Gearing up for what's likely to be a costly and contentious U.S. Senate race, Montana's senior senator on Wednesday announced new members of his reelection team.

Among them, Sen. Jon Tester said Chris Meagher has signed on to serve as the campaign's communications director. He'll be joined by Monica Robinson, who will serve as the campaign's deputy press secretary.

“This will be a hard fought and close campaign, but we’re confident Jon will win in November because he defends Montana and doesn’t stop holding government accountable,” Meagher said in his first official statement.

Meagher began his career as a newspaper reporter before working for Rep. Lois Capps, D-Cali. He worked at the Colorado Democratic Party, where he helped reelect Sen. Michael Bennet.

For the last 10 months, Meagher has served as the senior communications adviser for the Montana Democratic Party.

Robinson, of Bozeman, is a recent graduate of American University. She worked on the coordinated campaign in 2016 to reelect Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Robinson also worked for EMILY's List, supporting the campaigns of pro-choice women before serving most recently with the communications team at NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Several Montana Republicans are looking to challenge Tester in the 2018 general election, including Matt Rosendale, Troy Downing, Russell Fagg, Ron Murray and Al Olszewski.

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