Republicans vowed to put forward a stronger slate of Senate candidates in 2024 after watching a string of hand-picked Trump candidates go down in flames in the 2022 midterm elections.
However, there is a major roadblock to the party's efforts to get stronger Senate candidates next year: The party's own voters.
Semafor reports that a new poll shows that Tim Sheehy, a 37-year-old veteran and establishment favorite to be the GOP's United States Senate nominee in Montana, is getting absolutely clobbered by MAGA favorite Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), who already lost in 2018 to Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).
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"The poll, which interviewed 418 Republican voters between Aug. 12 and Aug. 17, found Rosendale at 55% in a potential primary against Sheehy, who came in at 19%, while 26% of voters were undecided," the publication writes.
Although the poll showed both candidates holding a narrow lead over Tester in a general election, there's little doubt that Democrats are much more enthusiastic about the prospects of facing Rosendale next year.
Sheehy, for his part, has tried winning over MAGA voters by leaning into culture war issues.
"One recent Sheehy ad in the state leans into popular red meat topics, highlighting the 'woke' military and suggesting there should be a ban on drag queen story hours," writes Semafor. "It may take time for his advantages to assert themselves in polling."
