Who Jon Tester's top GOP challengers could be in 2024

Brady Knox

February 22, 07:35 PM February 22, 07:36 PM

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who announced he is running for reelection on Wednesday, will face his toughest challenge yet in 2024 in the deeply red state.

Tester, 66, has survived three terms in the state won by former President Donald Trump by 16 points in 2020 by positioning himself as a Democratic centrist. In 2024, however, the Republican Party will be eager to claim one of the Democrats' most vulnerable Senate seats, and several Republicans could potentially challenge the incumbent Democrat.

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The state's two Republican House members, governor, and attorney general are Tester's most likely challengers, having all generated some buzz about a Senate run, according to Politico.

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT)

Matt Rosendale appears eager for a rematch after being defeated by Tester in 2018. He won a seat in the Montana House of Representatives in 2010, then a seat in the Montana Senate in 2012. In 2016, he was elected as Montana's state auditor, readily beating his Democratic opponent by 8 points, despite being outspent 4-to-1, according to his campaign website. In what became the most expensive election in Montana history, with nearly $70 million spent between the two, Rosendale was defeated by Tester in the 2018 Senate election. He lost by 3.5 points despite a Trump endorsement.

Rosendale went on to win a seat in the House of Representatives in 2020, then was reelected in 2022.

He is considered one of the front runners for the 2024 Senate, with strong conservative credentials.

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT)

Ryan Zinke became the first Navy SEAL to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, going on to serve two years in the Trump administration as secretary of the interior. In 2022, he was reelected to the House of Representatives.

Zinke passed on the 2018 Senate race due to his position in the Trump administration but could now be poised to throw his hat in the 2024 race.

Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT)

Greg Gianforte won Zinke's seat in the House of Representatives in 2017, which was vacated after Zinke accepted a Cabinet position in the Trump administration. Gianforte gained widespread media attention after bodyslamming Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian, for which Gianforte pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in 2017. He went on to win reelection the next year but chose not to run in 2020 in favor of running for the governor's seat, which he won.

Gianforte's website boasts that the state has seen its all-time lowest unemployment rate in the state's history under his tenure, at 2.3%. The state also created the most jobs in a single year, at 51,508, according to his website. Though not signaling a possible run, his high profile could mean he is a likely contender in 2024.

State Attorney General Austin Knudsen

After a stint in the Montana House of Representatives, Austin Knudsen was elected state attorney general in 2020. His website stresses his conservative law-and-order credentials, using his position as county prosecutor to increase prosecutions and jail time for violent offenders. He has continued this pattern in his position as attorney general. While not hinting at a Senate run, chatter has been swirling around him about 2024, according to Politico.