Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. (Photos viaJennifer Shutt, States Newsroom and Sheehy campaign)
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and his Republican challenger Tim Sheehy will participate in a debate hosted by Montana PBS next Monday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m.
The debate will take place live at Montana PBS’s studio at the University of Montana in Missoula and will last for one hour, according to a news release from Montana PBS, whose longtime journalists John Twiggs and Anna Rau will host. There will not be a live studio audience.
“Our live studio debate format offers Montana viewers a close-up view of the U.S. Senate candidates and allows for dynamic interaction on the most pressing issues in our state,” said Montana PBS and KSUM-TV director and general manager Aaron Pruitt. “This debate, along with our other pre-election programming, aims to provide voters with as much information as possible before they cast their 2024 votes.”
The debate will be simulcast on Montana PBS’s website, its Facebook page, and live on Montana Public Radio and Yellowstone Public Radio. UM School of Journalism faculty and students will fact-check the debate on Montana PBS’s website.
Pruitt pointed to the organization’s established debate criteria to note why Libertarian Sid Daoud and Green Party candidate Robert Barb will not appear at the debate.
Tester and Sheehy participated in a debate in early June hosted by the Montana Broadcasters Association.
Sheehy now leads Tester by 3.7 percentage points in an average of all polls of the race, according to FiveThirtyEight. Just one poll included in the average since the start of August showed Tester with a lead in the race.