Montana Dem candidate launches death threat-laced voicemail at GOP senator

Freshman Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., has been targeted with death threats and other extreme insults by a left-wing city commissioner candidate from Montana’s capital, Helena, who called his office a few weeks ago to leave a voicemail with his thoughts on the Republican senator.

The voicemail came in July, shortly after Sheehy and his Republican colleagues voted to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping tax and spending package that Republicans had angered many Democrats, including Helena city commissioner candidate Haley McKnight.

“Hi, I’m Haley McKnight. I’m a voter in Helena, Montana,” McKnight began in her voicemail, the recording of which was obtained and verified by Fox News Digital. “I just wanted you to know that you are the most insufferable coward and thief. You just took away healthcare from 17 million Americans, and I hope you’re really proud of that. I hope one day you get pancreatic cancer and it spreads through your body so fast they can’t even treat you.”

But the anger didn’t end there. During the roughly minute-long voicemail, which phone records show came on the afternoon of July 1, McKnight began hurling insults about Sheehy’s fertility and children before warning the senator not to “meet me in the streets.”

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“I hope you die like a dog in the street,” McKnight continued. “One day, you’ll live to regret this. I hope your children never forgive you. I hope you’re infertile. I hope you never get hard again. You’re the worst thing… ever, ever, ever had the misfortune to look… God forbid you ever meet me in the streets, because I’ll make you regret it. F— you. I hope you die.”

McKnight added that Sheehy “did not serve Montanans,” but instead only served his “own special interests.”

“Since you came to power, all you’ve done is make things for yourself.”

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Originally from North Carolina but now living and working in Montana, McKnight owns a small business called Sage & Oats Trading Post, which McKnight describes on her campaign website as a “successful Native American-owned gift store.” He also runs a consultancy and design company, Morningstar Design Ltd Co, and is chairman and board member of the Helena Young Professionals group. He claims to be the winner of the Helena Chamber’s 20 under 40 award.

The “About” web page on McKnight’s campaign website reads, “I am always ready to stand up for what I believe in and challenge the status quo”; This page lists priorities like housing for all, better government transparency, increased funding for public art and music, and more accessible streets and downtown living.

The Montana State Capitol in Helena, Montana. (Photo: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

In an interview with a local news outlet, McKnight touts her past volunteer work with the Obama campaign and her recent work on Democratic candidate Steve Held’s Congressional campaign. Held failed to make it through the primary.

Meanwhile, publicly available campaign donation records reportedly show McKnight has donated to multiple Democratic candidates, according to records reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The race for Helena city commissioner, which is traditionally non-partisan, marks her first time running for any political office. McKnight was one of five nonpartisan candidates before advancing to the November general election after placing third in a nonpartisan primary in September.

“I am an aspiring voter and I was responding with righteous anger to some terrible policies,” McKnight said of the voicemail when reached for comment by Fox News Digital. “If Sheehy had been that impressed with my voicemail, he would have contacted me the night before the election instead of leaking my information to the conservative news media. Sounds like a cheap move. I’m one of his constituents, and you know, this message was sent solely for Senator Sheehy, not something I would say to my grandmother or in front of any children.”

McKnight said it was “ridiculous” for Sheehy to respond to voter voicemails this way.

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“I would also think someone in the armed forces could handle harsh language,” McKnight said. he added. Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL who was shot while deployed to Afghanistan.

Bridger Aerospace founder Tim Sheehy is seen at the Bridger hangar on Thursday, January 18, 2024 in Bozeman, Montana, USA. Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL. (Photographer: Louise Johns/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

McKnight, meanwhile, said he was only trying to “convey the seriousness of the situation” with his voicemail. He added that he did not intend to threaten Sheehy with his voicemail. McKnight also reportedly told National Review that she “clearly” had no intention of hurting Sheehy, reportedly saying, “I couldn’t, I’m a woman.”

“I wanted to drive home the struggles that people I know have had because of his policies. I think people are shocked by my specifics, but these are things that affect people in my community,” McKnight told Fox News Digital, adding that Sheehy spent too much time trying to prevent the release of the “Epstein files” instead of understanding the struggles Montanans were going through.

But when asked if McKnight stood by his voicemail rhetoric, especially after public officials on both sides of the aisle urged people to turn down the heat in light of the recent spate of political violence the United States has faced, he simply replied: “No comment on that.”

McKnight went further, saying, “I have received numerous death and rape threats since this story was published.” “My job is currently under threat due to the Senator’s actions,” he added, referring to Sheehy publicly sharing his voicemail with the media.

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“It is purely politically motivated,” McKnight concluded. “A cheap move the night before the election… All I have to say is release the Epstein files.”

There is no major statewide election in Montana this year.

Tim Sheehy prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on the University of Montana campus in Missoula, Mont. Sheehy eventually defeated Tester in the following election to take over the Montana Senate seat. (Missoulian via AP)

In a comment to National Review, McKnight added: “to see [Sheehy] Throwing away what Montanans need and want for his own good is enough to make me, yes, want to fight him on the field.”

“I’m happy to say this because I don’t think we should be afraid to say these things at a time when fascism is on the rise,” he added.

Meanwhile, when pressed on whether he thought his voicemail had gone too far, McKnight said he didn’t think so, adding that friends had died of pancreatic cancer because they couldn’t access the care they needed. “This is a man who is so rich he will never, ever have to deal with this problem,” McKnight reportedly said.

In his comment to Fox News Digital, McKnight also reminded that a friend of his died of pancreatic cancer “because he couldn’t afford to treat it.”

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Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks during a rally for presidential candidate Donald Trump at Montana State University Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on August 9, 2024 in Bozeman, Montana. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

McKnight, like Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones in Virginia, who is in hot water over comments that he wants to kill his political rival and his family, is an example of the bombastic political rhetoric that members of Congress and other public officials have voiced concerns about.

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said of the political violence following the assassination of Charlie Kirk in September: “It doesn’t matter if it comes from this side or the other, whether it’s directed at one party or the other or this person or that person. Everything is wrong, and it makes us all less safe.” Shapiro was joined by members of both parties in urging others to lower the temperature amid a wave of political violence in the country.

When reached for comment on the voicemail, Sheehy spokesman Tate Mitchell said, “We hope Ms. McKnight gets the help she clearly needs, and we wish her the best of luck.”