Who is Tim Sheehy... really?

The Billings Gazette has recently run front page articles about the truth of campaign ads by Sen. Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy, opponents in the Montana U.S. Senate race. The articles discuss political crossfire between the two on important public issues, but they do not inquire into the personal integrity of the candidates.

Senator Tester is a known quantity. He has a solid backstory and a lengthy record of public service. We know who he is and what he believes in. 

Sheehy is a newcomer to Montana and is brand new to politics. He was hand picked to run by members of the Washington “swamp,” and his public image has been carefully crafted to appeal to Montana voters. But this carefully curated image does not reflect the truth about where he comes from and what he really stands for. 

For example: 

Sheehy claims he grew up in rural Minnesota. He did not. He grew up in a multi-million-dollar lake house in a suburb north of St. Paul, MN, and went to a private high school in the Twin Cities. 

Sheehy claims he is a rancher. He did buy a ranch four years ago, but he doesn’t actually work the ranch. He did not register any cattle or pay Montana State livestock taxes until after it was politically expedient to do so. He markets his ranch to private hunters, does photo shoots, and promotes products with a social media influencer that promises “major Yellowstone vibes.” He’s not a real Montana rancher. 

Sheehy says he is a “self made man,” but he started his firefighting business with the help of hundreds of thousands of dollars from his family, and using his brother’s Wall Street connections. 

Sheehy touts his business success, but his business reported a $77 million net loss this year, and worries it can’t pay its debts. A $160 Million bond from Gallatin County to buy planes and build hangars was mostly paid to investors. Sheehy has personally made millions, as his business fails. 

Sheehy says he favors transfer of Federal public lands to State control, but does not want to privatize them. So why did he hide that he was on the Board of PERC, a nonprofit that wants to privatize public lands? And why did he recently photoshop a campaign ad to remove the PERC logo from his shirt? 

Sheehy said at a fundraising event that he believes health care should be purely privatized, because government involvement makes health care more expensive. But this is not true, and now he says he will protect Medicare, but Medicare is a government program. What does he really mean? 

Before Sheehy decided to run for office, his business was proud of its fight against the climate change crisis, and supported ESG investing, which considers information like climate impact and staff diversity in making decisions. Since then, language about climate change and ESG has been scrubbed from the website. What does he really believe? 

Sheehy says he parachuted into Glacier National Park as part of his military training. The National Park Service says it never happened. Why does he lie? 

Sheehy admits that he lied to a Glacier National Park officer about accidentally shooting himself in the arm. Lying to a law enforcement officer is wrong, even if you think it is justified. 

Sheehy has been recorded twice at private fundraising events making racist remarks about Native Americans. He said that the statements were from “years ago” but they were actually made in November, 2023. He won’t apologize. 

Sheehy’s book, Mudslingers, contains four plagiarized passages. Plagiarism is lying and stealing someone else’s work. 

Sheehy’s lack of honesty reflects on his integrity as a person. How can you trust him to represent your values when he isn’t even truthful about who he is and what his values are? 

Please think carefully before you vote!

Karen Jarussi

Billings