Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Colin Allred met in Dallas on Tuesday to discuss multiple voter issues in the first and only senate race debate.
During the hour-long debate, the two candidates answered questions about abortion, immigration and housing.
Jason Whitely, a WFAA senior political reporter and debate moderator, kicked off the debate by asking Cruz about abortion restrictions in Texas and whether he supported exceptions for abortions in cases of incest and sexual assault.
Cruz did not directly answer the question. He said he agreed with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned abortion protections established by Roe v. Wade. Cruz said even though Texans disagree in a lot of areas, there is a good amount of consensus about requiring parental permission for minors to receive abortion care and late-term abortions are too extreme.
Allred said Cruz was lying to Texans. He said the Texas abortion law is not reasonable because it does not provide exceptions for people who are victims of incest or rape. Allred said if he was elected to the Senate, he would work to “restore a woman’s right to choose and make Roe V. Wade the law of the land again.”
Whitely again asked Cruz if he supported exceptions for abortion in cases of rape and incest. Cruz said he was not elected to the state legislature and abortion laws are now up to those members. Whitely once again asked Cruz why he would not answer the question, Cruz responded “Why do you keep asking me that? I have asked Congressman Allred twice about his voting record. … You haven’t asked him about that.”
Cruz said if Allred did not agree with the Texas abortion law, then he should run for a state position.
“The folks that make the laws here are the state legislature and the governor, he knows that,” Cruz said. “But he is trying to deceive the voters of Texas.”
Dallas Morning News reporter and debate moderator, Gromer Jeffers, asked Allred why he called former President Donald Trump’s border wall “racist” but supported President Biden’s proposal of expanding the border wall.
Allred said he supports physical barriers “as part of a comprehensive strategy” for border security. He said Cruz has not worked to solve this issue, citing his vote against the bipartisan immigration bill.
“Senator Cruz has had forever, and he has done nothing to solve this problem,” Allred said. “Why would we believe he will with six more years?”
Cruz said Allred voted against the border wall three times, comparing him to Vice President Kamala Harris. Cruz said he worked with Trump to secure the border, producing the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.
Jeffers asked Allred again why he changed his position on the border wall. He still did not directly answer the question. He said when speaking about immigration and border security, he does not want to demonize immigrants.
Whitley asked Allred if he supported Harris’ affordable housing policies, including a $25,000 down payment assistance program and a $40 billion Innovation Fund to build more affordable housing in Texas.
Allred said he will prioritize building more affordable housing across Texas and the country. He said the government must also invest in infrastructure. He spoke about a $35 billion infrastructure bill he supported but said Cruz voted against it.
Cruz said illegal immigrants are causing the rise in housing costs, blaming Allred and Harris. Cruz spoke about infrastructure, stating he supported and passed bills to build two major highways, Interstate 14 and 27 that span across the state.
Early voting begins Oct. 21 and ends Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
