Tester has held a Senate seat for the last twelve years, even if he’s a bit of a shitlib. Steve Bullock, another mountain west Dem, was the governor as recently as 2020. And Brian Swartzer before that.

Its been trending conservative as the O&G industry has consumed the media markets and dominated the local political scene. But these big empty states aren’t naturally conservative by any means. No more than Minnesota or Michigan or Pennsylvania. They only trend that way when oil money drowns the democratic process.