The Lone Star State’s Democratic contenders for Governor and U.S.Senate have hit out at their Republican opponents for dodging invitations to debate, as polls suggest the elections will come down to the wire.
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa last week issued a statement attacking Gov. Greg Abbott for ignoring a debate proposed by Nextstar Media Group and Austin local news station KXAN.
“This evening, Greg Abbott and I should be debating about who has a stronger plan for the future of our great state,” Hinojosa said. “Instead, Abbott is hiding from the people of Texas because he is a weak governor that can’t defend his record of property taxes going up 85 percent, hundreds of schools shutting down, and letting data center corporations run roughshod in our communities.”
To date, Abbott has declined or ignored four proposed debates.
Hinojosa’s comments come as James Talarico, Texas’s Democratic Senate candidate, continued to challenge his GOP opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, to a debate.
Talarico released a TV ad which shows the 37-year-old state representative leaving a voicemail for Paxton offering to debate him on generally Republican-friendly Fox News. Talarico then took to social media to repost an article by HuffPost, which reported the network was open to hosting the debate if Paxton accepted.
Paxton declined an invitation to a CNN Town Hall organized by Texas A&M University and scheduled for October 14, alleging the event would be biased.
“No Texan wants to watch James Talarico and two of his fellow far-left activists posing as moderators spew left-wing talking points in a ‘debate,’ or what they would try to turn into a CCP-style struggle session,” a Paxton campaign spokesperson told CBS 11 News, referencing the Chinese Communist Party.
In total, Paxton has turned down five debate opportunities.
As both Republican candidates decline debates, their Democratic challengers continue to gain in the polls ahead of the November election.
An average of polls by RealClearPolitics released last week has Abbott leading Hinojosa in the Governor’s race by 1.8 points, compared to a lead of 3.2 points in the same poll earlier in the month. The same average of polls found Talarico ahead of Paxton by 2.9 points.
In leaked audio obtained by The New York Times, Paxton, when asked whether President Donald Trump was dragging down Republican chances in the midterms, agreed and appeared to suggest the party’s convention in Dallas last month had been a failure.
“So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good,” Paxton said.
(Photo: State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, via Gina Hinojosa for Texas Facebook)