Jon Tester represented Montana in the U.S. Senate from 2007 through January 2025. He held the seat for three terms before losing his 2024 re-election to Republican Tim Sheehy by approximately 8 points. Tester chaired the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee during the 117th and 118th Congresses. His public identity was tied to his farm — he is a third-generation Montana grain farmer who continued to operate the family farm in Big Sandy throughout his Senate tenure. Politically he ran as a moderate, opposing the ACA individual mandate during initial debate but voting for the final ACA package in 2010, breaking with his party on gun legislation in 2013, and supporting Keystone XL pipeline construction. His three Senate wins (2006, 2012, 2018) came in elections where the Republican candidate was generally favored on paper.
Sen. Jonathan Tester (D-MT) kept 8 of 20 scored promises during his tenure, a 40 percent fulfillment rate.
His most significant broken promise: to hold Wall Street accountable and preserve Dodd-Frank protections. He also had 8 partial fulfillments — promises kept only in part — alongside his kept commitments.
We don't yet have detailed donor data or vote-by-vote alignment for this period, so we cannot show which industries funded him most or how his votes matched those contributions.
Narrated from FEC + Congress.gov receipts. Every figure traces to our data.
Tester kept 40% of 20 promises tracked for the 2019–2025 term. Each verdict is term-scoped, primary-sourced, and reviewed by three sequential reviewers (neutral · conservative · progressive).
Full review · neutral + conservative + progressive reviewers must clear each verdict before publication.
Jonathan Tester's campaign-promise scorecard: 40% kept of 20 graded. Source: campaignreceipts.com/r/jon-tester
Primary-source promise tracker, campaignreceipts.com.
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Email me when a verdict on Jonathan Tester's scorecard changes, a new receipt is added, or a major bill vote lands. One short email at a time, never bundled with the rest of the list.
Each promise below has its own Receipt — verdict, primary-source quotes, paper-trail pointers, and a case study. Linkable individually by Receipt ID for citation.
Tester voted AGAINST Manchin-Toomey (April 17, 2013). He voted YES on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (June 2022).
Tester sponsored multiple bills to restore COOL after Congress repealed it in 2015. The 2018 Farm Bill included voluntary COOL provisions.
Tester voted AGAINST the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (December 2, 2017), citing CBO projection of $1.5 trillion in additional deficits.
Tester voted AGAINST federal land-transfer provisions and YES on the Great American Outdoors Act (June 17, 2020, 73-25), permanently funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million annually.
VA MISSION Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-182) consolidated VA community-care programs; Tester was a primary negotiator.
Tester voted against confirmation of DeVos, Pruitt, Kavanaugh, Barrett. Voted YES on Gorsuch and several lower-court Trump confirmations.
Tester voted YES on S.J.Res. 68 (February 2020) requiring congressional authorization for action against Iran. Mixed record on Syria, Yemen, Ukraine support.
Sponsored Hannon Act (P.L. 116-171, signed October 17, 2020). Veterans homelessness funding through HUD-VASH protected and expanded.
Tester sponsored multiple anti-consolidation measures in Farm Bills. Family-farm decline continued despite efforts.
Tester voted YES on IRA Medicare drug-price negotiation provisions. Negotiation covers a defined list of drugs; broader authority did not pass.
Voted YES on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (November 5, 2021), which included $65 billion for broadband.
Tester voted YES on S. 744 (June 27, 2013, 68-32). Speaker Boehner declined to bring it to House floor. The 2024 campaign messaging emphasized border enforcement.
Tester co-sponsored opioid-distribution oversight measures. SUPPORT Act (P.L. 115-271, October 24, 2018) included Tester-supported provisions. Opioid overdose deaths rose from ~47,000 in 2017 to over 80,000 by 2021.
Tester announced support for marriage equality on March 21, 2013. Voted YES on the Respect for Marriage Act (S. 4567, November 29, 2022, 61-36).
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