Tester Vs. Sheehy Debate: Diving Into Montana’s Affordable Housing

This was a televised debate with Laurel Staples, Jonathan Ambarian, Stuart Davis, and Ben Weinman as the panelists.

One of the first questions dealt with the difficulty of Montanans seeking to find affordable housing, and Tester said the private sector must be at the forefront of that challenge.

“We've got to look at policies that move forward housing and child care by empowering the private sector,” began Senator Tester. “I would say, not only use programs in the Department of Agriculture and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) but also use things like tax credits to empower the private sector to make more workforce housing in this country. Why? Because if we're going to have an economy in this country, particularly in Montana that works for us, we've got to empower small businesses. They have to have employees.”

Sheehy then said his company has already built workforce housing for his employees.

“I agree with Senator Tester that we need to focus on affordable housing, and that's exactly what I've done with my companies,” began Sheehy. “We've actually built an affordable housing apartment building nearby because as housing prices soared in our state’s economy, our folks couldn't afford to live here. The biggest challenge growing our company was convincing folks to come into Montana and absorb these crazy housing costs and their direct result of these economic policies coming out of the Biden administration.”

Throughout the debate, Tester chided Sheehy as a ‘millionaire’, while Sheehy said Tester’s ties to the Biden administration make him a big part of the problem.

“If you want a Montana that is the Montana you were raised in, this election is really important,” Tester said. “If you want a Montana that continues to be a place where people can hunt and fish without being millionaires, then this election is really important. If you want a Montana where you can raise your kids and your kids can raise their kids, and your grandkids can raise their kids just like my grandparents and parents did for me, then this election is really important.”

READ MORE: Montana Offers Reverse Annuity Mortgage Program to Seniors

Sheehy closed with a plea to voters to elect a ‘new generation of leaders’.

“Right now, our nation is at a crossroads,” said Sheehy. “We are facing an array of threats that we have never seen as a country before, and I believe we can solve the problems that America is facing, but it's going to take a new generation of leaders to do it. We cannot keep having more the same. We cannot keep sending the same politicians back into office over and over and over again and expecting different results. We have a record high deficit, wide open border, foreign policy crises all over the world, and record inflation. We have to solve these problems. We need serious people to solve them. It's going to take a new generation of leaders to do it. I humbly ask for your vote. Thank you.”

Click this video to see the entire Senatorial debate.