DALLAS -- It was the final showdown.
For an hour Tuesday night, in the last televised debate before voting begins for the July 31 Republican runoff for U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Solicitor General Ted Cruz traded barbs on everything from their character to their campaign ads.It has become one of the nastiest, most well-funded and most-watched races in the country, and the two contenders tried to get the upper hand by challenging each other's campaign ads -- and stances on key issues -- and insisting that the other candidate isn't being honest with voters."With all due respect to Mr. Cruz, this is just one more case when what he just got through saying is not true," Dewhurst said at one point during the Belo-sponsored debate held at the WFAA/Channel 8 Victory Park studio.Cruz said the debate clearly outlined key differences between the two candidates."This evening presented a very clear contrast," Cruz said. "Our campaign from Day One has had a positive campaign focused on the real ... policy issues. The lieutenant governor has unfortunately chosen to run a nasty, personal campaign."Shortly after the debate, in a surprise move, Dewhurst unveiled the latest person to endorse his bid for office, former Senate candidate and former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert.Leppert said he met with both men and spent a long time thinking about their campaigns before realizing he needed to stand behind Dewhurst, a businessman, in this race."We need people who actually understand how the economy works," Leppert said, adding that Dewhurst has run a business and can bring that experience to Washington, D.C. "For far too long, we've put people in Washington who don't understand that."When this Senate race kicked into high gear last year, political analysts expected Dewhurst, the candidate with the most name recognition and most personal dollars to help fund a campaign, to run away with the Republican Party's nomination for the job. But Cruz, a scrappy lawyer and Tea Party darling, not only forced a runoff election, but some recent polls now show him ahead of Dewhurst.The winner of this Republican primary moves on to the November general election and faces the winner of the Democratic primary runoff, which now pits former state Rep. Paul Sadler and Grady Yarbrough and will also be decided July 31.Political observers, who expect the winner of the Republican primary to win the November race, since Democrats haven't won a statewide office in Texas in nearly 20 years, also say that anything could happen in this dead-of-the-summer election that is expected to draw a low turnout.In the May 29 primary, Dewhurst got 44.6 percent of the vote in a nine-way GOP race, to the 34 percent Cruz earned. Early voting starts Monday.Fighting for TexasEach candidate maintained that he would be the best fighter in the U.S. Senate for Texas -- Cruz because he has long fought in the courts for Texas and Dewhurst because of his military experience."I know you've made your legal record the cornerstone of your campaign but contrast that with someone like myself," said Dewhurst, who noted that Cruz may be more eloquent than he is, but there's "a difference between being a debater and a fighter."On Medicaid, Cruz said "it isn't the government's job to provide healthcare for everyone." Dewhurst said the system is broken and "we need to promote jobs" and reduce medical malpractice insurance rates.Cruz criticized Dewhurst for airing campaign ads with "false personal attacks" about his work as an attorney regarding a Chinese tire company charged with intellectual property theft. And he questioned Dewhurst about whether the lieutenant governor has money invested in China -- something Dewhurst said he didn't know. Dewhurst said investments that had been bound in a blind trust had to be taken out during his U.S. Senate campaign, but he hasn't reviewed them all and doesn't know what overseas investments he has. Cruz maintains that Dewhurst has $200 million "shrouded in secrecy."Cruz also took offense at a new Dewhurst ad that links him to Pennsylvania developer Robert Mericle, who was involved in the "kids for cash" scandal.Cruz has said he was involved in a breach of contract case for Mericle, not the criminal case. But he also went on the attack, maintaining that Dewhurst is giving Texans the wrong impression about taxes, claiming the lieutenant governor backed a payroll tax despite saying he hasn't.And he also spotlighted how Dewhurst's staff recently pulled speeches from the state website, including one from several years ago where Dewhurst voiced support for a guest worker program for illegal immigrants.Dewhurst's staff said the speeches are routinely archived and were not removed to hide anything. He also said that anyone who wants a copy of any one of his speeches may simply ask his office and receive one.Dewhurst, who pointed out that it was Cruz who was recently fined by the ethics commission for turning in financial documentation late, said he has not changed his position and has always maintained that there shouldn't be a guest worker program until the border is secure. "This federal government can't do two things at once," he said.He also chastised Cruz for knowing government well enough to know that he was misstating facts and for doing work as an attorney that was simply what his boss wanted him to do.ImmigrationImmigration -- and building a wall to protect the United States' border in Texas -- became an issue when debate moderator Brad Watson said government estimates show that such a wall would cost $7.3 billion.Cruz said he supports building the wall. "I think we need to use every tool possible," he said. And Dewhurst said he supports building a partial wall in some areas along the border where it would be most effective. "I question the benefit of building a fence the entire length of our border," he said.Both men said they are tired of the federal government failing to secure the border; Dewhurst noted that he has spent years advocating for boosting border patrols.Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsley