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October 23, 2025

If there was even a crumb of positive information for Democrats following their 2024 drubbing in statewide races, it was that unseated former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, despite losing the state by 43,000 votes, still carried the day in the 16 counties comprising Montana’s western U.S. House District.

“Tester won the West” is the assurance being offered to voters by candidates who say their best chance of flipping a federal seat in 2026 is to oust Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, though Zinke won a rubber matc

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