Recently, Senator Jon Tester’s campaign has circulated newspaper advertisements bragging about having procured millions of dollars in federal funding for local law enforcement. However, multiple county sheriffs have now called Tester’s ads “misleading”.
In a Facebook post, Roosevelt County Sheriff Jason Frederick issued the following statement:
I am not supporting either candidate, but as your Sheriff I must inform you this recent campaign ad for Jon Tester is false and misleading. I have reached out to his office with no response. My question is where is this 1.8 million in funding for Roosevelt County law enforcement? I have reached out to the commissioners, WP Mayor, and Tribal Chief of police. Nobody knows anything about this 1.8 million. Our citizens In Roosevelt County are suffering in every way because of drugs. I know 1.8 million would sure help us with many issues here In Roosevelt County.
Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler issued a similar statement, even going so far as to endorse Tester’s opponent:
We have all been bombarded with political ads this election season and I usually try to ignore most of them. With that being said I cannot let this one go. This ad put out by Senator Tester’s campaign is very misleading. In all of the years I have been Sheriff, Senator Tester has never reached out to me or my office to show support for us in anyway. Furthermore, any “funding” that has been procured for the Sheriff’s office has come from the hard work of our grant writer. Poaching a photo of one of the Sheriff’s Office vehicles and running a misleading ad is not something I can leave unaddressed. This is one reason that I and many other Law Enforcement professionals in Montana will be supporting Tim Sheehy this election cycle.
This comes amidst an election where law and order are top of mind. Vice-President Harris has a background as a criminal prosecutor, but former President Trump has garnered the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, and both candidates have tried to leverage these facts to bolster a pro-law and order image.
Senator Tester’s campaign has not yet responded to YCN’s request for comment.
