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Montana Sen. Jon Testerhad some hard words for fellow Democratsas he prepares for what is expected to be a tough re-election race in 2018.

Last election cycle, we were supposed to win a majority in the Senate, we were supposed to win a lot of seats in the House and Hillary Clinton was supposed to win the presidency. None of that happened, Testertold a gathering of Montana Democrats.

Tester said he saw some hope in grassroots efforts that have risen in typically Republican areas in reaction to DonaldTrumps presidency, which he hoped would help recruitlocal candidates and feed on-the-ground organizing efforts.

There are little groups of folks that we never thought there were any Democrats in and all of the sudden 20 people are showing up, Tester told the group. Get those people organized, get them to work, get them to write letters to the editor.

Tough races are familiar to Tester, who won in 2012 by just a few percentage points, and first won election in 2006 by just a few thousand votes. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the Senate raceTilts Democrat.

Montana Democrats were disappointed at the ballot just months ago, when Republican Greg Gianforte defeated progressive Rob Quist. Though the race was initially expected to be an easy GOP victory, Quist surged late in the election with some help from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Tester said he hopes that Democrats will try and contest the Montana Legislature again. Democrats last held a majority in both houses in 2005.

Dont think that for one minute if we continue to do the things weve done in the past were going to win, hesaid. We have to do more than that. We have to go farther than that.

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Tester Tells Montana Democrats Don't Take Anything for Granted - Roll Call