I would love to tell you this country is on the cusp of coming together, but it isn't. But I can tell you that we need to work together in this country. We need to hold people accountable for their actions, and that will be done. And we need to move forward in a way that we have the strongest middle class ever.

Jon Tester

I take my vacation on the combine and tractor.

Jon Tester

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.

Jon Tester

Agriculture drives most people crazy. It keeps me sane.

Jon Tester

That's politics. Your friend one day is your enemy the next and vice versa.

Jon Tester

If people really want to sit down and visit and talk about things like health care, which is a very, very important issue in Montana, I think oftentimes you want to get to the same goal. And that is affordable health care costs.

Jon Tester

Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families. How they define a family should be their business and their business alone. I'm proud to support marriage equality because no one should be able to tell a Montanan or any American who they can love and who they can marry.

Jon Tester

You've got to have a good public education system so small-business owners, when they locate to an area, are confident their kids are getting the best education possible. I feel strongly about local control in school districts.

Jon Tester

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.

Jon Tester

A well-trained workforce is critical to small-business success. What I hear from business is that it's hard to find help that meets their needs.

Jon Tester

Montanans elected me to the Senate to do away with shady backroom deals and to make government work better.

Jon Tester

Building houses and mansion ranching is not ranching.

Jon Tester

I will tell you, in the case of education, you have to make the investment if you're going to get the return. There's no doubt about that. It's a proven fact the return is there if you make the investment. It really is about priorities.

Jon Tester

I have probably never voted for a straight ticket in my life, and I am a Democratic U.S. senator.

Jon Tester

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.

Jon Tester

I served on a lot of the local boards in my local community, and then I ran for the state legislature in '98 and ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006. I mean, it was just kind of one thing after another. A series of really bad decisions.

Jon Tester

I think what Democrats need to do is they need to work for the country and make sure that not only the southern border but the northern border is secure - make sure that we have the ability on the borders to be able to screen every vehicle coming across to make sure that drugs don't come into this country.

Jon Tester

Montana's ranchers raise the best cattle in the world. If Taco Bell needs to beef up, they can give their customers the highest quality meat around by using Montana beef, and in the process, supporting agriculture jobs in Montana.

Jon Tester

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.

Jon Tester

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

Jon Tester

I was helping my mom grind meat at our butcher shop, and it just hypnotized me. I don't remember sticking my hand in, but it sheared off the three middle fingers and left me with a pinkie and a thumb.

Jon Tester