Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger Colin Allred impressed in their debate on Tuesday evening, each portraying their opponent as too extreme to serve in the US Senate.

Allred first introduced himself as a fourth-generation Texan with bipartisan experience in Congress before attacking Cruz as a divisive and “most extreme senator” in Washington.

“I’m the exact opposite of Senator Cruz,” said Allred, who also criticized Cruz for vacationing in Cancun during a natural disaster in Texas. “The truth is we don’t have to embarrass our senator. We can get a new one.”

Cruz urged voters to pay attention to the difference between Allred’s words and actions and vowed to reveal his opponent’s “radical” record. Allred will try to cover it up.

“We do a lot in the state of Texas,” Cruz said. “Colin Allred wants to change that. I want to keep Texas, Texas.”

In a fast-paced back-and-forth over abortion, immigration, inflation and other hot topics, the candidates tried to portray themselves as supporters of Texas values ​​and their opponent as dangerous and out of touch.

Tuesday’s hour-long debate, held without an audience at the WFAA studio in downtown Dallas, came at a time when recent polls show Allred, a congressman from Dallas, making significant gains over Cruz. Still, most political handicaps give Cruz a lead three weeks before the Nov. 5 election, and a University of Houston poll released Tuesday showed Cruz leading Allred 50-46.

The debate was broadcast live on WFAA-TV and other TEGNA stations across the state. Jason Whitely, WFAA’s senior political reporter, and Gromer Jeffers Jr., The Dallas Morning News‘ political writers, were moderators.

The first question probed candidates’ thoughts on abortion, specifically whether Cruz supports exceptions for rape and incest.

Cruz avoided stating his position on these specific exemptions, instead saying that the result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision was that the regulations fell back into the control of the states. He rejected Allred’s blaming him for the state’s near-total abortion ban, saying those policy decisions are up to state lawmakers.

“You wouldn’t expect the laws in Texas to be the same as those in California,” Cruz said. “You wouldn’t expect Alabama to be the same as New York.”

Allred has put abortion at the center of his campaign, highlighting cases of Texas women whose health was compromised when they were denied access to the procedure despite pregnancy complications.

He cited several of them in his response to the debate as he vowed to restore protections to Roe and objected to Cruz describing himself as “pro-life.”

Allred said it is not anti-life to deny fertility health care or force a woman to carry her rapist’s baby to term or drive up the state’s maternal mortality rate.

“This is not pro-life, Senator,” Allred said. “So to every Texas woman at home and every Texas family who sees this: Understand that when Ted Cruz says he’s pro-life, he doesn’t mean yours.”

When asked about immigration issues, Allred declined to address his evolution on immigration policy after repeatedly calling a border wall racist and vowing to tear down the wall during his 2018 campaign. Instead, he accused Cruz of treating border communities like a “safari” but doing “worse than nothing” in the Senate, citing his opposition to a bipartisan border deal negotiated this year.

Cruz said Allred voted against a border wall three times, putting him at the top of the Democratic voter list.

“Colin Allred is Kamala Harris,” he said. “Their records are the same.”

When asked if he supported former President Donald Trump’s stated plan to pardon the rioters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Cruz said that anyone who committed acts of violence should be prosecuted and then walked away from it about attacking Allred for crimes.

“Congressman Allred likes to talk about those who committed violent acts on January 6th, but you don’t hear him talk about the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots that burned cities across the country,” Cruz said. “If you commit a violent act you should go to prison and there should be no political favoritism in that regard.”

Allred said Cruz was “hiding in a supply closet” as the mob attacked the Capitol and criticized the senator for objecting to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.

“You can’t be for the Jan. 6 mob and for the officers,” Allred said, looking at Cruz. “You can’t do that. And it’s not funny because you’re a threat to democracy.”

This story will be updated.