Jon Tester and Tim Sheehy debate in Montana with the Senate on the line

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

65% : Tester does need to win over some Trump-supporting independents and Republicans, a tall order in a state Trump is expected to win easily.
63% : Montana is the party's next top target with Tester running for re-election in a state Trump won by 16 points in 2020.
60% : "Richmond backed Trump in 2016 and 2020, and Republicans believe Trump's dominance in the state will boost Sheehy as well.Montana has seen a surge in new residents in recent years.
45% : Republicans need a net gain of just two seats to take control of the Senate, or one if Trump wins the White House, since the vice president casts tie-breaking votes in the chamber.
36% : Sheehy and his Republican allies are betting that the Republican-leaning state will no longer back a Democrat for statewide office, especially with Trump on the ballot.
26% : In his closing statement, Sheehy also noted that Tester, speaking in a 2019 interview on MSNBC, said of Trump, "You need to go back and punch him in the face."
21% : Tester appeared to try not to anger Trump supporters Monday night, referring to "party bosses" instead of Trump directly when chiding Sheehy and his fellow Republicans for opposing a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
19% : "Sheehy used part of his closing statement to note that Tester voted twice to impeach Trump and opposed Trump's Supreme Court nominees.
11% : Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., likened Tester to Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who won re-election in 2020 even as Trump lost her state by 9 points, noting both Maine and Montana with smaller populations.

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