Jon Tester : Net Worth, Family, Wife, Education, Children, Age, Biography and Political Career

Raymond Jon Tester is an American farmer and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Montana. Tester was first elected to the Senate in 2006, defeating Republican incumbent Conrad Burns in one of the closest Senate races of that year.

He narrowly won reelection in 2012 against U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg, and in 2018 against Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale. Tester was previously the president of the Montana Senate and worked as a music teacher and farmer. He became Montanas senior senator in 2014 following Max Baucuss departure and is the dean of Montanas congressional delegation. Since January 4, 2021, he has been the only member of the Democratic Party to hold statewide office in Montana.

Tester was born in Havre, Montana, one of three sons of Helen Marie and David O. Tester. His father was of English descent and his mother was of Swedish ancestry. Tester grew up in Chouteau County, near the town of Big Sandy, Montana, on land that his grandfather homesteaded in 1912. At the age of 9, he lost the middle three fingers of his left hand in a meat-grinder accident. In 1978, he graduated from the University of Providence, then the College of Great Falls, with a B.A. in music.

Tester then worked for two years as a music teacher in the Big Sandy School District before returning to his familys farm and custom butcher shop. He and his wife continue to operate the farm; in the 1980s, they switched from conventional to organic farming. Tester spent five years as chairman of the Big Sandy School Board of Trustees and was also on the Big Sandy Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Committee and the Chouteau County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) Committee.

Before his election to the Senate, Tester had never lived more than two hours away from his north-central Montana farm. In addition to his Montana farm, Tester owns a home in Washington, D.C.

A January 2012 profile of Tester focused on the fact that he butchers and brings his own meat with him to Washington. He said "Taking meat with us is just something that we do ... We like our own meat."

Jon Tester Net Worth

Jon Tester Net Worth is $ 5 Million in 2021.

Jon Tester Family

Tester was born in Havre, Montana, one of three sons of Helen Marie and David O. Tester. His father was of English descent and his mother was of Swedish ancestry.

During Testers senior year in college, he married Sharla Bitz. Like Tester, she comes from an agricultural family and grew up in north-central Montana. They have two children: a daughter, Christine, born in 1980; and a son, Shon, born in 1985.

Jon Tester Wife and Children

During Testers senior year in college, he married Sharla Bitz. Like Tester, she comes from an agricultural family and grew up in north-central Montana. They have two children: a daughter, Christine, born in 1980; and a son, Shon, born in 1985.

Jon Tester Career and Achievement

Montana Senate (1999–2007)

Elections

Tester was first elected to represent the 45th district in the Montana Senate in 1998, after his neighbor, a Republican State Senator, decided not to run for reelection. Before running for State Senate, Tester served on the Big Sandy school board for a decade. He was elected the minority whip for the 2001 session. In 2002, he was reelected with 71% of the vote, and he became minority leader in 2003. In 2004 he moved to the 15th district as a "holdover" because of redistricting. In 2005, Tester was elected president of the Montana Senate, the chief presiding officer of the Montana Legislatures upper chamber.

Tenure

His election as President marked a transition for Montana Democrats as they moved into the majority leadership of the Senate for the first time in more than a decade. Term limits prohibited Tester from running for State Senate for a third consecutive term. Tester cited a prescription drug benefit program, reinstatement of the "Made in Montana" promotion program, a law to encourage renewable energy development, and his involvement with a bill that led to an historic increase in public school funding as accomplishments while in office.

U.S. Senate (2007–Present)

Elections

2006

Tester announced his candidacy in May 2005 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Senator Conrad Burns. Tester was the second Democrat to jump into the race, after state auditor John Morrison. While Tester was seen as having a greater following among his fellow legislators, his opponent, whose grandfather was governor of Nebraska, was able to raise significantly more money and had greater statewide name recognition.

Morrison had collected $1.05 million as of the start of 2006, including $409,241 in the last three months of 2005, but "Morrisons advantages in fundraising and name identification not translate into a lead in the polls," most of which showed the race as being exceedingly tight, some calling it a "deadlock" as of late May.

In June 2006, Tester won the Democratic nomination by more than 25 percentage points in a six-way primary. Tester was described as having "gained momentum in closing weeks of the campaign through an extensive grass-roots effort."

In the November 2006 election, Tester defeated Burns, receiving 198,302 votes (49%) to Burnss 195,455 (48%). The race was so close that Testers victory was confirmed only the day after the election.

2012

Tester successfully ran for reelection to a second term against Republican U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg.

Testers race was seen as a pivotal one for both parties seeking the Senate majority. Tester split with Democrats on several key issues, such as the Keystone XL oil pipeline, but also voted with his party on issues such as health care reform and the Dodd–Frank financial services overhaul.

When announcing his candidacy, Rehberg called Tester a "yes man" for President Obama, saying that he sided with the administration in 97% of his votes. Rehberg cited Testers support for the healthcare legislation and the 2009 stimulus, both of which Rehberg opposed. Tester said that he stood by his votes on both, saying that the healthcare legislation contained "a lot of good stuff". The Los Angeles Times noted that Tester diverged from his party on matters such as gun rights and illegal immigration.

2018

Tester successfully ran for a third term against Republican Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale, eventually winning a high-turnout election by over 15,000 votes and crossing the 50 percent threshold in vote totals for the first time in three Senate elections. President Donald Trump made a particular effort to unseat Tester, traveling to Montana four times over the preceding months; despite some increase in Republican turnout in the state, Tester secured victory with increased turnout in Democratic-leaning areas of the state, strong support from Native Americans and women, increased support among independent voters, and 67 percent of the youth vote.

Tenure

During a 2006 Billings press conference, the Tester campaign released a statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledging to give Tester a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee "as soon as possible," regardless of whether Democrats wrested control of the Senate from Republicans. On January 13, 2009, during Testers second session of Congress, he was given a seat on the Appropriations Committee. In 2013, Tester became chairman of the Banking Committees Securities, Insurance, and Investment Subcommittee.

In September 2013, he announced opposition to the appointment of Larry Summers as chairman of the Federal Reserve; lacking a committee majority, Summers then withdrew his name from consideration.

Tester was on Capitol Hill for the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. He was in his office in the Hart Senate Office Building when the Capitol was breached. Along with his staff, Tester was evacuated to an undisclosed location for safety. He called the storming a “despicable and dangerous attack on our democracy” and "a coup by domestic terrorists", and blamed Trump for instigating it. He also said that impeachment of Trump was unlikely in such a short period of time before Joe Bidens inauguration on January 20. He called fellow Montana senator Steve Daines an "enabler" of the attack, as Daines supported Trumps unproven voter fraud claims.