MISSOULA — It seems like forever ago, Sharla Tester recalled Tuesday night in Missoula.

The whole Tester family Jon and Sharla, their children, Shon and Christine, parents, siblings, you name it sat down to talk about the topic of the day: What did everyone think about Jon running for U.S. Senate against Republican Conrad Burns in 2006?

“The deal was if one person thought it wasn’t the right thing to do, we weren’t going to do it,’’ Sharla Tester said at a gathering at the Holiday Inn Parkside. “But everyone said, ’Let’s do it.’”

That hadn’t been Sharla’s first response when Jon, her husband of 27 years, first brought up the idea.

“I just said, ‘Nope, I don’t think I could do it,’ ’’ Sharla recalled. “But over time, it got to be where it was always going to be hanging over our heads as a ‘what if.’ So I finally got behind it.’’

On Tuesday night, as the early returns rolled in and handed the organic farmer from Big Sandy a huge lead over state Auditor John Morrison, Sharla and the rest of the Tester clan had no regrets.

“I’ll have no regrets whatsoever, no matter how it winds up,’’ she said. “It’s just been the best experience, far better than I could have ever imagined.’’

Her husband, the four-term state senator, echoed those words early in the evening, but as the numbers mounted and the sun fell, it was clear he also badly wanted to win.

“I really do think there are some good things we can do for Montana,’’ he said. “I am truly hoping we get the chance.’’

Tester spent the day in Missoula, making phone calls to thank volunteers and meeting people on the street. He said his final barnstorming tour of the state ended in Missoula, so it was a logical place to spend the day. But it’s also the case that Missoula is closer to home for his Idaho relatives, and it’s also a Democratic stronghold that Tester felt could possibly hand him the election.

“We really felt like we needed a big win in one of the cities, and Missoula seemed like a strong bet for us,’’ Tester said.

Missoula, of course, turned out in force when the rock band Pearl Jam played a Tester fundraiser earlier in the campaign, and University of Montana students have played a strong role in the effort, Tester said.

“We just had such great support here, it felt like a good place to be for the day,’’ he said.

The crowd packed into the bar at the Parkside couldn’t have been happier the big man with the flattop was in the house and every time the television flashed the latest numbers, the margin seemed to grow larger.

“I just think it’s great, because I think so many of us are just sick and tired of politics as usual,’’ said Jan Krueger of Missoula. “He just seems like such a real person and a good person, I just wanted to come down and support him. He seems genuine.’’

Jon’s grandmother wouldn’t have had it any other way. Jon’s older brother Dave, a veterinarian from Coeur d’Alene, said grandma was a Swedish immigrant who drilled into her family the importance of public service. It wasn’t something you do to get ahead or to be powerful, it was something you did because it was right.

“For her, if you were going to consider yourself among the living, you better have voted,’’ said Dave Tester, the oldest of three Tester brothers. ’’Giving back to the community was just a regular part of life.’’

Jon Tester got an early start, running for local offices not long after he returned to Big Sandy from college.

“He came back, started teaching, then took over the family farm,’’ Dave recalled. “He’s been involved in the community ever since.’’

Then, with a laugh, Dave Tester said: “I wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with himself, but it’s looking like he’s done OK.’’

The campaign, Jon Tester said, has been a little hard on his farming, but Sharla said things have held up just fine on the family ranch, where the Testers grow wheat, barley, lentils, peas, millet, buckwheat, alfalfa and hay.

“You know, I actually think we’ve done a little better because we know we have to be focused,’’ Sharla said. ’’And I tell you, we’ve had a lot of help from the rain.’’

The rain, she said, has left Montana green and gorgeous from end to end.

“It’s been so beautiful for us, just green all over,’’ she said. “We’ve had the chance to go places we’ve always wanted to go, places we’ve never been. We’ve met good people everywhere we went.’’

Those people, Jon Tester said, kept him going, even when he was tired of driving and tired of talking.

“The people of this state have really reinvigorated me all along the way,’’ he said. “They’ve really shown us their hearts.’’

And that, he said, is more than enough to make you get up the next day and do what your grandma told you to do serve your friends and neighbors.

“It’s looking good right now,’’ Tester said as the latest numbers came on the television. “I’m looking forward to the next round, if we get the chance.’’