From
The Great Falls Tribune:
State Senate President Jon Tester, a Big Sandy farmer, is traveling to Washington, D.C., next week to talk to Democratic Party officials and fund-raisers about challenging U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns in 2006.
"We'll kind of take a look around and see if this is something we want to do," he said this week.
Tester, 48, is one of several people either running or considering running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Burns, a Republican.
State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner John Morrison has said he plans to run, and two other men are thinking about it: former Missoula Mayor Dan Kemmis and Paul Richards, an editor/consultant and former state legislator who lives south of Boulder.
Tester is barred by term limits from running next year for re-election to the state Senate, where he's served since 1999. An organic grain farmer, Tester last year helped Democrats win their first majority in the state Senate in 10 years.
...
Tester said he'll also find out what commitments might have been made to Morrison or other candidates considering a run against Burns.
...
Burns, 70, is running for re-election to a fourth consecutive six-year term in the Senate. As of March 31, he had $1.5 million in his campaign account. He raised nearly $1 million the first three months of this year.
