Indianz.Com > News > Native issues take center stage at fiery U.S. Senate debate in Montana
Native issues take center stage at fiery U.S. Senate debate in Montana
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Indianz.Com
Native issues are playing a big role in the U.S. Senate race in Montana, the outcome of which is being closely watched in an already heated presidential election year.
During a televised debate on Monday night, Native issues came up repeatedly as Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent, faced Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate, for the second time during the campaign. The most explosive moment came toward the end, when Tester confronted Sheehy for making negative remarks about Native people.
“The bottom line is this, though,” Tester said at the Montana PBS studio on the campus of the University of Montana in Missoula. “Tim, if you really feel this way about Native Americans, you ought to apologize for the statements you made about them that were totally inaccurate.”
“But yet you won’t,” said Tester, who is seeking a fourth term in office.
Native Vote
Native Vote
Yet Tester’s assertions that the IHS and the VA would be negatively impacted by privatization of government-mandated health care went unchallenged by Sheehy, who is a veteran himself, having served overseas for the U.S. military, earning combat decorations in war-torn places like Iraq and Afghanistan. “Well, I’m tired of hearing politicians use veterans, you know, as a political prop,” said Sheehy, who went on to say his “friends” are not receiving adequate services from the VA, which has long had an agreement with the IHS to ensure the IHS is reimbursed for care provided to American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. The Senate rivals also discussed public safety in Indian Country, with both agreeing that the federal government is not doing enough for tribes and their citizens. Sheehy specifically brought up missing and murdered Native women and girls, a crisis that has been of extreme significance in Montana, with the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls recognized every year in honor of Hannah Harris, a young woman from the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who went missing and was murdered in the state. “One of the issues that we all know, unfortunately, all too well is missing and murdered Indigenous women,” said Sheehy. “And there’s not enough law enforcement out on reservations to provide a basic level of public safety.” Sheehy attempted to link inadequate law enforcement in Indian Country to U.S border policy, blaming Democrats like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — along with Tester — for exposing tribes to “drug cartels” that operate in neighboring nations. In doing so, he opened himself up to criticism about a bipartisan immigration reform bill that failed earlier in 2024 after Republican former president Donald Trump, who is seeking election this year, told Republicans not to vote for it. “Tim, if we’d have passed that bill that was up six, eight months ago, it would have made a huge difference in fentanyl across the United States, including Indian Country,” Tester said. “We also need to plus up the FBI budget, something that, quite frankly, your party has been trying to take money away from,” Tester continued. “We need more FBI agents in this state. Why? Because it will help fight crime in Indian Country.”There’s no room in the U.S. Senate for comments like the ones my opponent made against Montana’s Native communities. Tribes need a committed partner in the Senate to work on addressing the challenges their communities face—it's clear you won't get that from him.
— Jon Tester (@jontester) October 1, 2024
It was Sheehy’s comments about U.S. border policy, incidentally, that paved the way for Tester to demand the apology that tribal leaders have sought from the Republican candidate. Up until the debate on Monday night, the Democratic incumbent had not directly spoken about the controversy, which has attracted widespread national and international media coverage. But the focus on Montana is deeply linked to high-stakes battle for the White House. Although Harris, the Democratic nominee, is highly unlikely to outpoll Trump among voters in Big Sky Country — a Democrat hasn’t won the state since 1992, and before that, since 1964 — Republicans like Sheehy are intent on tying Tester to the incumbent vice president, who is now running for president following Biden’s departure from the race. And the outcome of the Senate race in Montana will determine which party controls the chamber. Democrats are in danger of losing their narrow hold on the legislative body should Tester fall to Sheehy on November 5. Public polls in fact show Tester meeting such a fate. Almost every forecaster shows Sheehy in the lead, with some results even indicating the Republican has gained ground since his negative remarks about Native people were first reported by Char-Koosta News, which is owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, on August 29. “Senatorial candidate Tim Sheehy’s disrespectful comments about Native people send a dangerous message — that he is okay using negative and tired stereotypes about Montana Indians in an attempt to get elected,” a published by Char-Koosta News, reads. Leaders of the Crow Tribe also have criticized Sheehy, whose based his remarks about Indian people being “drunk at 8am” and having beer cans thrown at him about his supposed experiences on the Crow Reservation. They said his comments were “disparaging and degrading” and discriminatory towards Native people.Kamala Harris ❤️ Jon Tester
— Tim Sheehy (@SheehyforMT) October 1, 2024
Kamala The California Radical’s disastrous agenda and entire Presidency hinges on @JonTester’s vote.
It’s time to put an end to the Harris-Tester agenda. VOTE THEM OUT! #RetireTester pic.twitter.com/kJORQHJiYT
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