Scrutiny of Republican Tim Sheehy’s business grows amid US Senate race

Scrutiny is growing about the Montana aerial firefighting company once led by Tim Sheehy, the former Navy Seal and Republican Senate candidate who could oust the Democrat incumbent Jon Tester in next month's election.

According to NBC News, Sheehy's Bridger Aerospace, a company he founded in 2013, negotiated a deal with Gallatin county in eastern Montana to use its pristine credit rating to raise $160m in bonds. The county was meant to benefit from Bridger's plans to hire more workers and build two new aircraft hangers.

But the company used most of the money, or $134m, from the 2022 bond issue to pay back previous investment from Blackstone, a New York-based investment giant.

Bridger's finances have been complicated by the fact that there were fewer wildfires to fight this year and thus less revenue for Bridger. As of Tuesday, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 42,603 wildfires nationwide this year compared to the 10-year average of 48,689 for the same period.

In financial filings for the quarterly period that ended 30 June 2024, Bridger said it had "a substantial amount of debt" and that failure to service that debt "could prolong the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern".

A victory for Sheehy in November could hand Republicans control of the Senate, making his connections to Bridger a vital topic as voters head to the polls.

Sheehy, 38, stepped down as the company's CEO in July. He has run his campaign partly based on his business acumen.