Montana Republican accused of doctoring his campaign ads

Montana Republican Tim Sheehy, who is running against incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), is being accused of doctoring his campaign mail piece to remove a logo for his controversial non-profit.

Huffington Post reporter Chris D'Angelo showed a photo of Sheehy wearing a shirt from the Property and Environment Research Center, or PERC. On two of Sheehy's Senate financial reports, in 2023 and 2024, he didn't disclose that he was on the board of a think tank actively promoting privatizing public lands.

"PERC is widely viewed as a right-wing outfit," a June report said. "It has deep historical ties to the fossil fuel industry and Donors Trust, a conservative group Mother Jones once dubbed the 'dark-money ATM of the right' that has funneled millions of dollars to climate change-denier groups. Kimberley Dennis, the co-founder and board chair of Donors Trust, is a current member of PERC’s board of directors."

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PERC maintains it is a "non-partisan" group that remains politically independent.

The issue has become politically important in the race because Montana's fastest-growing industry is outdoor recreation, according to Tester's website

"Hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping generate more than $7 billion and sustain 71,000 jobs across the state each year," Tester's site says. "They sustain us beyond economics by giving Montanans a place to recharge and connect with the place we call home."

In his public mailer to voters, Sheehy claims he "knows public lands belong in public hands." The piece has a photo of him with his family at a campsite. He's wearing a flannel shirt with the PERC logo on the sleeve.

"This reporter posted the image on X (formerly Twitter), and another X user, an apparent Sheehy supporter, accused HuffPost of circulating an edited image," wrote D'Angelo.

The user in question claimed the website had edited the photo to put the PERC logo in it, but D'Angelo explained why this was not the case.

"A quick reverse image search on Google showed that the same image, including the PERC logo, appeared in an opinion piece that Sheehy published Sept. 11 in the Ravalli Republic, a weekday newspaper published in Hamilton, Montana," D'Angelo explained.

“Tim was elected to the board in Fall 2022 due to his relevant background as a successful local entrepreneur in the area of forest health, wildfires, and ranching, all conservation issues we are engaged in,” said Kat Dwyer, PERC's marketing and media manager, in a response to questions from HuffPost.