California’s Democratic candidate Josh Harder and his Republican counterpart, Jeff Denham, sparred over healthcare, immigration, and water policy, in front of a live audience during their debate in Turlock on Saturday.

The hour-long debate was hosted by the Turlock Journal and MNC Newspapers and left viewers hoping for an energetic debate quite pleased. The two Congressional candidates support opposing policies and their differences soon turned personal during their stand-off, reported CNBC News.

Republican Rep. Jeff Denham, 51, is a conservative ally for Trump and is running for his fourth term representing California’s 10th Congressional District. Harder, 32, recently left his position at a tech investment firm, Bessemer Venture Partners, and decided to run for the House of Representatives after Denham repealed the Obamacare-era affordable act.

The contentious race has peaked national interest. It’s a tight House race between GOP Rep. Jeff Denham and his opponent Josh Harder. According to a Garin Hart Yang Research Group’s poll data, both candidates are at a 48-48 percent tie.

Politico reported Harder has managed to raise money at an alarming rate, his election cycle haul during early August was roughly $3.3 million. Denham isn’t far behind, having raised $3.4 million as of June 30th.

The candidates’ political views are polar opposites. Amongst the many issues discussed in their debate, the two candidates touched on the subject of water policy, a very heated issue in the district.

During the congressional debate, Denham stated he has directly sponsored legislation that would bring more water to Central Valley, thus increasing water storage. Harder, however, responded with a swing at Denham saying that he “In his eight years in Congress, he has not gotten a single dollar – not one federal dollar – of money for water infrastructure.” Turlock journal provided a full recording of the debate.

Denham was quick to take a swing back at Harder, attacking his weak voting record. Denham pointed out Harder had missed 17 votes of the previous 20 elections and only went back to voting when he decided to run for Congress.

In response to Denham’s commentary on his voting record, Harder admitted to having missed said elections because he “was complacent about politics. I have a voting record that I’m not always proud of.” He later justified his return to politics claiming, “On every issue I care about, we were being misrepresented by someone who voted with his party 98 percent of the time.”

The tight race has been described a “toss-up” by two nonpartisan newsletters, Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, from the University of Virginia. CNBC News has also reported the district has more Democrats than Republicans currently registered, possibly giving Harder an advantage.