Pence hits trail in Montana, North Dakota to aid GOP Senate candidates
Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Montana and North Dakota Tuesday in part to help boost the GOP's Senate candidates in two states his party is hoping to flip in November.
Pence, who has been one of the administration's most active surrogates on the stump, touched down first in Billings, Mont. to speak at a morning event hosted by America First Policies, an outside group that supports the White House agenda.
There, he was introduced by state auditor Matt Rosendale, the Republican nominee in the race to knock off Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
In Rosendale's brief remarks, he lauded the Trump administration for following through on promises about issues like energy and the Supreme Court. And he accused Tester of running a "campaign of denial" ignoring concerns about things like Obamacare.
"Jon Tester opposed every single good thing that President Trump tried to pass. We need to get another vote in there," he said.
Pence amplified that message in his own remarks, framing Tester as part of the "consistent opposition" frustrating Republican progress in Congress, specifically pointing to Tester's votes on the GOP tax cut plan, on the measures to repeal Obamacare, and on cutting Planned Parenthood funding.
"All that we've been able to do, we've been able to do in the face of unprecedented obstruction by Democrats in Washington D.C.," he said.
"When the time came to cut taxes on Montana business owners and farmers and ranchers, Jon Tester voted no. And it's not just on tax cuts."
Tester's campaign has been fighting back against those attacks since the campaign started, arguing that the senator has been willing to work with Trump on important, bipartisan issues. In a statement to NBC News, Tester spokesman Luke Jackson panned the criticism as "partisan, political talk" and noted that Trump has signed more than a dozen Tester bills on issues like improving oversight at the Department of Veterans Affairs, cutting government bloat and reducing regulations.
"Matt Rosendale needs to bring in outsiders to campaign for him because Montanans know his record: He's voted against our veterans, supported transferring public lands, and wants to see farmers and ranchers become dependent on the government. That's not Montana and neither is Matt Rosendale."
While he was on the road, Pence took another pit stop in nearby North Dakota, where he attended a fundraiser for Republican senate nominee and Rep. Kevin Cramer. Pence also visiting an Air Force base in the state.
The state party seized on the trip to hit Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, with state GOP spokesman Jake Wilkins calling the visit a "reminder for North Dakota voters that Heidi Heitkamp has fought tooth and nail against the Trump-Pence agenda."
But Heitkamp's team too has fought hard to push back on that frame. She's run her own ads touting praise from Republican colleagues and her record on big issues in Congress to frame herself as independent.
Julia Krieger, a Heitkamp spokeswoman, panned the “high-roller, closed-door fundraiser” in a statement to NBC News that criticized the GOP candidates stance on trade and healthcare.
Heitkamp, Krieger added, has “been fighting to protect our care, against this trade war, and for better resources and markets for farmers -- and she'll always keep fighting with North Dakotans."