Last Friday, the first gubernatorial debate between Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke took place at the UTRGV Performing Arts Complex.
The debate was an hour long, with each candidate getting 60 seconds to answer each question and an additional 30 seconds if there were follow-ups. No one was allowed to attend the event in person as per Abbott’s request, which O’Rourke accepted in order to hold the debate. Questions regarding issues such as immigration, abortion, gun control, teacher attainment and the Uvalde school shooting were discussed.
The first question of the debate was on the topic of immigration. Abbott responded by blaming President Joe Biden and said,
“Remember this, just two years ago, we had one of the safest borders in decades, but under the Biden administration, we have more people coming across the border than ever in the history of our country.”
Gov. Greg Abbott
He then responded by saying that the way Texas is handling the current border situation will not be the way O’Rourke would handle it.
“This is completely different than the way things would be under Beto because he said months ago there is no problem on the border.”
Gov. Greg Abbott
O’Rourke later responded to the same question by targeting Abbott’s tactics to blame others as well as offering a solution he has to fix the issues at the border.
“We are eight years into his time as governor, and this is what we have on our border. In fact, 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. If you come to this country, we expect you to follow the law, but on our side we’re gonna make sure that our laws reflect our values and our interests,” said O’Rourke.
“And I’m going to work with local leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, to make sure that we have a Texas-based guest worker program to alleviate shortages that we have in our state for labor demands and reduce inflation and reduce supply chain issues as well.”
The question of gun control was a recurring topic in the Abbott and O’Rourke debate.
Abbott was asked if the age limit to purchase assault weapons should be raised. He countered by saying that it is unconstitutional to do so,
“We want to end school shootings, but we can not do that by making false promises,” Abbott said.
O’Rourke answered the question by saying that Gov. Abbott needs to take action. He then compared Abbott to Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott on how it took the state 23 days for them to raise the age of buying assault weapons after the mass shooting in Parkland, FL.
“In those states where the age has been raised, mass shootings are down 80 percent, so yes, we can raise the age to 21,” said O’Rourke.
Gov. Abbott also defended his administration’s decision to ban abortions by saying that the state needs to make sure that plan b is readily available in the case of unwanted pregnancies, as well as inform people on what their options are.
“It’s incumbent upon the state of Texas to make sure that [emergency contraception] is readily available for those who are victims of sexual assault or survivors of sexual assault. The state of Texas pays for that, whether it be at a hospital, at a clinic, or someone who gets a prescription because of it. So not only should it be readily available, but the state of Texas is going to pay for it and make sure that it is available for them.”
O’Rourke responded by saying how Abbott signed the most extreme abortion ban, which has been one of O’Rourke’s biggest selling points in his campaign.
“This election is about reproductive freedom. If you care about this, then you need to turn out and vote. I will fight to make sure that every woman in Texas can make her own decisions about her own body, her own future, and her own health care, and I will work with the legislature and my fellow Texans to return us to the standard that Texas women want in the first place, Roe Vs. Wade. That’s the standard that answers your question,” said O’Rourke.
Oct. 11 is the last day for voter registration. Election day is Nov. 8. Early voting runs from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4.
