Red-Flag Gun Laws, Rebuilding After Harvey: Top Moments in Texas Governor's Debate

Abbott is heavily favored to win a second term as governor

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and his underdog Democratic challenger, Lupe Valdez, met in their only debate Friday night, an opportunity Valdez needed badly to try to make a dent in Abbott’s commanding lead in the polls.

Abbott is heavily favored to win a second term as governor in a race that has been overshadowed by the U.S. Senate competition between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his strong opponent U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso.)

The Senate race is close, with O’Rourke trailing Cruz by 4 percentage points, according to a NBC News/Marist poll last month. By contrast, the poll gave Abbott a 19 percent point advantage over Valdez, in a state in which Democrats have not won a statewide election in more than 20 years.

Abbott, 60, the state’s former attorney general, beat Democrat Wendy Davis in a lopsided race for his first term four years ago. 

Valdez, 70, was the first Hispanic woman and the first gay woman to serve as a sheriff in Dallas County, until she resigned to run for governor. The daughter of migrant farmworkers, she grew up in the poorest neighborhoods of San Antonio.

She opposed a year-old Texas law which bans so-called sanctuary cities, signed by Abbott last year, but as sheriff she worked with federal immigration agents, angering some Hispanic activists.

The two were asked about arming teachers and red flag laws -- which provide a way for firearms to be removed temporarily from someone presenting a threat -- immigration, aid for Hurricane Harvey victims, health insurance -- a group of Republican attorneys general led by Texas’ Ken Paxton has sued to strike down the Affordable Care Act -- and the so-called bathroom bill, governing which bathroom transgender people use. The bill, which Abbott announced was on the agenda for a special legislative session last year, failed to pass.

The debate was held at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin. It was produced by Nexstar and it aired on NBC 5 and NBCDFW.com, and in Spanish on Telemundo and Telexitos.

Stopping Gun Violence
Texas had seen two mass shootings recently: 26 killed last year at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, and 10 killed in May at Santa Fe High School.

To try to keep students safer, Abbott supports arming teachers and other school personnel — if they are trained and licensed to carry firearms and if the schools decide that is what they want. It is one of the proposals that came out of three days of roundtable discussions that he convened after the Sante Fe shooting.

“We had these roundtables to talk about very meaningful solutions, saying that never again shall we allow this to happen because schools are a place to learn, not a place for fear,” he said.

Valdez disagreed, saying the defense should not come from teachers, who are already underpaid. Texas invests in fortifying its schools but not in education, she said.

“Teachers should be teaching, not being armed and being the defense,” she said. “I do believe that there should be some defense there but teachers are not the ones. If they wanted to be armed, they should have gone to the military.”

Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate Lupe Valdez discuss whether they support expanding the red flag law to identify persons who are a danger to themselves or others.

Another attempt to curb mass shootings that is already employed in other states are so-called “red-flag” laws or extreme risk protection orders, which allow police or relatives to ask a court to temporarily remove weapons from someone deemed a threat. As part of his school safety plan, Abbott asked Texas legislators to examine whether Texas might benefit from a red-flag law.

Asked whether he would support such a law, Abbott said a concern had been raised that guns would be removed without due process — or a fair proceeding in which the gun owner had an opportunity to be heard.

“I would not support a red flag law that would take guns away from people without due process,” Abbott said.

Valdez again disagreed, saying that a red flag law would provide due process for the gun owner.

“I believe that if you're saying, 'We're not going to do the red flag laws,' then we're okay with people doing harm to themselves and others,” she said. “This is about stopping gun violence.”

Capping Property Taxes
Abbott, when asked about a 10 percent increase over the last decade in the amount of school funding financed by property taxes, said that he would limit the government’s ability to raise property taxes beyond 2.5 percent a year and called for tax appraisers to be elected.

“I’ve talked to Texans across the state of Texas over the past year and they were absolutely fed up with skyrocketing property taxes and they agree that no government should have the ability to tax you out of your home,” he said.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate Lupe Valdez discuss what they would do to lower the property tax burden.

Valdez responded, “First of all we cannot talk about property taxes without talking about education, public education. The governor says he doesn’t want taxes raised but he keeps putting less and less money into education.”

She said the state is pushing the burden of education onto the local communities, forcing them to raise taxes.

“This state needs to pay its fair share,” she said.

Will Abbott Prioritize a Bathroom Bill? 
Abbott said that a “bathroom bill” directed at transgender people was not on his agenda for a second term, but he would not say whether he would sign one if passed by the Legislature.

Texas failed to pass such a bill in a special session called by Abbott last year. It would have imposed restrictions on which bathroom a transgender person could use in schools, prompting objections from business leaders and others.

“I don't believe in laws that start out with fear,” Valdez said. “We need to stop the fear-mongering in our laws and get down to what really matters to all Texans: to have an equal life, to have an equal and fair opportunity in this state instead of just dealing with people that you don't agree with.”

During individual questions, Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott discusses whether Texas should tackle the bathroom bill in the next legislative session.

Rebuilding After Harvey
Valdez criticized Abbott’s actions after Hurricane Harvey saying he had failed to help people still struggling to rebuild.

“He calls a special sessions for bathrooms, but does not call a special session when people are dying,” Valdez said. “The rainy day fund is the biggest savings account in the United States. Governor, it rained.”

But Abbott countered that the state had already spent money for victims from the state budget that will have to be repaid from the fund. During a disaster, the governor does not need to call a special session but has the authority to advance the money, he said.

Harvey, which caused extreme flooding in Houston and the surrounding areas, was responsible for $125 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Abbott said he had also negotiated $30 billion in disaster funds from the federal government.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate Lupe Valdez discuss how to help Hurricane Harvey victims and if the rainy day fund should be tapped.

Paying Taxes on Time
Valdez was asked specifically why she had failed to pay $12,000 in property taxes on seven different properties on time.

She said she had never been delinquent but had made the payments in installments.

“I made decisions, as all Texans have to do — 'Do I pay this bill, that bill or do I just extend the payments?' That's exactly what I did, I extended the payments,” she said.

Abbott responded that not only had he always paid his property taxes on time but was also responsible for the state’s conservative budget.

“As a governor, I've ensured the state of Texas pays its bills on time,” he said.“"I've balanced a very conservative budget to make sure that we live within our means, so that Texas will retain the high triple-A rating that we have.”

During individual questions, Democratic candidate Lupe Valdez discusses why she didn’t pay her property taxes on time.
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