Name: Texas Senate debate bares rifts between MJ Hegar, Royce West on fracking, reparations, abolishing ICE
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Texas Senate debate bares rifts between MJ Hegar, Royce West on fracking, reparations, abolishing ICE

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7:52 PM on Jun 6, 2020 CDTAUSTIN — Democratic rivals MJ Hegar and Royce West put slight distance between themselves on such controversial proposals as a fracking ban, racial reparations and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a U.S. Senate race debate late Saturday.Hegar, the decorated Air Force rescue helicopter pilot and former congressional candidate from Round Rock, said she worries that a federal ban on hydraulic fracturing would hurt working families.“We can fix it without having an economic crisis here in Texas,” she said of climate change during the hourlong debate, which aired on 14 Texas TV stations owned by Irving-based Nexstar Media Group.West, who has represented Dallas in the Texas Senate for nearly three decades, though, said he would support a moratorium on fracking — and might back an outright ban, if scientific research confirms grave harm to the water supply.“If indeed it’s harming the water, I would ban it,” he said.The pair met as part of the Texas Democratic Convention, which was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.Both Democrats, who will face off in a July 14 runoff to decide who gets to take on three-term GOP Sen. John Cornyn in November, avoided saying they support the Green New Deal, an ambitious progressive plan to end use of fossil fuels and ameliorate income inequality.But West rebuked Hegar for saying she would disregard political party in deliberations on such legislation.“The issue of climate change is in fact politicized,” he said.Hegar, noting that she has the support of labor unions, said the country would need time to get to full reliance on renewable energy such as wind and solar.“I think climate change is too important to politicize with ancillary social programs that are the sort of programs that I actually might support separately, but that I think when partnered all together do make it a difficult piece of legislation to pass,” she said.Related:On reparations for slavery, West, who is African American and said he’d visited the Ghana site from which the first slave was taken and transported to British colonial America, said he leans in favor. Hegar said she would study it.As for the cost, West emphasized, “We don’t have to do it all at once.”On abolishing ICE, Hegar gave progressives a nod by saying she would consider it. West ducked the question by saying presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, if elected, would come up with a better solution — in part by putting in better leaders at the immigration enforcement agency.After the debate I went down to the Capitol to speak with those protesting police brutality, racism, and the death of George Floyd. Video coming soon. — Royce West (@RoyceWestTX)On most issues, though, such as police brutality, gun control and marijuana legalization, the two Democrats agreed.Both would consider taking away federal funds from police departments that violate people’s civil rights. While both support universal background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons, neither supports mandatory buybacks of such weapons. Both favor legalizing pot, expunging the records of those convicted of possessing small amounts and freeing them from prison if that’s the only reason they’re there.Related:Asked by Dallas Morning News reporter Gromer Jeffers Jr. to raise their hands if they had ever smoked marijuana, both put their arms in the air.Asked if they wanted to elaborate on the circumstances, Hegar replied, “I do not.”West chimed in, “It was a youthful indiscretion.”Hegar noted, “There are plenty of states that have legalized it.”Both Senate candidates said George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day provides an opportunity to improve treatment of minorities. Both said Texas has reopened too fast after being locked down in April because of the coronavirus pandemic.Related:Asked about looting during protests of Floyd’s death, both Democrats condemned it. West said he hopes it doesn’t divert attention from the need for confronting systemic racial bias. Hegar, who was wounded in Afghanistan after Taliban forces shot down her helicopter, denounced the “militarizing” of police, saying it puts civilians into a mind-set of being under threat.On Twitter, Cornyn’s campaign cast both Democrats as “far left” and warned Texans not to discard a veteran Republican who has delivered for the state, especially after disasters such as Hurricane Harvey.“The contrast cannot be starker,” the Cornyn camp tweeted. “Senator Cornyn is Washington’s steady hand … a leader with a strong record of building bridges to reach bipartisan, commonsense solutions to complex issues, and delivering for Texans — especially when disasters strike. The Democrats, on the other hand, went off the Far Left deep end in tonight’s: Ban fracking. Bankrupt Medicare. Raise taxes.”The candidates weren’t talking to Texans, they were pandering to out-of-touch Hollywood &amp; Coastal Elite donors; which is exactly why Texans will vote to keep Senator Cornyn in November.— Cornyn Campaign Rapid Response (@CornynResponse)On March 3, Hegar finished a comfortable first in a 12-candidate Democratic field.She and West, the No. 2 finisher, hope to secure the Democratic nomination before pivoting to a fall campaign against Cornyn, a former state attorney general and Texas Supreme Court justice.A Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll conducted in late April found Hegar leading West among Democrats, 32%-16%. However, 44% were undecided. For that sample, which included independents who lean Democratic, the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.64 percentage points.Just stepped off the debate stage, and I am FIRED UP! 💪Texans are fed up with John Cornyn's lying and bootlicking, and are ready to send him packing.I’m ready for this fight, but I’ll need you with me — who’s in? — MJ Hegar (@mjhegar)Cornyn enters the fall fray with big advantages, such as greater name recognition and more money. He has nearly $13 million in the bank, compared with $1.1 million for Hegar and just more than $120,000 for West.Cornyn led both Hegar and West in hypothetical November matchups, by margins in the low double digits, according to the News-UT Tyler poll. But a high percentage of Texans — 34% — said they were undecided.Related:Receive the latest political news delivered every Tuesday and Thursday from reporters in Austin, Dallas and Washington.By signing up you agree to our

7:52 PM on Jun 6, 2020 CDTAUSTIN — Democratic rivals MJ Hegar and Royce West put slight distance between themselves on such controversial proposals as a fracking ban, racial reparations and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a U.S. Senate race debate late Saturday.Hegar, the decorated Air Force rescue helicopter pilot and former congressional candidate from Round Rock, said she worries that a federal ban on hydraulic fracturing would hurt working families.“We can fix it without having an economic crisis here in Texas,” she said of climate change during the hourlong...

Texas Senate debate bares rifts between MJ Hegar, Royce West on fracking, reparations, abolishing ICE $Texas Senate debate bares rifts between MJ Hegar, Royce West on fracking, reparations, abolishing ICE$

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