In an hour-long debate filled with cross talking, incumbent Texas District 34 congressman Vicente Gonzalez and former congresswoman Mayra Flores faced off on topics such as the economy, housing, unemployment and immigration.
Economy
At the top of the debate, which was held Thursday in Harlingen and hosted by CBS 4, NBC 23 and Valley Central, moderator Brian Svendsen said, “In the past year, consumer prices have risen 2.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
Asked what policies they would implement to ease financial strain felt by families in the Rio Grande Valley, Flores replied that, under former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the country had a stronger economy.
“It’s important that we prioritize the needs of the American people and stop spending billions of dollars abroad,” Flores said, adding that policies from the Trump administration should be reimplemented.
She said restaurant servers should not have their tips taxed and raising the minimum wage would put a strain on small businesses.
Flores said that instead of raising the minimum wage, she would focus on bringing “the cost of living down.”
Gonzalez said to reduce financial strain in the Valley, he would go after price-gouging corporations to lower the costs of necessities.
“Meat prices, poultry prices, egg prices are higher than they should be,” he said. “We’ve got to go after corporate price gougers. … It’s the only way to bring inflation down.”
Gonzalez also said a $15 minimum wage should be mandatory to help residents combat high costs of living, adding that anything lower is abuse.
Housing
Moderator Daisy Martinez asked the candidates what they would do to make housing more affordable in the Valley.
Gonzalez cited high material costs as the reason behind high housing costs, while Flores spoke again about overspending abroad.
“We had a shortage of products that couldn’t move around the world as efficiently during COVID,” Gonzalez said. “That’s not happening anymore. We have to go after price gougers. … We are past COVID, and we shouldn’t be charging COVID prices.”
Flores said overspending abroad and money printing needs to stop to put a halt to inflation.
“We’re $35 trillion in debt,” she said. “We have to go back to pre-pandemic spending.”
Unemployment
Svendsen said “unemployment in the Valley remains higher than the statewide average” and asked what each candidate would do to combat that figure.
“I recently got the permits for the two [Liquefied Natural Gas] terminals at the [Port of Brownsville] that will bring high-paying jobs to our region,” Gonzalez replied. “We have 40,000 acres that are ready to build much more industry. SpaceX continues to grow and there are more people, more new industries coming down to South Texas than ever in history.”
Flores did not reply to the question but called out the Democratic Party for its policies.
“The Democrat Party has sent billions and billions of dollars abroad,” she said. “Unfortunately, the policies that the Democrat Party has put in place, the policies that you have put in place, it’s what’s hurting us tremendously.”
Groceries
Frank McCaffrey, NBC 23 news anchor and host of Inside Valley Politics, said the most-asked question from viewers related to the cost of groceries. He said although new government data shows a decrease in grocery costs, many Valley residents report feeling financially strained.
Flores repeated that “we have to stop the overspending and the printing.”
“We’re printing trillions and trillions of dollars and that is devaluing the dollar,” she said. “We need to focus on being more energy independent. We need to drill, drill, drill and that is going to bring the cost down.”
Gonzalez counterclaimed that the dollar “has actually appreciated over the last seven or eight years.”
He said the country needs to produce more food and hold grocers and price gougers responsible.
Immigration
Asked how she would secure the border, Flores replied that U.S. Border Patrol agents need to be allowed to focus on “terrorists” and “traffickers” coming into the country.
“One of the reasons why we have this crisis is because the Biden and Harris administration removed all President Trump’s policies that were working,” she said.
Gonzalez said asylum laws are “antiquated” and must be updated.
“I’ve got, actually, bills that I’ve filed called the Safe Zone Act and it creates safe zones in Guatemala and El Salvador and Panama,” he said. “But these safe zones, asylum seekers must go to those countries and process their asylum claim there … away from our southern border. It takes the pressure off our border and eliminates cartels out of the equation.”
Early voting starts today and runs through Nov. 1.
In a Oct. 2 news release, the City of Brownsville announced that new voting procedures will make Election Day more convenient.
“Registered voters can now cast their ballots at any polling location within the county rather than being restricted to their specific precinct,” the release reads.
The change aims to increase voter turnout, according to the website. For more information about elections, visit sos.state.tx.us.
