Spooky season has hit the 2024 election.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has accepted donations from a dead supporter, Federal Election Commission filings show.
Tester, who polls show trailing GOP opponent Tim Sheehy in a race Democrats see as key to holding the Senate majority, accepted a pair of $50 donations in the third quarter from Bozeman resident Barbara McGowan — despite both contributions being designated after her death on July 17.
Two receipts on that date and Sept. 20 mark McGowan’s employer and occupation, eerily, as: “Deceased As Of July 17.”
An obituary of the 83-year-old posted online described McGowan in its headline as: “A Force of Nature.”
The Montana Senate contest is one of the most expensive of this cycle, with a reported $265 million already spent on ads alone.
Republicans are heavily favored to take control of the upper chamber next year, with the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) meaning that seat is almost certain to land in GOP hands.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, led Tester, a dirt farmer, by eight percentage points (52% to 44%) in a New York Times/Siena College poll of Montana voters, while former President Donald Trump led Vice President Kamala Harris by 17 percentage points (56%-39%) in the state.
An equal proportion of Montanans (22%) view the economy and immigration as the most critical issues in this election, forcing Tester to further distance from the top of the ticket — first with President Biden, and then with Harris.
Democrats currently hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, including four independents who caucus with the party.
The donations from beyond the grave come as Republicans are accusing Democrats of benefiting from fraudulent donations on the online fundraising behemoth ActBlue.
On Tuesday, former Herman Cain chief of staff Mark Block filed a racketeering lawsuit against the platform for allegedly stealing his identity to make 385 donations to left-wing causes, including Harris’ presidential PAC.
Block, a longtime Republican strategist, claimed that $884.38 had been given in his name and without his knowledge between May and October — and suggested the contributions could be part of a scam ensnaring tens of thousands of other unwitting donors.
Two Republican-led House committees are conducting investigations into other “potentially fraudulent” ActBlue donations that may have generated Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) at the Treasury Department.
Reps for the Tester campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
