Waiting to vote tested the willpower of hundreds of people in an hourslong line that stretched outside a county courthouse in a Montana town.

Republican Tim Sheehy will defeat three-term Montana Sen. Jon Tester, CNN projects, boosting the GOP’s hopes of claiming the Senate majority.

Montana voters approved a ballot measure enshrining abortion in the state constitution, NBC News projects, delivering a victory to advocates for reproductive freedom.

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana has lost re-election to businessman Tim Sheehy, NBC News projects.

Republican Tim Sheehy bolstered the GOP's newly acquired Senate majority with a victory over three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in a contest of national importance that featured a record-setting torrent of spending by the two sides.

Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana and Republican Tim Sheehy are locked in a tight election battle.The Montana Senate contest was seen as one of the toughest for Democrats in the 2024 election,

NBC News projects Tim Sheehy has won the seat held by Jon Tester, a three-term Democratic incumbent, in a state that has shifted in Republicans’ direction in recent years.

The state was one of 10 that voted on abortion-related ballot measures in the 2024 election. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the landmark Dobbs decision two years ago, a growing number of states have responded by passing their own laws codifying the right to abortion.

Republican Tim Sheehy triumphed over third-term Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in Montana’s crucial Senate race, expanding the GOP majority in the Senate. Sheehy led Tester 53%-45% when the race was called by the Associated Press at 6:26 a.m. EST on Wednesday.

Montana voters opted overwhelmingly to support abortion access, but they elected a whole slate of anti-abortion Republican candidates into office. How did it happen?