Tonight's debate between Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O'Rourke won't feature a live studio audience — and O'Rourke is blaming the governor for that arrangement.
— the so-called"Heartbeat Bill" — that banned nearly all abortions in Texas months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. He was surrounded by dozens of Texas lawmakers who had championed the legislation.
"The terms of debate were agreed to by both campaigns months ago, and now, at the last minute, Beto doesn't like them," said Mark Miner, the communications director for the Abbott campaign."He's a fraud surrounded by incompetence. Tonight Beto will have to explain his support for defunding the police, open borders and extreme environmental energy policies that will kill hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in Texas.
O'Rourke also suggested hosting the event on a different weeknight, since Friday nights in Texas are usually dominated by high school football games, but Abbott declined that proposal, Evans said. "There are 1,000 seats in that theater, and none of them will be filled tonight because the Abbott campaign declined to have an audience," Evans said.