A boisterous, vocal crowd of over 200 people – reminiscent of sports fans watching their favorite football team — watched the final debate for governor of Texas on the big screen at the Angelika Theater Tuesday night. Most of the audience knew that this was a Democratic event and were there to support Wendy Davis.
The debate was moderated by KERA’s Shelley Kofler, while Gromer Jeffers from the Dallas Morning News, Brian Curtis from NBC5, Peggy Fikac from the San Antonio Express-News and Norma Garcia from Telemundo 39, posed questions to the candidates during the one hour segment.
Some in the audience at the Angelika had different motives for attending. Nailan Beal, 19 and soon-to-be first time voter, came as a requirement for a class where she was told to compare and contrast the candidates. Beal explained, “If it wasn’t for this class I probably wouldn’t have even known the election was going on.” While Beal was misinformed in thinking that if Ms. Davis won the election that she would be the first woman governor of Texas (Miriam A. Ferguson was in 1925) there were some very informed attendees at the event as well.
Amanda Delossantos, past president for the League of United Latin American Citizens, Dallas Young Adult Rainbow Council, came to “support Wendy Davis and be around like-minded people.” While the polls have Greg Abbott, the Republican, with a 12.6-point advantage over Davis, according to Realclearpolitics.com, Delossantos hasn’t counted Davis out just yet. She explains, “I think it will take a big push for the Latino vote and Davis needs to address her plan with education tonight. That’s what those of us with families are looking for.”
Education is just one of the topics that was covered during Tuesday’s debate. Ethics, transportation and tollway plans, along with the last minute surprise of the issue surrounding Ebola, were also subjects that dominated this final debate. The debate occurred just hours after federal officials confirmed the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the U.S. was a patient in Dallas, where the debate was held.
The biggest cheer at the Democratic watch party came when Gromer Jeffers began to pose a question to Davis that she would be facing an overwhelmingly Republican legislature, unless Democrats got everything they wanted in November. The audience at the Angelica, who clearly only acknowledged the later part of Jeffers statement where the Democrats “got everything they wanted in November,” missed the rest of Jeffers’ question as the cheers reached an octave that exceded movie theater volume.
As in many debates both candidates over stepped the allotted time limits, both attempted to dodge the hard questions and both deflected to issues in their competitor’s campaigns. However, some of Greg Abbott’s admissions, like “candidly not looking at the math” on homeowner insurance rates, sounded like he stole a page right out of George W. Bush’s worst quotes. Curtis summarized one of Abbott’s answers on education by stating, “So you believe we can create the No.1 education system in the nation by spending below the national average per pupil.” Darlene Ewing, the chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Party, had this to say about Abbott, “The guy graduated from Vanderbilt. He’s not a dummy, but he treated us like dummies tonight.”
Some of the answers Abbott came up with didn’t seem to be good responses to the questions. When Garcia asked a question about how the candidate would address a 10-year-old child about gay marriage, Abbott responded in a way Liz Wally, a Democrat member of the audience, referred to as “the Republican rhetoric.” After he finished, Garcia shockingly stupefied stated, “That’s what you would say to a 10 year-old child?” Abbott just smiled in response almost as if he was confused by his own answer.
Davis certainly did not play the passively female role in Tuesday’s debate, and surprised at least one Republican in the audience with her strong presence. Davis wasn’t afraid to call Abbott out for “not telling the truth,” or “talking out of both sides of his mouth.” Audience member Karla Zemler screamed in the middle of the theater, “Go Shelly, Go!” as Kofler questioned Abbott blatantly why he didn’t know certain things about the audit of Gov. Rick Perry’s Texas Enterprise Fund.
Zemler wasn’t the only vocal audience member on Tuesday night. When the debate reached the point where Davis got an opportunity to ask Abbott a question, Wally spoke over the debate, as if Abbott could hear her and proposed the question she really wanted an answer to, “Will you step down?”
Without surprise Ewing and many others at the Democratic watch party shared this viewpoint that Davis ”kicked his butt. She came out swinging.” With the election being just weeks away, Davis must hope that her performance Tuesday tonight will close the gap in Abbott’s lead.
Greg Abbott or Wendy Davis? Ewing passionately stressed that the important thing that these debates bring to audience members is to “establish distinction among candidates, to show voters there are consequences to their vote.” She continued, “You’re making real choices” that affect real life. The election is scheduled to take place on Nov. 4.
