One debate. Two candidates. 38-days until the election. Did anything change?

Y’all-itics: October 1, 2022

Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke spent 57-minutes together in an empty auditorium at U.T. Rio Grande Valley on Friday night in their first and only debate before the November election. There was not a gotcha moment and no memorable soundbite. But the Jasons have some interesting observations about what they watched. They loaded up the Y’all-itics jet and flew down to the border for this one. But why all the attention on South Texas? Politically, this place is more complicated than one might imagine. They also tracked down the top political scientist on the UTRGV campus who explained why this hotly contested tip of Texas matters so much to the two parties. He also explains why it’ll take something much bigger than the Rio Grande Valley to help Beto O’Rourke come from behind and win in November.

GUEST

Professor Clyde W. Barrow, PhD

U.T. Rio Grande Valley

Chair of Political Science Department