On Monday night, incumbent Sen. Jon Tester faced off against Republican challenger Tim Sheehy in what could be the final debate in the Montana Senate race this election cycle.

As Democrats fight to maintain their slim majority in the Senate, this race could play a key role in determining which party controls the upper chamber next year.

Republicans need to secure just two seats in November to gain a majority in the Senate when the new Congress convenes next year. They are generally expected to pick up one spot in West Virginia, which means Montana could be the key to their success.

Polls showed mixed results. Most, including a recent AARP poll conducted Aug. 25-26, placed Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Donald Trump-backed business owner, in the lead with six points, and a Republican Public Opinion Strategy-backed poll conducted between Aug. and 20, gave Sheehy a seven-point lead.

However, some polls favored Tester, the last remaining Democrat in high office in Montana, or showed the race tied. An RMG Research poll conducted August 6-14 gave Tester a five-point lead, while a Public Opinion Strategy poll conducted June 11-13 showed the candidates tied. The two candidates were also tied in a June poll conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates.

The Cook Political Report calls the race “lean Republican.” Meanwhile, poll tracker RealClearPolitics has Sheehy ahead by 5.2 points.

As the race tightens, here are the key takeaways from the final debate between Tester and Sheehy leading up to Election Day.

Native Americans

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

“Yes, it’s insensitive,” Sheehy said of his comments Monday night after Tester insisted he apologized. “I come from a military background, as do many of our tribe members. You know, we make insensitive jokes, and sometimes they’re probably off-topic, and, you know, I’m an adult. I will take responsibility for this.”

Sheehy then tried to move the discussion to the immigration crisis, but Tester sharply criticized his rival for his comment.

“Tim, your statement demeans Native Americans across the country,” Tester said. “You’re a big guy, just apologize.”

“Will you apologize for opening the border?” Sheehy replied.

According to U.S. Census data, Montana is home to seven Indian reservations and nearly 70,000 Native Americans, making up about 7 percent of the state’s population. This voting bloc has traditionally leaned toward Democrats, but in recent years Montana Republicans have actively courted tribal leaders in hopes of winning their support in the election.

Limit

Sheehy has consistently faulted 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, rising consumer costs and other economic problems.

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

Tester, however, sought to distance himself from the Biden administration’s immigration policies. “I will be the first to tell you that President Biden has not done a good job on the southern border,” he replied.

“We had a solution – it was already there, it could still be passed,” Tester added, referring to the bipartisan compromise bill that died in the Senate due to a lack of Republican support under pressure from Trump. The bill would include a number of provisions aimed at limiting the record-breaking number of crossings of the southern border and tightening the asylum system.

Tester said: “It may have been passed six or eight months ago, but the bottom line is that Tim, before it was even allowed to be read, said, ‘No, I’m not going to support it’ because party bosses told him it had to be done.” “

Tester distances himself from Democrats on Israel

Tester also distanced himself from calls by his party members for a ceasefire in Gaza, stating during the debate that Israel should be able to defend itself and also referring to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“They were attacked on October 7 and they came for no reason at all, so they are responding,” Tester said. “Do I agree with everything Bibi Netanyahu has done? Absolutely not. The truth is, however, that Israel must be able to protect itself while the United States seeks and assists the world in seeking a political solution to both of these conflicts.”

Sheehy highlighted his military experience and criticized the Biden-Harris administration, saying the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan had sparked other global conflicts.

“This started a chain of domino weaknesses that led us down the path of chaos we now find ourselves on, from Israel to Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific region, where we see China making moves that would have been unthinkable just 20 years ago.” – Sheehy said.

Tester unloads Sheehy as part of the protection of federal lands

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

“What they say in the back room when they think the recorder isn’t working or the camera isn’t working is usually what they’re thinking,” Tester said. “And Tim said we had to give our lands to either his rich friends or the county government. “It doesn’t protect public lands.”

Tester also referred to previous HuffPost reports from last year that revealed Sheehy called for the “devolution” of federal lands to states or counties and failed to disclose his position on the board of the Center for Property and Environmental Research, a property rights and non-profit organization. profit environmental research firm that has long advocated for the privatization of federal lands.

Sheehy defended himself during the debate, saying, “No one, including me, in this organization has ever advocated for selling our public lands – never has and never will.”

In a 1999 policy document titled “How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands,” then-PERC Director Terry Anderson and others outlined what they called “a plan to auction off all public lands within 20 to 40 years.” “

About 30 percent of Montana is federal land.

Miscarriage

One of the main topics discussed during the debate was the right to abortion. The ruling comes as Montana voters are set to vote on a measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court.

During the debate, Tester stated that he supported this initiative.

“I want Roe reinstated. And I think this initiative, this ballot initiative that will be put on the ballot will do just that. “I will put it in the constitution so that women can make their own health care decisions,” Tester said. “On the other hand, my opponent has exactly the opposite opinion. He believes he has more right to make this decision than women.”

Sheehy said he would support the ballot initiative if Montana voters decide to implement it, and expressed his support for certain “exceptions.”

“If this particular initiative is adopted, it will be the law of the land and I will certainly respect it. The truth is, however, that at some point we must protect a child’s life. He could be the next Albert Einstein, the next Michael Jordan, for all we know, the next Jon Tester,” Sheehy said.

The former Navy SEAL then claimed that his opponent supported “abortion up to and including birth.” There is no evidence to support this claim.

Subject replied: “That born alive statement that Tim Sheehy just made was total bullshit – it’s a lie, it doesn’t happen, these lives are already protected. You know that, Tim. You’re just saying this to politicize this issue more than it already is.”

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