Senate Leader Chuck Schumer is now in the fight of his life to try and hang onto control of the U.S. Senate.
And he must have everything to go his way to pull it off.
But Chuck Schumer just got this devastating news about a State Supreme Court decision that could mean the end.
Montana Supreme Court rules against Democrats in vital election case
Montana has become the surprising battleground state that almost certainly will determine which party controls the Senate next year.
Incumbent U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is being forced to carry the full weight of the Democrat’s Senate majority on his shoulders.
And the three-term Senator happens to be in the toughest race of his career.
Former President Donald Trump carried Montana by 16 points in the 2020 Election and is expected to win the state this year by an even bigger margin.
Tester is going to need the votes of tens of thousands of Trump supporters at a time when ticket-splitting is nearly dead.
And even his own campaign admits that he has an uphill battle.
Tester campaign manager Shelbi Dantic wrote a memo after Montana’s June Primary that predicted the race would be decided by a few thousand voters.
“Here’s the hard truth: This will be an expensive and close race,” Dantic stated. “And like all of Jon’s races, Montana’s Senate election will likely be decided by just a few thousand votes.”
Tester won his first race in the 2006 Election by about only 3,500 votes.
In races that close, everything makes a difference in the final results.
That’s why the Montana Democrat Party sued to kick Green Party Senate candidate Robert Barb off the ballot for November.
But the Montana Supreme Court sided with a First Judicial District Court ruling to keep Barb on the ballot.
Democrats are terrified of the Green Party candidate playing spoiler and siphoning off votes from Tester.
Barb’s campaign is solely focused on attacking Tester for not standing up for the Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
That’s a message that could resonate with woke college students and leftists who might have otherwise voted for Tester.
Tester won his race in the 2012 Election when a Libertarian candidate siphoned off more votes than the margin of victory against his RINO establishment challenger.
Democrats now in a world of hurt
Tester has trailed in every recent poll against his Republican challenger, Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL.
A recent AARP poll found Sheehy leading 49% to 41% over Tester.
But that lead shrank to 51% to 45% with no third-party candidates on the ballot.
Democrats realize that it’s Montana or bust in their uphill battle to hold onto their slim Senate majority.
The only Republican Senate seats they have any prayer of winning are Texas and Florida – and those are two reaches.
Both of those states require massive spending to win a statewide election.
And so far, Democrats haven’t spent big in the Senate races in those states with very little time left to do so.
Now, reality is setting in for Tester.
“I do think polls do indicate things like, ‘Well, you got more work to do.’ But is it something that keeps me up at night?” Tester scoffed.
He claimed it didn’t, but the warning signs are flashing red for him in a race that Senate Democrats can’t afford to lose.