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KSAT 12 will broadcast and livestream the debate between Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30 and host a virtual watch party for KSAT Insiders in this article.
The debate at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is hosted by Nexstar Media Group and will have KSAT anchor Steve Spriester as a panelist. The KSAT Insider watch party with live online commenting will start at 6:50 p.m. to allow people time to sign up or log in to their accounts.
Follow along with live tweets from KSAT journalists covering the debate below.
In anticipation of the gubernatorial debate tonight, viewers and readers have shared with us the topics they’re hoping to hear. These include:
Health care (specifically, Medicaid and abortion)
Border and immigration
Economy (specifically, inflation)
Gun rights and Gun control
Property taxes
Education (specifically, curriculum changes and talks about critical race theory)
Uvalde and school safety post-Uvalde
Police accountability
LGBTQ+ rights
Voting rights
Texas power grid
Climate change
What does the Texas governor do? The governor is the chief executive of Texas and is elected by citizens every four years. The governor can sign and veto bills passed by the state legislature, serve as commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces and convene special sessions of the legislature, among other things.
How did Nexstar Media Group arrange the debate? Nexstar Media used a set of criteria to determine which candidates were eligible to participate, including a requirement that a candidate must receive at least 10% support in an established, professionally-conducted, non-partisan poll leading up to the election. The candidates also needed to have raised at least $50,000 in campaign contributions to be eligible. Read more here.
Will there be more debates between Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke? Abbott has said the Sept. 30 debate will be the only one he’ll participate in ahead of the November election. Meanwhile, O’Rourke is pushing for more.
Monday, Oct. 24 – First day of early voting
Friday, Oct. 28 – Last day to apply for ballot by mail (must be received, not postmarked by this date)
Friday, Nov. 4 – Last day of early voting
Tuesday, Nov. 8 – Election Day. Absentee/mail-in ballots must be postmarked or delivered by hand by 7 p.m. Ballots from overseas voters must be received by the 5th day after Election Day. Ballots from members of the armed forces must be received by the 6th day after Election Day.