Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O'Rourke laid out their positions on some of the key issues facing the state Friday night in the only debate of their campaign. O'Rourke criticized Gov. Abbott for his position on abortion rights and the condition of the state's power grid, while Abbott stressed his efforts to secure the border and his commitment to property tax relief.
The debate was carried on KDAF-TV in Dallas and on NewsNation on other stations across the state.
The debate started with a question about immigration and border security, with one of the moderators asking how the two candidates would lessen the financial burden put on border communities by people coming into the country illegally.
"Texas has responded by making sure that we have the National Guard and DPS deployed where they're making arrests and turning back illegal immigrants," Gov. Abbott said, "as well as what we're doing to help local communities by bussing them from the area where the Border Patrol is dropping them off to sanctuary cities in northeastern parts of the country."
The bussing program has faced criticism from local officials in Washington, D.C. and New York City, where buses have delivered thousands of migrants who were stopped at the border between Texas and Mexico. Governor Abbott started the bussing program this summer. The Texas National Guard and DPS have been deployed along the border as part of the Governor's border security effort called Operation Lone Star.
"Four billion dollars into Operation Lone Star, we're seeing not fewer - but more encounters at our border right now," said O'Rourke. "What we need is a safe, legal, orderly path for anyone who wants to come here to work, to join family, or to seek asylum."
Gov. Abbott blasted O'Rourke's stance on abortion rights and defended the state's abortion ban.
"Beto's position is the most extreme. He not only supports abortion of a fully developed child to the very last second before birth, he's even against providing medical care for a baby who survives an abortion. He is for unlimited abortion at taxpayer expense," said Gov. Abbott.
"That's not true, it is completely a lie. I never said that," said O'Rourke. "No one thinks that in the state of Texas. He's saying this because he signed the most extreme abortion ban in America - no exception for rape, no exception for incest. It's taking place in a state that is at the epicenter of a maternal mortality crisis."
The debate moderators also asked O'Rourke about his previous statements on gun control. During his unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2019, O'Rourke said he would support taking away selected types of weapons, including the AR-15 and AK-47. O'Rourke did not fully renounce that statement on Friday but did indicate he would be focused on other gun reform proposals if he is elected.
"It's clear to me that the only place that an AR-15 or an AK-47 makes sense is on a battlefield," O'Rourke said. "But as Governor of the State of Texas, I need to be focused on what we can get done. Raising the minimum age of purchase (for an AR-15) to 21, we can get that done. A red flag law? We'll get that done. We'll make progress and take action where this Governor has failed."
Governor Abbott disputed O'Rourke's contention that the state could raise the age for purchasing certain types of firearms such as long guns.
California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont, Washington and New York have all passed laws regarding the age limit for purchasing the class of firearms that includes the AR-15. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth this summer ruled against a state law regulating the age for someone to buy a handgun.
"We want to end school shootings, but we can not do that by making false promises," Gov. Abbott said. "It's a false promise to suggest that we can pass a law that will be upheld by the Constitution to raise the age (to buy an AR-15). The most recent federal court of appeals decision on this particular issue said that it was unconstitutional for any state to raise the age from 18 to 21 for a person to buy an AR-15."
The debate took place at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg. Election day is Tuesday, November 8th. Early voting starts on Monday, October 24th.
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