Historical Debate Held in Rio Grande Valley; Davis and Abbott Go Head to Head for the Valleys

The first gubernatorial debate between candidates Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott, was held on September 19th in Edinburg, Texas. The Texas state senator went up against Texas state attorney general for their first live debate. This has been the first governors debate, sans current governor  Rick Perry, since he was elected to office in 2002 after former president Bush resigned to run for office. Both Davis, and Abbott answered questions that included topics such as border security, education, and the like.

The debate held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance, made history as being the first gubernatorial debate held in the Rio Grande Valley. The debate was broadcasted on television, online, and radio. The debate ran for an hour and each candidate had a chance to answer questions posed by the panel or moderators.

The first topic on the nights debate was about the plans for balance between border security and economic growth. Davis lead the debate with the topic of border security in which she was quoted saying that she supported the surge of “boots on the ground”, enforced by current Texas governor Rick Perry.

She said, “The surge that the governor supported was one that I supported as well because if the federal government will not act to protect our borders, Texas must and will.”

The senators plans are to ensure that our Texas borders have heightened security so that she, “Will work with this community through our tourism fund to help repair the tarnished image that has occurred as consequence [from border violence].” The attorney general rebuttled by saying that secure communities will support economic growth. He also touched on SpaceX’s plans to develop a base here in the Rio Grande Valley.

SpaceX is one of the privately owned space transportation companies which mission has been to reduce the costs of space transport. The Attorney General stated that, “It is important to point out that after those law enforcement officials came here, --that SpaceX announced it was opening operations for an entire new world for business and space exploration right here in the Rio Grande Valley.”

Another hot topic on that night’s agenda was the education system and its future under the new Texas Governor. A recent judgement by Texas District Court Judge John K. Dietz, ruled that the Texas School Funding system was unconstitutional. In this 383 page settlement, the court agreed that the funding structure of the current Texas School system is not properly funded which results in an improper “diffusion” of knowledge in relation to each student. Both the attorney general and the Texas senator had similar plans to rebuild the foundations of education for children. In his supporting answer Abbott stated, “What I want to do is to reinvent educations and school in the state. My goal is to ensure that Texas has the number one-ranked high school[s]...and we do that by focusing on the fundamental building blocks of education.” Both candidates agreed that the Texas education system needs to be re-built from the ground up. In rebuttal, Davis called out on Abbott’s proposed plans on budget cuts for Texas state schools. She said, “As governor, I will make the education of our children a priority and I will fight to make sure that our schools have more resources, not less.”

As for who won the debate that night, it is questionable. The debate continued with both candidates made their arguments for their plans to change the way Texas Government is being run. Each Candidate made their points on topics that have been on the minds of many Texans. However, a recent polling conducted by Real Clear Politics stated that Abbott is the favorable candidate for the governorship. The poll was conducted from May 30th through September 2nd and shows Abbott with a 49.3% of votes which gives him a 12% advantage over State Senator Davis.

This is the first debate between both Davis and Abbott. The second debate will take place in Dallas on September 30th. Both debates are considered crucial in this years November 4th elections for the next Texas state governor.

For more information, questions, or comments on this article, Tina Gomez can be reached at cristina.gomez@dusty.tamiu.edu