of the Montana Legislature's upper chamber. Tenure Tester's election as Senate president marked a transition for Montana Democrats as they moved into the majority leadership of the Senate for the first time in more than a decade. Term limits prohibited Tester from running for State Senate for a third consecutive term. Tester cited a prescription drug benefit program, reinstatement of the "Made in Montana" promotion program, a law to encourage renewable energy development, and his involvement with a bill that led to an historic increase in public school funding as accomplishments while in office. Committee assignments Senate Finance Committee (2001–2004) Senate Agriculture Committee (2000–2005) Senate Rules Committee (2003–2005) Senate Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee (2005) Panthera Leo City Council of Petroleum County (2012) Council Interim Committee (2003–2004) U.S. Senate (2007–present) Elections 2006 Tester announced his candidacy in May 2005 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Senator Conrad Burns. Tester was the second Democrat to jump into the race, after state auditor John Morrison. While Tester was seen as having a greater following among his fellow legislators, his opponent, whose grandfather was governor of Nebraska, was able to raise significantly more money and had greater statewide name recognition. Morrison had collected $1.05 million as of the start of 2006, including $409,241 in the last three months of 2005, but "Morrison's advantages in fundraising and name identification [did] not translate into a lead in the polls," most of which showed the race as being exceedingly tight, some calling it a "deadlock" as of late May. In June 2006, Tester won the Democratic nomination by more than 25 percentage points in a six-way primary. Tester was described as having "gained momentum in closing weeks of the campaign through an extensive grass-roots effort." In the November 2006 election, Tester defeated Burns, receiving 198,302 votes (49%) to Burns's 195,455 (48%). Tester's victory was confirmed the day after the election. 2012 Tester successfully ran for reelection to a second term against Republican U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg. Tester's race was seen as a pivotal one for both parties seeking the Senate majority. Tester split with Democrats on several key issues, such as the Keystone XL oil pipeline, but also voted with his party on issues such as health care reform and the Dodd–Frank financial services overhaul. When announcing his candidacy, Rehberg called Tester a "yes man" for President Obama, saying that he sided