Cruz, O'Rourke tangle in debate Differences over immigration, border wall spark heated exchange between Democrat, Republican.
Embroiled in an unexpectedly competitive race, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, squared off Friday night for their first face-to-face debate, and sparks flew right from the first question on immigration.
Each candidate accused the other of supporting policies that are out of step with Texans.
“When it comes to immigration, we need to do everything humanly possible to secure the border,” Cruz said. “That means building the wall, that means technology, that means infrastruc
ture, that means boots on the ground. We can do all that and at same time welcome and celebrate legal immigrants.”
Cruz called it “striking” that O’Rourke’s focus “seems to be fighting for illegal immigrants and forgetting the millions of Americans” while disrespecting immigrants who arrived in this country legally.
O’Rourke, from El Paso, said it makes sense to provide a path to citizenship for the millions of peo
ple “working the toughest jobs.”
“We need to bring people out of the shadows, allow them to get right by the law, and, yes, there should be a path to citizenship. The alternative, as Senator Cruz has proposed, is to deport 11 million people from this country. Imagine the cost, imagine the stain on our conscience going forward for generations,” he said.
“I’ll tell you about being out of step with Texas. Senator Cruz has sponsored legislation to have this country build a 2,000-mile wall, 30 feet high, at a cost of $30 billion,” O’Rourke said, adding that the wall would be erected on private U.S. property by using eminent domain.
The candidates returned to repeated themes during Friday’s debate — Cruz trying to portray O’Rourke as a member of the “hard left” bent on upending policies espoused by President Donald Trump, and O’Rourke insisting that he is a resultsdriven pragmatist who is willing to work with both sides to accomplish mutual goals.
They also scrapped over kneeling for the national anthem.
O’Rourke said the practice was a legitimate, peaceful response by black athletes to injustices in the criminal justice system, while Cruz said refusing to stand was disrespectful to millions of veterans who died or placed themselves at risk.
Amid seesaw poll results — just this week, surveys on consecutive days showed Cruz up by 9 points and down by 2 — the first of three hourlong debates was held Friday night at Southern Methodist University in Dallas before an audience of about 240 and aired locally on KXAN-TV.
The next two debates before November’s election will be Sept. 30 and Oct. 16.
Highlighting the high stakes involved, hours before the debate the Cook Political Report — a respected prognosticator of national races — rated the Cruz-O’Rourke contest too close to call.
“Cruz isn’t terribly popular, and while that might not necessarily be a problem is a red state, O’Rourke and his message have generated a great deal of enthusiasm among Democrats and independents, as well as Democratic donors across the country who have filled his campaign war chest,” senior editor Jennifer Duffy wrote.
“O’Rourke has earned this rating, but getting the last couple of points to overtake Cruz and win the seat will be difficult though not utterly impossible,” she concluded.
Cook had previously rated the race “leans Republican,” and Friday’s change to “toss-up” brought a swift response in the form of a Cruz fundraising request.
“Ted is being outraised and outspent by his opponent,” the emailed plea said. “The polls are close. The left is energized. The stakes are high and we need to answer.”
The next two debates before November’s election will be Sept. 30 and Oct. 16.