(NewsNation) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke clash over issues such as immigration, abortion and guns. in Friday night debate which resulted in some fireworks from both candidates.
Abbott leads O’Rourke with 8% in the poll, and O’Rourke hopes to use the only debate of their race to gain support from the incumbent.
But did anyone really win the debate?
“If you’re a Beto fan, you might think Beto won, and you might be right,” said Leland Vittert of NewsNation. “If you’re one of the 8% more people who plan to vote for Governor Greg Abbott in the election, because he’s a plus-8, you may find no reason in the debate not to vote for him.”
Hill’s political columnist Niall Stanage agreed that O’Rourke might have had a better debate, but said he wasn’t sure O’Rourke “got the knockout” he needed during the debate to overcome Abbott’s lead in the polls.
“Governor Abbott appears to have a steady lead in the polls, it’s definitely a very Republican-leaning state Democrats have been hoping to keep competitive for years and haven’t been quite successful at it,” Stanage said.
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