Jon Tester

“I will tell you unequivocally, a wall from sea to shining sea is not the right direction to go.”

“As a policymaker, as a public servant, I come to Washington, D.C., and I make difficult decisions and I make difficult decisions every day. And sometimes those decisions upset people.”

“Montanans know who I am: They know I'm a lifetime Montanan. They know I understand rural America. They know I understand public lands and not privatizing them. They know I understand the importance of public education.”

“I really think that people's right to happiness shouldn't be dictated by some policymaker in Washington, D.C. I've come to know a lot of people that - sexual orientation is such where they're in love with people from the same sex, and I just don't think it's our role in the government to say, 'No you can't be married.'”

“I'm a farmer. I always will be a farmer. When I die, I'll be a farmer. It's something that I've wanted to do since I was 8 years old. I can tell you also that I see opportunity slipping away for our kids.”

“I don't know how the other senators see me. I hope they see me as a farmer. That's really what I am. But I don't think they see me on a tractor or fixing equipment. I hope they see me grounded, as somebody who has common sense.”

“I go everywhere in the state and I listen to Montanans, whether it's in conservative areas or liberal areas, and take those ideas back to Washington, D.C., and put them into action.”

“I play trumpet. And I took all the music courses in college, so I can also play the string instruments, keyboard, the brass and woodwinds - but only well enough to teach them. If you put a violin in front of me, you wouldn't say, 'My God, that guy can play.' It'd probably sound more like Jack Benny.”

“If I was the leader of the House of Representatives, the first thing I would do is I would put in a very clean bill on reapportionment. And I would put a very clean bill in that says that corporations are not people.”

“It brings me back to reality. The combine doesn't care if you're a senator or not. It breaks down whenever it wants to break down.”

“I have great faith in the people of Montana; they can't be bought.”

“Donald Trump was straight up. I mean, he told me what he thought of me, and that's cool. I might not like it, but at least he did it to my face. That's what Montanans like. They like people to be square with them.”

“I think there is some real therapy in getting your hands in the dirt and working with food.”

“Washington's a mess, but that's not stopping me from getting bills to help Montana signed into law by President Trump.”

“I didn't get this physique by not eating tacos.”

“If I made decisions around here based on the election, I wouldn't be a very good senator.”

“I think one thing that Montanans all agree on, whether you're Republican or Democrat, is they want money spent appropriately.”

“Matt Rosendale doesn't know what the hell is going on in Montana. That's why he doesn't talk about the issues he believes in, because he doesn't know them.”

“I think difference of opinion is a good thing.”

“I don't believe in models that say you just knock on this door, you just go to this community, and you'll get elected. I think you go everywhere, and you listen to everybody. Everybody's got ideas.”