Abbott, O'Rourke spar over immigration, abortion and Uvalde shooting in debate - Eagle Pass Business Journal

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

59% : O'Rourke said he supports raising the age to buy assault-style rifles, red flag laws and universal background checks.
54% : He also said he'd increase the state's share of public education funding to 50% and make corporations pay their "fair share" of property taxes, and he said the legalization of marijuana could create an additional revenue fund for the state.
52% : Abbott touted the $4 billion the state has allocated toward border security, including funding to deploy thousands of National Guard troops and Department of Public Safety troopers to the southern border to apprehend the large number of migrants crossing into the state.
46% : Asked to clarify his position on the confiscation of such rifles, O'Rourke said, "The only place that an AR-15 or an AK-47 makes sense is on a battlefield.""But as governor of the state of Texas, I need to be focused on what we can get done," O'Rourke said, listing off raising the age to buy assault-style rifles, red flag laws and universal background checks as his priorities.
44% : By James Barragán, The Texas TribuneSept. 30, 2022"Abbott, O'Rourke spar over immigration, abortion and Uvalde shooting in debate" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans -- and engages with them -- about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
43% : He said that he would reduce immigration enforcement," Abbott said.
41% : O'Rourke said he would push for a return to abortion statues established by the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that created constitutional protections for access to abortion.
34% : The two candidates also traded barbs over gun control, which became a major issue on the campaign following the deadly shooting of 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school in May.Hours before the debate, a group of about 35 family members of the victims of the Uvalde shooting held a news conference with O'Rourke, announcing their support for him.
27% : On abortion, moderators pressed Abbott on remarks he made months ago, advising victims of rape to seek Plan B, a form of emergency contraception, to avoid becoming pregnant.
26% : They criticized Abbott for not taking action after the shooting and for refusing their call for the governor to call a special session to change gun laws to raise the legal age for purchasing an assault-style rifle from 18 to 21.
19% : Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke clashed Friday night over immigration, abortion and gun control in the only planned gubernatorial debate before the Nov. 8 elections.
5% : Throughout the debate, Abbott tried to depict O'Rourke as an acolyte of Democratic President Joe Biden who would drive Texas to the left and who constantly "flip-flopped" on issues like police funding, immigration and energy policies.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.