What You Need To Know About The Cruz-O'Rourke Debate Tuesday

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Beto O’Rourke will face off in San Antonio for their second debate Tuesday at the studio of KENS 5, a CBS affiliate. As the country's most contentious midterm race shifts into high gear, O'Rourke has captured countless headlines lately thanks an astonishing $38.1 million raised in three months. The amount, which was raised between July 1 and September 30 and does not include money from political action committees, has only further cemented Texas' race as the most expensive in the U.S. with both candidates having raised $80 million combined. The second costliest race is Massachusetts with $70.6 million.

The debate Tuesday will focus on foreign and domestic policy, topics that have been discussed ad nauseam this election cycle.

During a rally at McAllen Convention Center Saturday, O'Rourke took shots at Cruz and his stance on undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and his support of President Donald Trump's plan to build a border wall.

“Ted Cruz, your junior senator, has vowed to deport every single dreamer," O'Rourke said. "And as you know, those walls, they won’t be built on the international boundary between the United States and Mexico, which is the middle of the Rio Grande river channel. It’ll be built through the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, it will be built through somebody’s ranch, or farm or home, forcing this country to use its power of eminent domain to take its own citizens’ property to construct a wall that by any measure we do not need.”

Cruz, who is leading in the polls by anywhere between five to nine points, has captured conservative excitement following the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

“I actually think the way the Democrats conducted themselves during the Kavanaugh hearings has had a powerful effect in waking up and energizing a lot of Texans and common-sense conservatives of just how extreme and radical the national Democrats have gotten,” Cruz said at a private fund-raiser in Edinburg last week, according to the New York Times.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will hold a rally in Houston Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. for Cruz and fellow Republicans.

The debate between Cruz and O'Rourke can be seen live on the following TV stations, according to the Texas Tribune: WFAA (Dallas), KHOU (Houston), KENS (San Antonio), KVUE (Austin), KCEN (Waco), KAGS (College Station), KYTX (Tyler), KIII (Corpus Christi), KBMT-KJAC (Beaumont), KXVA (Abilene) and KIDY (San Angelo). The debate can also be streamed live below.

The following is a breakdown on where Cruz and O'Rourke stand on some key domestic policy issues, according to ontheissues.org, a non-partisan political voter information organization, and the websites for both candidates. This is not an exhaustive list on there stances; visit the links below, and Cruz and O'Rourke's websites, for more info on their positions.

Gun control

Cruz: Lack of individual right to guns leads to confiscation; 2nd Amendment is ultimate check against government tyranny; enforce gun laws on dangerously mentally ill; assault weapon bans have had zero impact on crime.

O'Rourke: Require background checks for all gun sales to ensure that firearms only get into the hands of responsible, law-abiding individuals; stop selling weapons of war and high-capacity magazines to ensure that firearms designed to kill as effectively and efficiently as possible on the battlefield aren’t used in our schools, our streets, our churches, and our concerts.

Drugs

Cruz: Let's see what happens in Colorado with legalization; lower minimums and mandatory sentencing for drugs; let states be laboratories of democracy on marijuana.

O'Rourke: End the U.S. government’s war on drugs and encourage comprehensive reforms in drug control policies that have had a devastating effect on communities of color; end the federal prohibition on marijuana.

Health care

Cruz: I trust you and your doctors to control your health care; reform FDA to approve foreign drugs faster; don't exempt Congress from ObamaCare, or any law; the left calls it "single-payer," but that's socialized medicine.

O'Rourke: Improving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by stabilizing our insurance markets; guaranteeing continued payments for ACA subsidies that reduce enrollees’ cost-sharing and reimbursing insurers for high-cost individuals; incentivizing insurers to participate in the exchanges, especially in underserved counties.

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Photo by Loren Elliott/Getty Images and Tom Fox-Pool/Getty Images