candidate in Montana’s GOP Senate primary, and who helped oust former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from leadership in 2023.
The Montana Democratic Party paid for Facebook ads appearing to boost Rosendale, though the party denied that was its aim. The party bought ads in December under the name Treasure State Truths, including one linking to an op-ed praising Rosendale as 100% anti-abortion and another highlighting remarks from Sheehy falsely stating that Montana has more bears than people.
All this underscores the messiness at play in Montana that will only intensify ahead of the June primary and November general election. Both sides are expected to pour millions more into what will likely be one of the nation’s most expensive Senate contests alongside Ohio, where Democrat Sherrod Brown is seeking reelection in a state that Trump won by 8 percentage points in 2020. Trump did even better in Montana, winning by 16 points.
Republicans only need to expand their Senate map by two seats to flip control of the 51-49 Senate. And the party is already poised to capture West Virginia, where conservative Democrat Joe Manchin isn’t running for reelection, virtually ensuring his seat will go to a Republican.
Last Best Place’s first ad appeared in September, attacking Sheehy for accepting a PPP loan, part of a government assistance program available for businesses during the pandemic. Subsequent ads hammered Sheehy on the loan, as well as financial ties to China and the Cayman Islands. Sheehy’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Advertisement
“Tim Sheehy doesn’t get to use his shady money to create his own reality,” said Senate Majority PAC President J.B. Poersch in a statement to HuffPost. “The truth is Sheehy is Mitch McConnell’s prized recruit who plans to spend his millions to mask just how out of touch he is from hardworking Montanans.”
Last Best Place’s treasurer, former GOP state Sen. Dave Lewis, also attacked Sheehy in a statement to HuffPost. Lewis, who was in the Montana legislature from 2001 to 2015 and voted twice for Trump, now identifies as a libertarian.
“Montanans deserve a senator who understands Montana — someone who understands our beliefs and our values. But that’s not Tim Sheehy … He may be Mitch McConnell’s idea of a perfect candidate, but he certainly isn’t ours,” Lewis said.
Last Best Place is only responsible for a portion of the political advertising that’s been saturating the airwaves in Montana. Sheehy’s campaign and allied super PACs have been on TV with spots linking Tester to President Joe Biden, who is deeply unpopular in Montana. The NRSC also placed an ad buy this week, boosting Sheehy.
Earlier this month, More Jobs, Less Government, a pro-Sheehy super PAC, took out a radio ad blasting Last Best Place as a tool of Democratic donors, the Washington Examiner reported.
Advertisement
“Have you seen an ad from Last Best Place PAC? The one’s calling America-first conservative Tim Sheehy ‘shady Sheehy,’” the ad’s narrator says. “But the group airing the ad? Well, they’re the ones who are shady. That’s because Last Best Place PAC is tied to big-money Democrat donors. Why? Because Democrats are trying to interfere in the Republican primary to hurt pro-Trump Tim Sheehy and help liberal Jon Tester.”
