Uvalde shooting, border dominate only Texas governor debate

Sep 30, 2022, 1:52 PM | Updated: Oct 1, 2022, 4:22 am

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday night that Texas would send busloads of migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to more cities and Democrat challenger Beto O’Rourke pledged tighter gun laws as parents whose children were killed in the Uvalde school shooting stood outside an auditorium hosting the only debate before November’s election.

The promises reflected how Abbott and O’Rourke are eager to spotlight starkly different issues with just three weeks before early voting begins in a competitive Texas governor’s race that is one of most closely watched — and expensive — of the 2022 midterms.

On abortion, which is now banned in Texas, Abbott didn’t waver over signing a law that allows no exceptions for rape victims as the restrictions create stumbles for some Republicans who have been wary of voter backlash.

But Abbott was more assured while defending his dramatic steps on the Texas border that are the centerpiece of his campaign for a third term. Sharing a stage with O’Rourke for the first time, Abbott boasted about a $4 billion operation that has included migrant jails and buses to New York, Chicago and Washington and criticized President Joe Biden by name as much as his underdog opponent sitting across from him.

He did not say where Texas would next send buses that have refocused the race on immigration but defended the destinations to some of the nation’s largest Democratic-led cities as practical and not political.

“There will be other cities in the future that also will be on the receiving end of migrants, because we will continue to have to move migrants because Joe Biden continues to allow more illegal immigrants to come into the state of Texas,” Abbott said.

O’Rourke called the mission a failure and attacked Abbott over the number of migrant crossings remaining high despite the governor’s escalating mission over the past year.

“We are eight years into his time as governor, and this is what we have on our border,” O’Rourke said.

The debate had no live audience, but outside the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, parents of some of the 19 children killed in the Robb Elementary School massacre stood in support of O’Rourke after lashing Abbott over his rejection of new gun laws.

The presence of five Uvalde families in Edinburg, a border region that has emerged as a central backdrop for November’s midterm elections, underscored the sustained anger over one of America’s deadliest classroom shootings.

Polls show a single-digit race, but the stakes in the debate were especially high for O’Rourke in what remains an uphill climb to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in nearly 30 years.

Abbott, a potential 2024 presidential contender who in eight years as governor has loosened Texas’ firearm restrictions and signed a law doing away with background checks for concealed handguns, waved off calls for stricter gun controls since the Uvalde attack, which also killed two teachers.

Uvalde families have put at the top of their demands raising the minimum age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle like the one used in the shooting from 18 to 21 years old. Florida raised the minimum age weeks after the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 under a law signed by then-Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Abbott has said that raising the age would be “unconstitutional” because of recent court rulings, an assessment criticized by legal experts.

“No parent should lose a child and we want to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. We want to end school shootings,” Abbott said of raising the age to purchase AR-15-style weapons. “‘But we cannot do that by making false promises.”

O’Rourke, who has been haunted in his campaign by his support of confiscating such weapons while running for president in 2019, did not directly answer when asked if he still supported the position. “I’m for making progress,” he said.

Like many Democrats running in November, O’Rourke is drawing on outrage over abortion access and mass shootings — issues that have energized voters elsewhere. But as Texas Democrats also know, those same issues have failed to carry them in past elections.

Although no other debates between the two are planned, it will hardly be the last time that more than 17 million registered voters in Texas will see Abbott and O’Rourke on television before the Nov. 8 election.

Both are blitzing airwaves with attack ads in what will wind up as one of the country’s most expensive races this year. Abbott stockpiled nearly $50 million before O’Rourke even entered the race last year and this week launched new spots calling the Democrat a “con artist.”

O’Rourke, who remains one of the Democrats’ most prolific fundraisers after his failed runs for Senate in 2018 and president in 2020, quickly pulled in more than $30 million in the first half of the year and attacked Abbott over Texas’ new abortion ban in his first ads this month.

___

Associated Press writer Jake Bleiberg contributed to this report.

___

Find more AP coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and https://twitter.com/ap_politics

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

This photo provided by Robert Wilkes, owner of a house boat management company, shows smoke rising ...

Associated Press

Houseboats catch fire while docked at Wahweap Marina on Lake Powell

More than half a dozen house boats momentarily caught fire at a popular boating destination on the Utah-Arizona line on Friday.

2 days ago

File - Women work in a restaurant kitchen in Chicago, Thursday, March 23, 2023. On Friday, the U.S....

Associated Press

US hiring, unemployment jump in May and what that says about the economy

The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a robust 339,000 jobs, well above expectations.

2 days ago

(Pixabay Photo)...

Associated Press

Oath Keeper from Arizona sentenced for role in Jan. 6 riot at US Capitol

Edward Vallejo, a U.S. Army veteran from Phoenix, oversaw a “Quick Reaction Force” at a Virginia hotel that was prepared to deploy an arsenal of weapons into Washington if needed, authorities say.

3 days ago

FILE - U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz listens during a news conference, Jan. 5, 2023, in Washi...

Associated Press

US Border Patrol chief is retiring after seeing through end of Title 42 immigration restrictions

The head of the U.S. Border Patrol announced Tuesday that he was retiring, after seeing through a major policy shift that seeks to clamp down on illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border following the end of Title 42 pandemic restrictions.

4 days ago

FILE - President Joe Biden talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., on the House steps as...

Associated Press

House OKs debt ceiling bill to avoid default, sends Biden-McCarthy deal to Senate

The House approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package late Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans against fierce conservative blowback and progressive dissent.

4 days ago

Sean Bickings (Family Photo via city of Tempe)...

Associated Press

Family of man who drowned last year in Tempe Town Lake files wrongful death lawsuit

The family of a man who drowned in Tempe Town Lake a year ago filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city Wednesday, noting that its police department doesn't have a policy requiring officers to go into the water to save someone.

4 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

re:vitalize

Why drug-free weight loss still matters

Wanting to lose weight is a common goal for many people as they progress throughout life, but choosing between a holistic approach or to take medicine can be a tough decision.

(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...

Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

Uvalde shooting, border dominate only Texas governor debate