Texas midterms: Abbott, Talarico court North Texas voters on safety and border

Governor Greg Abbott and Senate hopeful James Tallarico were both in North Texas vying for voters ahead of the midterm elections. Alex Boye joining us now in studio with a recap of both of their events. Alex, good morning. Good morning. You know, we're just weeks away now from the midterm elections and our Texas politicians are trying to appeal to potential voters. Now, last night, CNN held a live 90-minute town hall in Fort Worth. Voters across the political spectrum asked the first round of questions and participants identified their top concerns, the economy and affordability, democracy and corruption, immigration and education. Tallarico said that he wants to represent all Texans, including those who disagree with him. Here's some of what Tallarico had to say in response to a question about border security. We were told that ICE was going to go after violent criminals, and I support that. If you're an undocumented immigrant and you commit a violent crime, you should be deported immediately. But that's not what they're doing. They're going after Uber drivers. they're going after small business owners they're going after grandmothers and infants i should be focused on going after the cartels not our communities voters then took turns joining Tallarico at the table on stage for a one-on-one back and forth discussion they pressed him on things like abortion the national debt christian values government overreach and voter ID laws now Tallarico's republican opponent Ken Paxton still has not agreed to a debate now newly leaked audio obtained by Rolling Stone magazine allegedly captures the Attorney General warning about his party's chances in the midterms. In the undated recording, Paxton is heard saying that Governor Abbott's campaign was struggling and Republicans could lose seats in the Texas legislature. And on Wednesday, I can tell you that Governor Greg Abbott made a campaign stop here in North Texas in Rockwall about his public safety plan. Now, surrounded by law enforcement leaders, the governor outlined what he would do if reelected. He discussed expanding a program that would target violent repeat offenders, as well as adding more anti-gang centers and keeping a tougher bail system in place. The governor also addressed Flock cameras, which of course we know has sparked privacy concerns in recent months. Here in Dallas, nearly half of the city's Flock cameras have been taken offline after Abbott ordered a pause on state funding. Here's some of what he had to say about the controversial cameras. There are Fourth Amendment issues. there are privacy issues. All this must be taken into consideration. As a result, I've halted state funding for Flock cameras, and we have to dig into exactly what's transpired, why it's transpired, what must be done to fix it. So Governor Abbott said that the state has to get to the bottom of what he calls the misuse and to the root of the privacy concerns before he can give further guidance as to the future of the Flock cameras here in Texas. And Governor Abbott's opponent, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, is planning a debate party in Austin later today. So far, Governor Abbott has not agreed to face her. If Abbott does not participate, Hinojosa has said that the gathering will instead become a campaign rally. Now, a Texas Politics Project poll shows that Democrat candidates for statewide races hold a very slight edge over their Republican opponents. Those leads, keep in mind, are within the margin of error, as has been the case for most of the polling election season. Midterm election day, by the way, guys, November 3rd.