The Democrats are wrong on allowing an open border
past which drugs causing great harm and death flow.

from
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/arizona-democrat-mark-kelly-distances-bidens-border-mess/story?id=91161359

Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly distances himself from Biden's border 'mess'
Mark Kelly and Blake Masters faced off in Arizona's Senate debate.

ByLibby Cathey and Alexandra Hutzler
October 7, 2022, 9:36 AM

ABC News' Linsey Davis spoke with 538's Galen Druke about the House and
Senate election forecasts and how th...Read More
PHOENIX -- In the first and likely only debate for the Arizona Senate
race, Democrat Mark Kelly pitched himself to independent voters as
someone who can stand up to President Joe Biden and his own party,
particularly on border security.

"When Democrats are wrong, like on the border, I call them out on it,
because I'm always going to stick up for Arizona," Kelly said in his
opening remarks on stage at Arizona State University's downtown campus
on Thursday. "When the Biden administration refused to increase oil and
gas production, I told him he was wrong," he offered at another point.

The debate between Kelly, his Republican challenger Blake Masters and
Libertarian Marc Victor comes just one week before early ballots are
sent out in a race that could determine which party has majority control
of the Senate next year, as polls show the race is tightening.

"Two years ago, Mark Kelly stood right there, and he promised to be
independent," Masters said in his opening. "But he broke that promise."

Kelly, who won a special election in 2020 by getting more votes in
Arizona than Biden himself, has distanced himself from Democrats'
messaging on immigration amid a record number of arrests or detentions
of migrants at the southern border.

MORE: Senate polls tighten as border, crime grow as issues: The Note
That includes the Biden administration's decision to lift Title 42, a
controversial Trump-era public health order which cut down opportunities
for migrants to make legal claims to avoid deportation during the
coronavirus pandemic.

"When the president decided he was going to do something dumb on this
and change the rules that would create a bigger crisis, you know, I've
told him he was wrong," Kelly said. "So I've pushed back on this
administration multiple times, and I've got more money on the ground."

Kelly called the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border a "mess" and said
he supports some physical barriers at the border.

PHOTO: Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly stands on the stage prior to a
televised debate against his Republican challenger Blake Masters and
Libertarian candidate Marc Victor in Phoenix, Oct. 6, 2022.
Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly stands on the stage prior to a
televised debate against his Republican challenger Blake Masters and
Libertarian candidate Marc Victor in Phoenix, Oct. 6, 2022.
Ross D. Franklin/AP
Meanwhile, Masters emphasized Kelly's record of allegiance to Democrats,
asking Kelly about a vote against a GOP amendment to the Inflation
Reduction Act that would've funded additional 18,000 border patrol agents.

"There are votes that happen in DC that have nothing to do with Border
Patrol agents that have might have the title on it and nothing happens,"
Kelly offered.

Masters called on Kelly to "respectfully resign" if he has truly done
everything he can to secure the border.

During the hour-long debate, the candidates also sparred over the 2020
election, inflation, abortion rights and water security.

Asked if Biden is the legitimately elected president, Masters at first
sarcastically offered, "Joe Biden is absolutely the president. I mean,
my gosh, have you seen the gas prices lately?" before acknowledging
Biden as the "the legitimate president."

But the political newcomer then pivoted into a conspiracy theory about
how the FBI pressured Facebook and other big tech companies to censor
information about Hunter Biden's alleged crimes in the weeks before the
2020 election.

Masters, who said in a campaign ad last year, "I think Trump won in
2020," has softened some stances since beating out four other candidates
in the August primary and conceded under questioning from moderator Ted
Simons of Arizona PBS that he hasn't seen evidence of voter fraud in the
2020 race.

"I haven't seen evidence of that," Masters said, breaking from former
President Donald Trump, who endorsed him over the summer.

Kelly warned that the "wheels" could "come off our democracy" if
candidates like Masters, who he says continue to questioning the
integrity of American elections, win this November.

On abortion -- a hot-button issue in Arizona after a federal judge last
month upheld a 1901 law prohibiting all abortions other than those
necessary to save the life of the mother and mandating jail time for
providers -- the two candidates offered vastly different views.

Kelly answered "of course" when asked if he'd vote to codify Roe v.
Wade, and attacked Masters for his past statements describing abortion
as "demonic" and "religious sacrifice."

"You think you know better than women and doctors about abortion," Kelly
said. "You can think you know better than seniors about social security.
And you think you know better than veterans about how to win a war.
Folks, we all know guys like this, and we can't be letting them make
decisions about us because it's just dangerous."

MORE: How Arizona's abortion ban may affect the midterms
Masters said he's "pro-life as a matter of conscience" with "exceptions"
and falsely accused Kelly of supporting abortion "up until the moment of
birth." He said he would support a federal "personhood law" to ban all
third-trimester abortions -- which Kelly called "code for throwing women
into jail" -- as well as Sen. Lindsey Graham's federal abortion ban
after 15 weeks.

With inflation highest in the country in the Phoenix-metro area, Masters
appeared most comfortable when grouping in Kelly with spending in
Washington.

"Joe Biden is spending like a drunken sailor and at every single
opportunity Mark Kelly just says yes. He can't say no to Chuck Schumer.
He can't say no to Joe Biden," Masters said. "You never have to wonder
which way Senator Kelly is gonna vote."

Early voting starts in Arizona on Oct. 12.

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