Members of Congress from Texas were quick to respond to the vice presidential debate in New York Tuesday night.
In an interview with Fox News, Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, said JD Vance focused on the "economic disaster of Kamala Harris' record."
"The winner of the debate was Donald Trump. The loser of the debate was Kamala Harris," Cruz said.
Cruz said Vance contrasted Trump's record with Harris.
"Whether it is on the border, under Donald Trump the border was secure. Under Kamala Harris, it's the worst it's ever been in history," Cruz said.
"Whether it's the economy, under Donald Trump we had booming prosperity. Under Kamala Harris, we have American people struggling. Or whether it was foreign policy, under Donald Trump, we had peace and, in fact, we had peace breaking out in the Middle East. Under Kamala Harris, we see war across the globe."
Cruz is running for a third term against Democrat Colin Allred. Allred has not posted specifically about the performance of candidates in the debate, but he has posted about abortion.
"After learning the baby she was excited to have wouldn't survive, Kate Cox was forced to flee Texas under threat of prosecution to get the care she needed," Allred wrote on X. "Because she got that care, she's pregnant and due just in time to see a new Senator sworn in who will restore our freedoms."
Vance and Walz talked about the Texas abortion law during the debate. State lawmakers passed a law banning almost all abortions in 2021 that would take effect if Roe v Wade was overturned.
The law bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother. The law does not include penalties for the woman but does create a felony for a doctor who performs an abortion.
Walz cited the case of Amanda Zurawski. Her lawyers challenged the law saying she had to travel to another state for an abortion. They said Zurawski wanted the pregnancy, but the fetus would not survive and doctors were too concerned about criminal charges to perform an abortion. Without an abortion, they said Zurawski might not be able to conceive again.
The Texas Supreme Court rejected the challenge.
"The medical care at that point needs to be decided by the doctor, and that would have been an abortion," Walz said. "But in Texas, that would have put them at risk of legal jeopardy."
Walz cited an analysis by the Gender Equity Policy Institute showing maternal mortality in Texas increased 56% from 2019 to 2022 compared to an 11% increase nationwide.
"This is a basic human right," Walz said. "We have seen maternal mortality skyrocket in Texas outpacing many other countries in the world."
Vance countered he would not support a nationwide abortion ban. Instead, he says a second Trump Administration would leave the issue to the states.
"Donald Trump has been very clear that on the abortion policy, specifically, we have a big country, and it's diverse," Vance said. "California has a different viewpoint on this than Georgia. Georgia has a different viewpoint from Arizona."
Vance said voters in each state should decide the best policy for themselves. He said he would also work to improve access to childcare, affordable housing and fertility treatment.
"There's so much we can do on the public policy front just to give women more options," he said.
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