Sen. Jon Tester, a model for Western Democrats aspiring to win statewide elections, will address the Frank Church banquet on Feb. 27 at the Boise Centre.

"It's an honor to speak with fellow Democrats about the values important to the West," Tester said in a party news release. "We have a lot to be proud of, and we have a lot of work to do together. I look forward to visiting Idaho and talking about the challenges and opportunities we face as westerners--from job creation to renewable energy development to bringing common sense back to Washington, D.C."

Tester was invited by Idaho's lone Democratic statewide or congressional official, 1st District Rep. Walt Minnick, who, like Tester, was raised on a farm.

"I grew up on a dryland farm, so I have a lot of respect for the men and women who do that work today," Minnick said in the release. "I very much appreciate Senator Tester's work to represent farmers and ranchers, and look forward to welcoming him to Idaho to talk politics, policy and the price of wheat."

Said state Democratic Party Chairman Keith Roark: "In recent years we have watched the emergence of a new class of Western Democratic Senators, Congressmen and Governors who understand agriculture from personal experience and Sen. Tester is a leader among that class. Our own Congressman Walt Minnick and gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred are prime examples of this emerging class of leaders and we all join in welcoming Sen. Tester to the Gem State for this event."

In the Senate, Tester helped pass the most significant ethics reforms since Watergate. He was the first senator to post his daily schedule online and to conduct a self-imposed ethics audit of his office.

Tickets are $85, or $65 for pledge fund members. To buy tickets: http://www.actblue.com/page/fcb2010/recipient/787271

Questions: heather@idahodems.org or 208-869-8261

You can follow Idaho Statesman Politics on Twitter.