Sen. Jon Tester Walks Blue Line in Solid Red Montana

BUTTE, Mont.—Democratic Sen. Jon Tester has weighed the needs of his rural electorate with the demands of his party’s leadership ever since he joined the Senate, winning three times in the solidly conservative state. Now, a series of votes on infrastructure, election rules and other contentious issues expected this summer will challenge his balancing act and help determine the course of President Biden’s multitrillion-dollar spending and tax plans.

The Senate is divided 50-50, meaning Democrats can’t afford to lose a single vote absent GOP support. Other Democrats including Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have used their leverage to publicly pull bills to the center and demand bipartisanship. For the most part, Mr. Tester hasn’t to date: He has been a reliable supporter of Democrats’ agenda, breaking only occasionally with leaders on issues such as energy and taxes.

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But as with other Democrats, he is facing friction from the party’s agenda as he returns from a recess spent in his home state. There, his family is farming wheat, peas, barley and hay on the same land his grandparents homesteaded in 1912 near Big Sandy, current population less than 600. In Washington, Mr. Tester has split with many Democratic lawmakers and activists by declining to back efforts to end the filibuster, the rule requiring that most Senate bills get 60 votes to advance. But unlike Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema, who have opposed the change, Mr. Tester has indicated flexibility on the matter.

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Mr. Tester has joined other centrists in saying he wants any infrastructure package to have bipartisan support, but he has signaled he would support a Democrat-only approach if negotiations fail. The White House has continued to hold talks with Republicans, but the two sides remain far apart on the size of the package and how to pay for it.

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Mr. Tester has raised objections to Mr. Biden’s proposal to impose capital-gains taxes on unrealized asset appreciation upon a person’s death, with the new revenue used to fund Mr. Biden’s antipoverty or infrastructure plans. The tax has a $1 million per-person exemption, plus the existing exemption for principal residences and special rules that would let farms and other businesses defer payments as long as they are family-owned and operated. Mr. Tester, like other rural Democrats, said the proposal would hurt farmers and called it a nonstarter.

Some Democrats say the need to remove the filibuster will come to a head this summer when the Senate votes on legislation setting new rules on how elections are conducted. Mr. Tester stood up during a private Democrats’ lunch last month and made a plea for them to pass the legislation, though he hasn’t said he would support nixing the filibuster over it. All Democrats except Mr. Manchin support the bill; no Republicans are expected to back it.

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