The Democratic Party has fought tooth and nail through numerous lawsuits in multiple states to keep left-leaning third-party candidates off the ballot to try to bolster and protect the electoral prospects of their own nominees.

One such litigious effort to block a left-leaning Green Party candidate from the U.S. Senate race in Montana just ended in defeat for the Democrats after the Montana Supreme Court ruled that the challenged candidate could appear on the ballot in November, the Daily Caller reported.

The ruling bodes well for Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and GOP Senate nominee Tim Sheehy, who was already leading incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), whose already vulnerable position will likely be further weakened by the Green Party candidate siphoning off a small percentage of votes from his left flank.

Democrats sue to block ballot access

Earlier this year, according to the Daily Montanan, the Green Party nominated primary winner Michael Downey for the U.S. Senate race in Montana, but Downey dropped out of the race just ahead of a deadline in August and, a few days later, the Green Party's state committee appointed Robert Barb to be the replacement nominee.

The Montana Democratic Party sued to keep Barb off the ballot and argued that the Green Party violated state law and its own bylaws by having the committee appoint Barb instead of letting party members vote on a replacement candidate. They further admitted their real concern -- that letting Barb on the ballot would force unnecessary burdens and expenses for Tester's campaign as it defended the senator's left flank.

A district judge initially agreed and granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the state from certifying ballots with Barb's name, though the certification had already occurred before the order and the judge was subsequently replaced on the case by another judge who denied the Democrats' request for a TRO.

That led to an emergency appeal to the Montana Supreme Court with a request for a writ of supervisory control, or for the high court to intervene and correct a legal mistake by the lower court judge.

Supreme Court rules Green Party's replacement can appear on ballot

In a 13-page opinion and order on Tuesday, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that while they didn't entirely agree with how the lower court judge had reached his decision, they did agree with the conclusion that the Green Party's replacement candidate could appear on the ballot and that no legal mistakes had been made.

The Montana Democratic Party "has not convinced us that the District Court erred in its rulings in its September 3, 2024 Order, although we reach the same result as that court under a different analysis," the high court declared.

"Since we have not concluded that the District Court is proceeding under a mistake of law, this matter is not susceptible to writ of supervisory control," the court added.

As such, the Democratic Party's effort to keep the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate off the ballot in Montana was defeated and Sen. Tester will now have to guard against losing too much support on his left flank while still fending off the more serious challenge to his incumbency from the right.

Sheehy comfortably leading Tester in recent polls

According to the RealClearPolling average of polls in the Montana Senate race, GOP nominee Sheehy is leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Tester by more than five points, 50%-44.8%.

That average included a recent survey sponsored by the AARP which found that, in a head-to-head matchup, Sheehy was ahead of Tester by six points, 51%-45%, though the margin for the Republican candidate grew even larger when third-party candidates were added into the mix.

With a right-leaning Libertarian and left-leaning Green Party candidate on the ballot for voters to consider, with those third-party nominees drawing a combined 5% support and 4% of voters remaining undecided, Sheehy's lead over Tester grew to eight points, 49%-41%, which indicates that the Democratic candidate stands to lose more support than the Republican to the minor party alternatives.