Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrat U.S. representative and candidate for U.S. Senate Colin Allred debated their differences on abortion rights, border control and if boys have a place in girl sports just to name a few Oct. 15 at the WFAA -TV news studios in downtown Dallas.
Allred won the coin toss and provided his opening statement first, but not without a few blows to Cruz. “I am the most bipartisan in Texan in Congress, I’m the exact opposite of Sen. Cruz, who is the most extreme senator in the United States Senate, maybe the most extreme in the last 30 years. But that’s not enough, he’s also only focused on himself. That’s how you can go to Cancun when millions of Texans need you and hundreds are dying. The truth is, we don’t have to be embarrassed by our senator, we can get a new one,” Allred said.
Cruz responded to Allred’s digs, boldly proclaiming, “Tonight I’m going to ask you to listen very carefully to the difference between words and actions, Colin Allred is going to try to say an offal lot of words that sound reasonable, but he’s not going to talk about his own record or my record.” and add, “We’re doing offal lot right in Texas, Colin Allred wants to change that. I want to keep Texas, Texas”.
Moderator Jason Whitely, senior political reporter for WFAA-TV, asked the first question about the overturned Row v. Wade: What was Cruz’ stand on abortion? Cruz said Texas overwhelmingly supports that late-turn abortions are too extreme, as well as taxpayer dollars should not go toward abortions. He added that parents should be aware when their child is scheduled for an abortion. Whitely doubled down on the question, wanting a more direct answer from Cruz. Cruz said Allred refused to vote against late-term abortion, as well as the consensus that children should have parental consent for an abortion.
Allred denied Cruz’ claims about his abortion rights views. “This is not freedom. I trust Texas women to make their own healthcare decisions. When I am in the United States Senate, we will restore the woman’s right to choose. We will make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.” Cruz rebutted, “As for what the law should be in Texas, that’s for the State Legislature to decide.”
Whitely asked Cruz why he kept avoiding the question and would not support or oppose abortion rights for rape and incest victims. Cruz, appearing aggravated, said, “I’ve asked Congressman Allred twice about his voting record and the fact that he voted to strike down Texas’ parental notification law and parental consent law. You haven’t asked him about that. He gives language that is disconnected from his actual voting record. I believe in democracy, if Colin Allred does not like the decisions that the state legislator has made, or if he doesn’t like the decision that the governor has made then he is welcome to run for state legislature or run for state governor. But in Congress, neither one of us has a vote, I have not voted to strike down Texas’ law.”
Cruz and Allred did not agree on border control, either. Allred said that in 2003 Former President Trump’s decision to expand the border wall was racist. He added that last year, he stated he actually supported President Biden’s bill on securing our border. Moderator Gromer Jeffers, a political writer for the Dallas Morning News, inquired why he reconsidered. Allred said he does agree with border security and has bills in place that will help Texas secure its borders. “Cruz had 12 years to secure the Texas border,” Allred said. Allred also discussed not demonizing border control, while still assuring border security. The debate continued with more sarcasm from both sides. The senator and congressman did not agree on many issues.
When the economy was discussed, particularly about high insurance premiums for health care and medication, both continued to point the finger. Cruz said the insurance is much better handled at the state level, Allred agreed. Cruz added that Vice President Kamala Harris and Colin Allred caused inflation. He said their spending habits are what caused the inflation, and how Allred voted in favor of President Joe Biden’s ban on new gasoline-powered engines along with other bans which Allred voted in favor of Biden’s agenda.
“He voted in favor for taking $300 billion from Medicare and using it to pay for Kamala Harris’ pet project, using it to pay for health insurance for illegal immigrants. That is driving up the cost,” Cruz said. Cruz promised to lower premiums, make healthcare more affordable and give the consumer a greater choice.
Transgender rights focused on men having access to women’s spaces, such as sports and women’s bathrooms. Although it seemed that they agreed that men should not play women’s sports or be allowed into women’s restrooms with little girls. Allred signed in favor of the Equality Act which is an amendment passed to be added to the Civil Rights Bill that pushes everyone, including transgender people, should be treated equally, and would not exclude transgender from playing women’s sports.
Although it seems Allred agreed on Texas’ stand on some policies, he voted against them. Bring the debate full circle on actions speaking louder than words. Voting in favor of taking billions from Medicare to support non-citizens, causing inflation and voting in favor of amending the Civil Rights Bill, which was in place to protect equality, seemed to backfire and allow men to play in women’s spaces and use women’s restrooms. These are just some issues that will affect Texas. How it will affect Texas will be decided by voters. After the debate, Cruz leads Colin Allred by 4 percentage points within the margin of error.
