Forrest Milburn– Editor
In a display lacking the expected fireworks, State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, faced off against Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott at the Edinburg Conference Center in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Sept. 19 debate was the first of two debates set for this year’s gubernatorial election and was moderated by McAllen Monitor editor Carlos Sanchez and reporters Ryan Wolf of Channel 4 KGBT and Dalila Garza of Channel 40 KTLM.
The panelists focused primarily on border security, immigration and other issues that appeal to the state’s growing Hispanic population, a crucial voting bloc that both candidates say they need to court if they plan on claiming victory come November.
However, the opportunity largely passed by unused, with the candidates sounding more polished and rehearsed than one might expect during a contentious race.
While Davis seemed to stay on-point and focus on Texas issues, Abbott often referenced President Barack Obama, seemingly trying to draw a clear connection between the White House and Davis.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re here in the Rio Grande Valley or if you’re in the Panhandle, you want to ensure that your public officials are abiding by the law,” Abbott said, after being asked about corruption along the border and recent comments he made on how the area resembled a “third-world country.” “As your attorney general and as your governor, I will ensure that is done.”
“These comments mean something. They label a community,” Davis said, directing attention to Abbott’s question regarding his “third-world” comments. “Mr. Abbott, although he’s said he has worked on corruption in other parts of this state, has never referred to other parts of [it] as ‘third-world.’ ”
The format also detracted from the effectiveness of the debate. While Sen. Davis was given exactly one minute to answer the first question, After Sen. Davis answered the first question, Abbott was given 45 seconds to make his rebuttal arguments before one of the
panelists returned to ask him a separate question.
Davis expanded on her stand on immigration when she said she believes everyone on the road should be insured including undocumented immigrants.
“As Arizona does, Texas, I believe, should issue driver certificates for people who pass a driver’s test and prove that they have insurance,” Davis said. “That’s the safest way that we can assure that people who are driving on our roads are
driving with the right authority and with the right insurance.”
On to the topic of veterans’ health care, moderator Ryan Wolf noted in his question to Abbott that an annual report ranks the Rio Grande Valley as worst in wait times when it comes to health care for veterans. In response, Abbott said he would work with the federal government as governor to effectively improve the timeliness and quality of health care for veterans.
“It is offensive that the men and women [who] have fought for our country are having to wait and now, it’s been documented, losing their lives because of the inadequate care from Veterans [Affairs],” Abbott said. “The men and women who serve on the front line should not have to be pushed to the back of the line when it comes to their health care needs.”
Abbott also went on to criticize the Obama administration for its lack of establishing a VA hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, an issue that Abbott said Obama campaigned on.
“It is offensive that during his campaign, Barack Obama came down here to the Rio Grande Valley and said that he would establish a veterans healthcare hospital right here,” Abbott said. “We’re still waiting for the president to make true on his promise. I will work with federal authorities to ensure that we get the health care we need for our veterans.”
Davis also sympathizing with the community’s veterans and said that she finds the veterans’ health care situation unacceptable.
support for the death penalty as state law, but also suggested that he would work to improve the law’s effectiveness.
“I am in favor of the death penalty, and we want to ensure the death penalty is going to be enforced effectively,” Abbott said. “However, I think it is important that Texas continues to take a national leadership role in ensuring the accuracy and certainty of the death penalty, and that is why I worked with Sen. Rodney Ellis this last legislative session on an advance DNA testing process in death penalty cases to ensure that if a person is accused of a crime that would face the death penalty, we have the right person.”
The debate between Davis and Abbott was the first gubernatorial debate Texans have seen since 2006. Some Democratic pundits were hoping that Abbott would make a life-threatening mistake on stage, like Clayton Williams did in the 1990 gubernatorial debate when he refused to shake Ann Richards’ hand. Some feel the gesture caused Clayton to lose to Richards by two points in the general election. However, Abbott made no glaring mis- takes.
Abbott often spoke past Sen. Davis, rarely addressing her. Some fiery comments made in each candidate’s answers, including, for example, when Sen. Davis gave her rebuttal to a question about pre-k funding.
“My opponent has proposed standardized tests for four-year-olds to demonstrate that they deserve to have pre-k support, picking and choosing those which would receive it and those which wouldn’t,” Sen. Davis said. “Under Mr. Abbott, four-year-olds in this state can be assured that they’d be subject to standardized tests. The only way they’d get around that is if they hire a lobbyist, form a [Political Action Committee] and donate to the Greg Abbott campaign, because that’s how he works.”
The next and final gubernatorial debate will be held in Dallas on Sept. 30. The debate will include timed responses and follow-up questions and will be televised on all major media markets in the state.
“Right now, [our veterans] are having to drive as far as San Antonio. We have a great opportunity for [fixing] this with the new [University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley] medical school,” Davis said. “I’d like to see us work with the UT-RGV medical school to see if we can create a shared campus that pro- vides a medical hospital specifically for our veterans.” While both candidates disagreed on most issues, they both support Gov. Rick Perry’s deployment of troops to the Texas border.
Both Davis and Abbott criticized the federal government for not acting on the surge of undocumented immigrants in an effective manner.
“If the federal government will not act to secure our border, Texas must, and we will,” Davis said. “I did support the surge of DPS troops to our border, but I also asked [Gov. Perry]— and what I would [have done] had I been governor at the time — I asked him to convene us in a special session so that we could hear from local community members what their needs were here.”
Both Davis and Abbott were also in agreement on their support for the death penalty.
When asked about how he would ensure that innocents are not put to death in the state, Abbott reiterated his support for the death penalty as state law, but also suggested that he would work to improve the law’s effectiveness.
“I am in favor of the death penalty, and we want to ensure the death penalty is going to be enforced effectively,” Abbott said. “However, I think it is important that Texas continues to take a national leadership role in ensuring the accuracy and certainty of the death penalty, and that is why I worked with Sen. Rodney Ellis this last legislative session on an advance DNA testing process in death penalty cases to ensure that if a person is accused of a crime that would face the death penalty, we have the right person.”
The debate between Davis and Abbott was the first gubernatorial debate Texans have seen since 2006. Some Democratic pundits were hoping that Abbott would make a life-threatening mistake on stage, like Clayton Williams did in the 1990 gubernatorial debate when he refused to shake Ann Richards’ hand. Some feel the gesture caused Clayton to lose to Richards by two points in the general election. However, Abbott made no glaring mis- takes.
Abbott often spoke past Sen. Davis, rarely addressing her. Some fiery comments made in each candidate’s answers, including, for example, when Sen. Davis gave her rebuttal to a question about pre-k funding.
“My opponent has proposed standardized tests for four-year-olds to demonstrate that they deserve to have pre-k support, picking and choosing those which would receive it and those which wouldn’t,” Sen. Davis said. “Under Mr. Abbott, four-year-olds in this state can be assured that they’d be subject to standardized tests. The only way they’d get around that is if they hire a lobbyist, form a [Political Action Committee] and donate to the Greg Abbott campaign, because that’s how he works.”
The next and final gubernatorial debate will be held in Dallas on Sept. 30. The debate will include timed responses and follow-up questions and will be televised on all major media markets in the state.