Montana U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a Republican, ripped his opponent, incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, for his ties to lobbyists during a debate on Monday.

Tester is seeking to hold onto his Senate seat to continue representing the red state of Montana in a race that could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress, and recent polling shows that Sheehy is leading just weeks before Election Day.

During the debate on Monday, Sheehy knocked his Democrat opponent for his relationship with lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

“Sen. Tester knows all about backroom meetings, he’s been taking them for 20 years … While I was fighting in Afghanistan, he was eating lobbyist steak in D.C.,” said Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL.

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Tim Sheehy prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (The Missoulian via AP)

Lobbyists have donated more heavily to Tester during this election cycle than to any other member of Congress, according to the non-partisan group OpenSecrets.

Tester is the last remaining Democrat to hold high office in Montana, where Republicans, including former President Trump, supported Sheehy’s campaign with the hope that he could defeat the vulnerable Democrat and help the GOP win back control of the Senate.

Republicans need to gain only two seats in next month’s election to win the Senate majority. GOP West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is considered a lock in his state’s Senate race against Democrat Glenn Elliott, meaning the Senate majority could run through Montana.

Trump won Montana by about 17 percentage points in 2020 and, given that the state is overwhelmingly Republican, Sheehy has often sought to tie Tester to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as the Republican candidate looks to take advantage of public dissatisfaction over the administration’s struggles to address the influx of illegal immigration at the Southern Border.

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U.S. Sen. Jon Tester prepares to debate GOP challenger Tim Sheehy on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (The Missoulian via AP)

“Democrats on the Hill refused to hold the administration accountable for the largest mass migration in the history of this country,” Sheehy said.

Tester, however, has declined to endorse Harris and has attempted to distance himself from her on the campaign trail, and he skipped the Democratic National Convention in August, when she was named the party’s nominee for president after Biden dropped out.

The Democrat has also criticized some of the administration’s policy decisions. This includes his opposition to the move for tighter pollution rules for coal plants and his calls for more to be done on immigration.

“Look, I’ll be the first person to tell you that President Biden has not done a good job on the southern border,” Tester said Monday.

Sheehy and Tester also addressed abortion, in which the Democrat said he wants to reinstate Roe v. Wade after the landmark ruling was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, returning the power to make laws regarding abortion back to the states.

Tim Sheehy, left, prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, right, on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (The Missoulian via AP)

The Republican acknowledged that remarks he made last year about Native Americans were “insensitive,” but refused his opponent’s request to apologize. Sheehy had told a group of laughing supporters about bonding “with all the Indians … while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.,” while working cattle at a ranch on the Crow Indian Reservation.

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“Yeah, insensitive,” Sheehy said. “I come from the military as many of our tribal members do. You know, we make insensitive jokes and probably off-color jokes sometimes.”

Tester pressed his opponent, “Tim, the statement you made degrades Native Americans across this country. You’re a big guy, just apologize.”

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.