'The company is bleeding cash': GOP Senate candidate’s failing business becomes a liability

10 August 2024

Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy has made his business acumen a centerpiece of his campaign. But now that his aerial firefighting company is struggling with tens of millions of dollars of losses stretching three consecutive years, Sheehy's business record could actually be undoing.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that the U.S. Senate hopeful's publicly traded enterprise — Bridger Aerospace — is in the midst of a "cash crunch" due to a relatively quiet wildfire season. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bridger Aerospace has already lost $20.1 million in the first quarter of 2024. That comes on top of $77.4 million in losses last year.

However, despite the company's poor performance, Sheehy is still raking in a seven-figure compensation. The Post reported that in 2023, Sheehy was paid a base salary of $149,000 but received a $2.3 million bonus. In 2022 — when his company posted $42.1 million in losses — Sheehy was nonetheless paid a $450,000 salary and a $4.4 million bonus.

"That itself is not wrong, but it doesn’t look great,” AeroAnalysis International analyst Dhierin-Perkash Bechai told the Post. “While the company is bleeding cash, Sheehy is still making money.”

Bridger's balance sheet paints a far different picture of the company than Sheehy has on the campaign trail. During his Friday night rally with former President Donald Trump in Bozeman, the entrepreneur called his flagging firm "a Montana success story" that created hundreds of jobs.

"Just last week I was out water bombing, protecting your land," Sheehy said.

An ex-Navy SEAL, Sheehy has never held political office. But his elevation to become Montana's Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate is part of the GOP's strategy to run candidates rich enough to self-fund their campaigns. The outlet NOTUS reported in June that candidates like Sheehy, as well as Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, Wisconsin Senate hopeful Eric Hovde and Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno help the Republican Party counter Democrats' fundraising advantage by using their own personal wealth as a campaign war chest.

But despite Sheehy's wealth, he's been consistently outraised by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), who is running for a fourth term this November. Campaign finance records posted to Opensecrets show that as of June 30, Tester has raised $42.9 million this cycle, and still has more than $10 million on hand in the final months of the race. Sheehy has raised just $10 million, and has approximately $3 million on hand.

Despite Montana being a deep-red state that Trump easily carried in both 2016 and 2020, the Senate race remains within the margin of error. RealClearPolling averages show that Sheehy has a lead ranging from two to three points. Trump, by comparison, has a 20-point lead in the Big Sky State.

Click here to read the Post's report in full (subscription required).

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