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

Freshman Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., was targeted with death threats and other severe insults by a left-wing candidate for city commissioner from Helena, Montana, who called his office several weeks ago to leave her thoughts about the Republican senator via voicemail.

The voicemail came in July, shortly after Sheehy voted with fellow Republicans to pass One Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping Republican tax and spending package that angered many Democrats, including Helena City Commissioner candidate Haley McKnight, after its passage.

“Hi, this is Haley McKnight. I’m a member of Helena, Montana,” McKnight began in her voicemail, a recording of which was obtained and verified by Fox News Digital. “I just wanted to tell you that you are the most insufferable kind of coward and thieve. You just stripped 17 million Americans of their healthcare, and I hope you’re really proud of that. I hope you get pancreatic cancer one day, and it spreads throughout your body so fast that they can’t even cure you of it.”

But the anger did not stop there. During the nearly minute-long voicemail that phone records reportedly show on the afternoon of July 1, McKnight shouted insults about the fertility of Sheehy and his children, before warning the senator not to “meet me in the streets.”

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U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont. (left) and Helena City Commissioner candidate Haley McKnight (right). (Photos by Haley by Helena and Andrew Harnick via Getty Images)

“I hope you die in the street like a dog,” McKnight continued. “One day, you’ll live to regret it. I hope your children never forgive you. I hope you’re sterile. I hope you’ll never be disgraced again. You’re the worst part of–I’ve never had the misfortune of looking at…God forbid you should meet me in the streets because I’ll make you regret it. And—you. I hope you die.”

McKnight added that Sheehy is not “serving the people of Montana,” but only “serving his own interests.”

“All you have done since you came to power is do something for yourself.”

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McKnight, who is originally from North Carolina but now lives and works in Montana, owns a small business called Sage & Oats Trading Post, which McKnight describes as a “successful Native American-owned gift shop” on her campaign website. She also runs a consultancy and design company called Morningstar Design Ltd Co, and is chair and board member of the Helena Young Professionals Group. She touts being a recipient of the Helena Chamber 20 Under 40 award.

“I’m always willing to stand up for what I believe in and challenge the status quo,” says McKnight’s “About” page on her campaign website, which lists priorities such as housing for all, improved government transparency, increased funding for public art and music, and more accessible streets and downtown livability.

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

In an interview with a local media outlet, McKnight pays tribute to her past volunteer work on the Obama campaign and her recent work on Democratic candidate Steve Heald’s congressional campaign. A decade that didn’t make it out of the primaries.

Meanwhile, public campaign donation records reportedly show McKnight donated to several Democratic candidates, according to records reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The race for Helena city commissioner, a traditionally nonpartisan race, marks her first time running for any type of political office. McKnight was originally one of five announced nonpartisan candidates before advancing to the general election in November after finishing third in the nonpartisan primary in September.

“I’m a voter, and I was responding to some terrible policies with some justified anger,” McKnight told Fox News Digital about the voicemail when reached for comment. “I was hoping that if my voicemail had been so upset with Sheehy, he would have called me instead of leaking my information to the conservative media the night before the election. Seems like a cheap shot. I’m one of his constituents, and you know, this message is not something I would say to my grandmother or in front of any kids, it was directed to Senator Sheehy alone.”

McKnight said it was “funny” that this is how Sheehy responds to members’ voicemails.

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“I also thought someone from the armed forces could have handled some harsh language,” McKnight added. Sheehy is a former US Navy SEAL who was shot while deployed to Afghanistan.

Tim Sheehy, founder of Bridger Aerospace, is shown at the Bridger hangar in Bozeman, Montana, US, on Thursday, January 18, 2024. Sheehy is a former US Navy SEAL. (Photo by: Louise Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, McKnight continued to say she was simply trying to “convey the seriousness of the situation” through her voicemail. She added that she did not intend to threaten Sheehy with her voicemail. McKnight also reportedly told National Review that she “obviously” had no intention of harming Sheehy, and reportedly told the outlet: “I can’t, I’m a woman.”

“I wanted to highlight the struggles that people I know are going through because of his policies. I think people are kind of shocked by my privacy, but these things affect people in my community,” McKnight told Fox News Digital, adding that Sheehy was spending too much time blocking the release of the “Epstein Files” rather than understanding the struggles Montanans are going through.

But when pressed on whether McKnight was standing by her speech via voice mail, especially after public officials from both parties called on people to lower tensions in light of the recent wave of political violence the United States has faced, she simply replied: “No comment on that.”

When pressed further, McKnight said: “I have received numerous death and rape threats since publishing this story.” “My job is currently under threat due to the senator’s actions,” she added, referring to Sheehy publicly sharing her voicemail with the media.

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“It is entirely politically motivated,” McKnight concluded. “It’s a cheap shot the night before the election… The only thing I have to say is release the Epstein files.”

Montana has no major statewide elections this year.

Tim Sheehy prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont. Sheehy eventually beat Tester in the subsequent election to take his Senate seat in Montana. (Missolian via AP)

In his comments to National Review, McKnight added: “Let’s see [Sheehy] Taking away what Montanans need and want to improve their condition is enough to make me, yes, want to fight it on site.

She added: “I will say that with pleasure, because I believe that in a time of rising fascism, we should not be afraid to say these things.”

Meanwhile, when pressed by the media on whether she thought her voicemail had gone too far, McKnight said she didn’t think so, adding that she had friends die of pancreatic cancer due to not being able to access the care they needed. “This is a man who is so wealthy that he will never have to deal with this problem,” McKnight reportedly said.

In her comments on Fox News Digital, McKnight also recalled a friend dying from pancreatic cancer “because he couldn’t afford his treatment.”

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

McKnight, like Virginia Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones, who has been in hot water for his comments about wanting to kill his political rival and his family, is an example of the heightened political rhetoric that members of Congress and other government officials have expressed concern about.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from one side or the other, or directed at one party or the other, or one person or the other. It’s all wrong — and it makes us all less safe,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said of the political violence in September after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Shapiro was joined by members of both parties, calling on others to reduce tensions amid a wave of political violence that the country has witnessed.

When reached for comment on voice mail, Sheehy spokesman Tate Mitchell said: “We hope Ms. McKnight gets the help she clearly needs and we wish her well.”