What You Missed From the Beto O'Rourke-Greg Abbott Debate
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and challenger Beto O'Rourke (D) held the first debate of their 2022 midterm competition last week, with both accusing the other of misinforming voters.
Immigration, guns, taxes, and the state's power grid were the key issues on the table. Both candidates agreed that Texas should stop spending money to curb illegal immigration, but for different reasons: Abbott said it was the job of the federal government, and O'Rourke said Abbott's spending on border security to date had been a waste of money. Little agreement was seen elsewhere. When Abbott said that "Texas has one of the lowest electricity prices in the country," O'Rourke replied that electricity is "one of the fastest-growing costs" in the state. Abbott was accused of lying about his level of coordination with New York City regarding his shipments of unauthorized migrants to the city, and O'Rourke was accused of skewing the facts when comparing Texas' tax rates to California's.
The debate was the only one scheduled between the two candidates, and lasted roughly an hour in a mostly-empty room with no live audience. Abbott held an 8-point advantage over O'Rourke in the polls as of last week, according to RealClearPolitics (Center bias).
Texas-based news sources across the political spectrum covered the debate prominently, and many attempted to fact-check numerous statements from both Abbott and O'Rourke, especially about taxes and Abbott busing migrants to sanctuary cities.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke accused each other of misinforming Texans during their debate. Here are the facts.Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking a third term, and Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat trying to unseat him in November, faced off on Friday night in their only scheduled debate and sparred over the major issues in the race, from immigration to gun policies to the reliability of Texas’ power grid since a February 2021 winter storm left millions without power or heat for days.
Throughout the debate — held in the empty auditorium on the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley campus in Edinburg — Abbott and O’Rourke frequently accused...
From the Center
Fact-checking the Texas governor debate between Greg Abbott and Beto O’RourkeGov. Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rourke clashed over a range of topics Friday night in their sole debate, not always with the facts on their side.
Some fact-checks:
Abortion
Abbott depicted O’Rourke as an extremist on abortion.
“He not only supports abortion of a fully developed child to the very last second before birth” but, said Abbott, he opposes “providing medical care for the baby who survives an abortion. He is for unlimited abortion at taxpayer expense.”
O’Rourke insisted “that’s not true.”
The claim about denying medical care for a...
From the Right
Abbott and O’Rourke Trade Blows in Texas’ Lone Gubernatorial DebateFor an hour in a largely empty room, Gov. Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rourke locked horns over Texas’ most contentious issues in the first and last debate of the governor’s race.
There was no live audience to witness the two fire shots at one another over their accused failings, occasionally speaking over their time limits — and one another.
It was the first time the candidates met in person since O’Rourke stormed the governor’s press conference after the tragic Uvalde elementary school shooting.
The candidates grappled over border security, gun laws, school safety,...
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