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BRAINERD 鈥� Incumbent U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican from Hermantown, and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Jen Schultz, of Duluth, sparred over a range of issues Monday evening in their second debate in a week.

The debate, which lasted more than an hour, was held at Madden鈥檚 on Gull Lake in Brainerd and presented by the Brainerd, Crosslake, Nisswa and Pequot Lakes chambers of commerce; League of Women Voters; Brainerd Dispatch; Pine and Lakes Echo Journal; Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation; and the Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corp. It was moderated by Kevin Doran, a KSTP anchor and reporter and Brainerd native.

It was the second of three debates between the two in this election cycle. Their final debate will be held Friday in Hibbing.

Here's a fact check of some of the claims made by each candidate Monday:

Schultz: 鈥淧ete Stauber is in something called the Problem Solvers Caucus.鈥�

Stauber responded: 鈥淚 just want to correct something that my opponent said, the fact that I am in the Problem Solvers Caucus. I don鈥檛 know where you got that information.鈥�

Stauber was once in the Problem Solvers Caucus, but it鈥檚 unclear whether he is still in the caucus, which is made up of Republicans and Democrats 鈥渃ommitted to finding common ground on many of the key issues facing the nation,鈥� .

As of Monday evening, .

At the beginning of the current 117th Congress, the caucus listed Stauber as . And on March 3, 2021, when highlighting his Justice Act, a police reform bill, 鈥淣ow, when we voted on Democrats鈥� legislation last year, it was dead upon passage. But some of my good friends and I in the Problem Solvers Caucus decided that this conversation was too important to let go.鈥�

Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch

A year earlier, on March 4, 2020, had a caption of a photo that said: 鈥淭oday, I along with my colleagues on the Problem Solvers Caucus attended a meeting on the coronavirus with Vice President Pence.鈥�

The News Tribune tried to ask both Stauber and Troy Young, of Stauber鈥檚 campaign, to clarify if Stauber was still in the caucus and, if he wasn鈥檛, when he left. Young cited the News Tribune鈥檚 in his refusal to speak with the newspaper.

Stauber: 鈥淭he Hyde Amendment was in place for over 30 years. That said no taxpayer money for abortion. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi threw it out. Now, abortions in this country and across the world are being paid for by the taxpayers.鈥�

The Hyde Amendment, , bars the use of Medicaid or other federal funds to cover abortion services.

It remains in effect. However, Biden supports ending it. He left it out of a bill to fund the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education department in 2021, but the amendment was ultimately included in the bill before it was passed, .

And last week, when whether he would support federal funds for people needing to take time off work or get child care to get an abortion, Biden said: 鈥淎bsolutely. The answer is absolutely.鈥�

U.S. federal funding for international abortions as a method of family planning is restricted by the Helms amendment, which is still in effect. But within days of taking office, Biden ended the so-called 鈥淢exico City Rule,鈥� which prohibited funding for nongovernmental groups providing or referring abortions to patients,

Schultz: 鈥淚t's hard to regulate an industry like Purdue Pharma when they're funding (Stauber鈥檚) campaign.鈥�

This is false. According to , which tracks donations to federal candidates, no donations by or its were made to Stauber in 2018, 2020 or 2022, the three election cycles he鈥檚 run for the 8th Congressional District seat.

This was said in an exchange on immigration and fentanyl, a powerful opioid. Purdue Pharma, which manufactured and pushed opioids like OxyContin, is largely to blame for the opioid crisis.

A final forum between the two is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday on Hibbing Public Access Television. It will air live on Hibbing Mediacom channels 807 and 117-7 and stream live on the its ROKU Channel and AppleTV app.

This story originally listed the incorrect opioid manufactured and pushed by Purdue Pharma. It was updated at 4:13 p.m. Oct. 26 with the correct drug name. The News Tribune regrets the error.

Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch