BILLINGS - Governor Brian Schweitzer debated republican candidate Roy Brown at MSU Billings Tuesday evening. During the debate the two bickered back and forth quite a bit.

Brown repeatedly brought up the ethics issue from July when Schweitzer joked about rigging an election and bullying election officials. Schweitzer asked Brown how he planned to cut state spending, saying he has promised to do so but never said where he would cut. Brown still did not identify any cuts, but said a committee would scrutinize the budget to find areas where it would be possible.

When asked how they would help students get jobs straight out of college, here is each candidate's response. "I put forward the "Let's Keep Our Kids Here" tax credit. So a company can get tax credit for hiring that student and helping them pay off their student loans. That is the type of free market idea we need for this state." replied Brown.

"We've created more high paying jobs for Montana graduates with advanced degrees than any other time in history. So you're suggesting that instead of that company paying $10,000 in taxes to the government so that money can be reinvested in to pay for scholarships or hold the line on tuition, we're saying that candidate no longer pays the $10,000 to the state of Montana." replied Schweitzer.

Libertarian candidate Stan Jones was not invited to debate.