GOP Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy told attendees of a rally in Kalispell on Tuesday that he planned to counter rival U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s deep pockets with a final hour blitz across Montana.

“You’ve got to know this guy ‘Shady Sheehy,’” Sheehy said before a packed audience in the Expo Building of the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Oct. 22. The reference to the moniker, drawn from some of the attack ads against him inundating the state, elicited a round of laughter. 

Sheehy currently leads Tester by 7 percentage points according to a recent New York Times poll in what has become one of the most expensive races in the nation this election cycle. Whoever wins the seat will likely secure control of the Senate for either the GOP or Democratic Party. 

More than $225 million has been spent on the race. When the candidates reported financials through the third quarter, Tester’s disbursements totaled $69.6 million to Sheehy’s $19.3 million through the end of last month, according to the Montana Free Press. 

“We're going to every single town, and because I can’t win on air, we're talking to people in person,” Sheehy said Tuesday. 

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte introduced Sheehy at the rally after criticizing the 16 years of Democratic governors preceding his administration. It was like a “clean up on aisle three,” he said.  

Gianforte boasted about his first term in office and sought to underscore the importance of the 2024 election. 

“We’ve been into headwinds from the Biden-Harris administration at all times,” Gianforte said to the energized crowd. “That’s why we need to send Donald Trump to the White House and we need to send Tim Sheehy in place of that other guy.”  

Sheehy, when he took the stage, critiqued ads taken out by the Democratic Party and Tester, which he accused of attacking his business and character. Toward the end of the rally, he countered the claims one by one, from his stance on public lands to how he runs his business.  

It was nearly a mirror image of Tester’s appearance in Whitefish over the weekend. The three-term senator, speaking at the Montana Farmers Union’s annual convention, walked his audience through what he considered lies from Sheehy’s campaign. 

“It’s bitter. It’s really been a negative campaign nationwide,” said valley resident and rally attendee David Reynolds. “It’s not a kind thing, no one shakes hands anymore, they’re throwing rocks instead.” 

Reynolds, who voted for Trump in 2016 and attended the former president’s 2017 inauguration, lives outside of West Glacier. A supporter of Sheehy, Reynolds argued for infusing “new blood” in Washington, D.C. Montana is changing, he said, so getting new thoughts and insights is a good idea.  

The rally, the second Save America Rally Sheehy has held in Kalispell, featured conservative pundit and activist Ben Shapiro. 

“Our civilization is at a crossroads. And elections like this matter because history turns on inflection points ... One Senate seat absolutely matters,” Shapiro said at the rally.  

When Gina Wright heard Shapiro was joining Sheehy in Kalispell, she couldn’t believe it. Wright held high a colorful poster reading “Ben’s #1 Fan” and quotes from his talk shows. 

“I love his articulation,” Wright said.  

A longtime listener of the Ben Shapiro Show, Wright hoped the event was designed to keep momentum building — and not a last-minute hail Mary. 

Shapiro used his time on stage to criticize the Democratic Party, which he claims is trying to restructure the government.  

“This could be the moment when America changes the inflection of its future,” Shapiro said of the general election. “There’s a party in this country that wants the future of America to be stagnation, social decay, foreign policy weakness, they want America to basically slide into a morass, just a little slowly.” 

“And then there's one party and there's one group of people who want America to build, to explode forth, they want the next century to not just be an American century but the American century. The greatest America has ever been,” he added. 

Montana doesn’t often have much of a say in federal elections, Sheehy said. This year, however, Montana’s Senate race could alter everything from cabinet position approvals for a future Trump administration to ending a filibuster.  

“Fifty-one runs right through Montana,” Sheehy said, reiterating the Democratic Party’s slim hold on the Senate. 

Former gubernatorial candidate Tanner Smith, Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, Sen. Neil Duram, R-Eureka and House District 8 Republican candidate Lukas Schubert were also in attendance on Tuesday.  

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459. 

    Ben Shapiro speaks during a Save America Rally with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building on Tuesday, Oct. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Kalispell resident Gina Wright holds a sign she made in support of Ben Shapiro at a Save America Rally featuring Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building on Tuesday, Oct. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks during a Save America Rally at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building on Tuesday, Oct. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Attendees record with their mobile phones and applaud during speeches by Ben Shapiro and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy during a Save America Rally at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building on Tuesday, Oct. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Gov. Greg Gianforte introduces Ben Shapiro and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy at a Save America Rally at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building on Tuesday, Oct. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Ben Shapiro speaks during a Save America Rally with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy and Gov. Greg Gianforte at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building on Tuesday, Oct. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider