(The Center Square) – Arizona’s U.S. Senate candidates took part in their first televised debate Wednesday night, going head-to-head on key topics such as the Southern border, abortion and the economy.
The debate was hosted by the Clean Elections Committee and moderated by Steve Goldstein and Nohelani Graf. Most of the debate time was spent on one of Arizona’s top priorities when it comes to the election – the Southern border.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, more than 12.5 million foreign nationals have illegally entered the U.S., a record number for any administration by a large amount, The Center Square first reported.
Republican Candidate Kari Lake, a former TV anchor endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has been running on a MAGA platform and is in support of Trump’s promise to initiate mass deportation if elected.
“We’ve got 20 million people coming in,” Lake said. “They’re taking jobs, they’re taking housing. This is why nobody can afford housing anymore.”
Lake noted the influx of fentanyl coming over the border in Arizona and said that her solution to this problem is to complete the Trump-era border wall while increasing technology and manpower at the ports of entry.
Her opponent, Ruben Gallego who is currently an Arizona congressman, actually agreed with Lake on this stating that he believes a border wall, increased technology and increased border patrol personnel would help reduce the number of illegal crossings.
However, Gallego pointed out that Lake as well as Trump were not in support of the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act – a bipartisan $118 billion bill that would have expanded detention facilities and hired more border control agents, asylum officers and immigration judges. This bill failed in the Senate after Trump spoke out against it.
“This is something that the border patrol wanted and endorsed,” Gallego said.
He also said that despite Lake’s claims that Gallego wants an “open border,” he has worked to create increased border security during his ten years in Congress.
“In my time in Congress, I have voted and brought thousands of border patrol workers to Arizona,” Gallego said. “I’ve been working for the last two years to make sure that we bring money to our border communities.”
Gallego has also introduced a bill that would track where the money is coming from that bought the fentanyl in order to address the issue before it gets to the United States, but this bill has been shot down by Republicans.
The other major topic discussed was abortion. At this time, Arizona allows abortion up to 15 weeks with exceptions if the woman’s life is in danger. However, there is a ballot proposition that would codify access to abortion up until fetal viability in Arizona’s constitution.
Gallego said that he wants to bring this issue back to the federal level and reinstate a woman’s right to abortion through enacting Roe v. Wade.
“It should be left to the women, the doctors and their families,” Gallego said.
He also emphasized the current struggles that women and girls in the U.S. are facing due to state-level regulations, citing examples of women having to go into sepsis before being able to get an abortion or child rape victims having to travel out of state to get an abortion.
Lake said she believes abortion access should stay under state control, giving Arizonans the opportunity to vote for what they want. However, she did state that as senator she would “never pass a federal abortion ban.”
Additionally, Lake said that she would work to provide more services to pregnant women and mothers to give them more options. She said that they would provide funding and physical and mental health services to women who are struggling with their pregnancy.
“If we are just offering a little bit of help to women, they would choose to have that baby,” Lake said.
When it comes to the economy, the candidates also disagree on what has caused increased inflation and how to address it. Lake blames the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act and illegal immigrants adding to the “supply and demand.”
She also said that she supports Trump’s promises to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and social security.
On the other hand, Gallego blamed the issue on major corporations monopolizing markets. He noted that big companies purchase homes in bulk and rent or sell them at inflated prices. He also noted that grocery store mergers such as the Kroger-Albertsons merger has hurt Arizona.
Gallego said to address this, he proposes increasing the minimum wage to $15 which would be adjusted in line with inflation. Lastly, he noted that under Biden-Harris leadership, the U.S. has seen “increased solvency of medicare” due to negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to control the price of prescription drugs.
At this time, Gallego is polling ahead of Lake in Arizona by seven points, according to Noble Predictive Insights.
