Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) was the opener for Pearl Jam on Wednesday evening, when he dangled something interesting before the audience: support for Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Mine isn't the important one, it's the one at the top," Tester said, referring to his reelection campaign in a conversation with the band's bassist. "There's a lot at stake here. There's democracy at stake, there's rural America at stake, there's how we treat one another at stake. There's a lot at stake."
Tester has remained mum on the new Democratic presidential ticket, and his spokeswoman has told the Washington Free Beacon that he is keeping a light campaign schedule because he is working on the crop harvest at his farm. But his remarks were the first time he made any mention of Harris, a risky endeavor in a state that twice voted for former president Donald Trump by double-digit margins.
Tester's campaign later told a local outlet that his comments should not be interpreted as an endorsement. A spokeswoman for Tester did not respond to a request for clarification of his remarks.
The interview, which kicked off a series of rural campaign events, highlights the awkward dance for Tester. Recent polls show Tester's Republican challenger, Tim Sheehy, pulling ahead, and state Democrats have struggled with a message for the state's largely conservative electorate.
Tester has been a reliable vote for President Joe Biden in the Senate, a fact that his campaign would like Montanans to forget. Instead, the senator's campaign hopes to convince voters that, although many of them will vote for Trump, they should ultimately trust that Tester will look out for their best interests.
Although Tester was one of the first Democratic senators to call for Biden to step down from the presidential race, he has yet to say officially whom he plans to vote for in November. But Tester's coy positioning is made all the more difficult when one considers the relationship between him and Harris.
When he chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2015, Tester recruited Harris to run for the upper chamber. Last year, Tester said that "of course" he supports keeping Harris on the presidential ticket.
Tester heads into November with a significant cash advantage over Sheehy. He has raised nearly $43 million, compared with Sheehy's $13.9 million. The race is expected to cost upward of nine figures, with a large majority coming from left-wing interest groups.