Sen. Jon Tester Unloads On GOP Opponent Tim Sheehy In Montana Debate

The Democratic senator is behind in polls of the hotly contested race that is likely to determine control of the Senate next year.

MISSOULA, Mont. ― Battling for his political survival, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) spent much of Monday’s Senate debate against Republican rival Tim Sheehy on offense, accusing the wealthy rancher of helping fuel the state’s housing crisis, posing a threat to reproductive rights and lying to voters about his plans for federal lands.

From the opening seconds of their face-off at the University of Montana, Tester treated his opponent like the real threat he poses to his campaign for a fourth term, as well as Democrats’ tough odds of retaining control of the Senate next year.

Criticizing Sheehy’s record on protecting federal lands, a huge issue in Montana, Tester warned, “Watch out what people say in back rooms, folks.”

“What they say in back rooms, when they don’t think the recorder is going or the camera is running, is usually what they think,” Tester said. “And Tim said we need to turn our lands over to either his rich buddies or county government. That’s not protecting public lands.”

Tester knocked Sheehy repeatedly on land use, saying his opponent has “made an incredible transformation on this issue.” Tester cited HuffPost’s reporting, which first revealed that Sheehy had called for federal lands to be “turned over” to states or counties; failed to disclose his post on the board of the Property and Environment Research Center, a Bozeman-based property rights and environmental research nonprofit with a history of advocating for privatizing federal lands; and appeared to doctor a recent TV ad to remove PERC’s logo from the shirt he was wearing.