Incumbent Sen. Jon Tester faced Republican challenger Tim Sheehy Monday night in what could be the final debate of Montana’s Senate race this election cycle.

With Democrats fighting to maintain their slim majority in the Senate, this race could be crucial in determining which party controls the Senate next year.

Republicans need to secure just two seats in November to gain a Senate majority when the new Congress convenes next year. Overall, they are expected to win one seat in West Virginia, meaning Montana could be key to their success.

Opinion polls showed mixed results. Most, including a recent AARP poll conducted Aug. 25-26, put Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and business owner backed by Donald Trump, in the lead by six points and a Republican-backed Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted between August 18 and 20, Sheehy showed seven points ahead.

However, some polls favored Tester, the last remaining Democrat to hold high office in Montana, or indicated the race was tied. An RMG Research poll from August 6 to 14 gave Tester a five-point lead, while a Public Opinion Strategies poll from June 11 to 13 showed the candidates evenly matched. A Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll in June also showed the two candidates tied.

The Cook Political Report labels the race as “lean Republicans.” Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics poll tracker gives Sheehy a 5.2-point lead.

With the race heating up, here are the key takeaways from the latest Tester-Sheehy debate ahead of Election Day.

Native Americans

During the debate, Tester called on Sheehy to apologize for derogatory comments he made last year that were reported by Char-Koosta News, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation. In the comments, Sheehy told a group of laughing supporters about “bonding with all the Indians…while drunk at 8am,” and claimed they threw beer cans at him while he was working cattle on a ranch on the Crow Reservation.

“Yes, insensitive,” Sheehy said of his comments Monday night after Tester urged him to apologize. “I come from the military, like many of our tribe members. You know, we make insensitive jokes sometimes and probably inappropriate jokes, and you know, I’m an adult. I take responsibility for that.’

Sheehy then tried to shift the discussion to the immigration crisis, but Tester condemned his rival for his comments.

“Tim, the statement you made degrades Native Americans in this country,” Tester said. “You’re a big guy, apologize.”

“Would you like to apologize for opening the border?” Sheehy replied.

Montana is home to seven Native American reservations and nearly 70,000 Native Americans, who make up about 7 percent of the state’s population, according to U.S. Census data. This voting bloc has traditionally favored the Democratic party, but in recent years Republicans in Montana have actively tried to court tribal leaders in hopes of winning their support in elections.

The border

Sheehy consistently pointed the finger at Tester and the Biden administration for the increase in illegal immigration at the southern border, arguing that the border crisis has contributed to rising housing prices, higher consumer costs and other economic problems.

“The Democrats in the Senate and the Democrats in the White House created this border crisis. Four years ago we had a secure border, Donald Trump handed a sealed border to the Biden-Harris administration,” Sheehy said. “Kamala Harris, the border czar, with support from her friends on the Hill, like Senator Tester and Chuck Schumer, opened the border wide for three years.”

However, Tester tried to distance himself from the Biden administration’s immigration policies. “I’ll be the first to tell you that President Biden has not done a good job at the southern border,” he hit back.

“We had a solution — it was there, it could still be passed,” Tester added, referring to the bipartisan compromise bill, which died in the Senate due to a lack of Republican support after pressure from Trump. The bill would have included a series of provisions aimed at reducing record numbers of border crossings at the southern border and tightening the asylum system.

Tester said: “It could have been passed six or eight months ago, but the bottom line is that before it was even released for reading, Tim said, ‘No, I’m not going to support that,’ because his party bosses told him told me he did.” necessary to do.”

Tester distances himself from Democrats on Israel

Tester also distanced himself from calls for a ceasefire in Gaza by members of his party, stating during the debate that Israel should be able to protect itself, and also referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“They were attacked on October 7, for no reason, and so they are responding,” Tester said. “Do I agree with everything Bibi Netanyahu has done? Absolutely not. But the truth is that Israel must be able to protect itself while the United States stands by and helps the world find a political solution to both conflicts.”

Highlighting his military background, Sheehy criticized the Biden-Harris administration, claiming the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan had led to other global conflicts.

“That set off a domino of weakness that led us down the path of chaos we are on today, from Israel to Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, where we see China making moves that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago,” he said. Sheehy. said.

Tester grills Sheehy about protecting federal lands

Tester criticized Sheehy for his record on protecting federal lands, which is a major problem in Montana.

“What they say in back rooms, when they think the recorder isn’t on or the camera isn’t rolling, is usually what they think,” Tester said. “And Tim said we should turn our land over to his rich friends or to the provincial government. That is not protecting public lands.”

Tester also referenced previous reports from HuffPost last year, which showed that Sheehy had called for federal lands to be “transferred” to states or provinces and had failed to disclose his post on the board of the Property and Environment Research Center, a research center property rights and nonprofit environmental research organization with a history of advocating for privatization of federal lands.

Sheehy defended himself during the debate, saying, “No one, including myself, in that organization has ever advocated the sale of our public lands – never has and never will.”

In a 1999 policy paper titled “How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands,” then-PERC Director Terry Anderson, along with others, outlined a plan they called “a blueprint for auctioning off all public lands within 20 to 40 years. “

About 30 percent of Montana is federal land.

Abortion

The right to abortion was one of the main topics discussed during the debate. It comes as Montana voters are set to vote on a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. Roe vs. Wade was revoked by the Supreme Court.

During the debate, Tester said he supports the initiative.

“I want Roe reinstated. And I think this initiative, this ballot initiative that’s going to be on the ballot, will do just that. It will enshrine it in the Constitution so that women can make their own health care decisions,” says Tester. said. “My opponent, on the other hand, thinks the exact opposite. He believes he has more right to make that decision than the women.”

Sheehy stated that he would support the ballot initiative if Montana voters chose to implement it, and expressed support for certain “exceptions.”

“If this particular initiative is passed, it is the law of the land and I will certainly respect it. But the reality is that at some point we have to protect the child’s life. He could be the next Albert Einstein, the next. Michael Jordan, as far as we know, the next Jon Tester,” Sheehy said.

The former Navy SEAL further claimed that his opponent supports “abortion up to and including the moment of birth.” There is no evidence to support this claim.

Tester responded: “That live birth statement Tim Sheehy just made was total nonsense – it’s a lie, that doesn’t happen, those lives are already protected. You know it, Tim. You’re just saying it to try to settle this issue politicize more than it already is.”

The senator added, “Women should be able to make their own health care decisions. It shouldn’t be the federal government, a bureaucrat or a judge. Women should do that. That’s what Montanans love.”