MANSFIELD -- State Sen. Wendy Davis and state Rep. Mark Shelton squared off for the last time Thursday, trading barbs on everything from healthcare to ethics.
In their last debate before the Nov. 6 election, the two candidates in the heated race for the state Senate District 10 seat launched their final face-to-face attacks.Davis, the Democrat incumbent, said she had to address a statement from Shelton, a Republican, that as a pediatrician, "no one cares more about healthcare" than he does."He's said it at every one of our debates," said Davis, a Fort Worth attorney. "I just have to say, this is a person who voted to remove over 300,000 women from the only healthcare they had in the state of Texas in this last legislative session. We went from a $111 million investment in women's healthcare down to $37 million. As a consequence of that, women whose only access to healthcare was through family planning clinics which are now closed ... will no longer be able to receive contraceptive care, breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings."My opponent also voted against ... expanding CHIP [Children's Health Insurance Program] ... which would have covered another 80,000 children."Shelton, also of Fort Worth, has said in each of the four debates during the past month -- including Thursday's at the Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, before a standing-room only crowd of more than 150 people -- that he is a pediatrician, that no one cares more about healthcare than he does and that he helps the "sickest of the sick patients."Shelton noted that "access to care is one of the biggest issues in healthcare today" and he said this election is "about jobs and the economy, balancing the budget without raising taxes. It's about priorities."And he repeated that the reason he's running for this office is because he believes people in Senate District 10 want ethical leadership. "This is also about my opponent using her office to enrich herself," he said.Davis and Shelton are locked in a battle for state Senate District 10, which includes part of Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Colleyville and other areas of south and Northeast Tarrant County.This is one of the most watched political fights in Texas, as Republican leaders in Congress and statewide stand with Shelton in an effort to reclaim the district for the GOP and Democrats statewide stand with Davis in her quest to serve another four years in the Texas Senate.In the debate, hosted by the Mansfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the candidates addressed the same issues they have previously, including the state budget, Medicare funding, taxes, the nation's health-care system, public health and more.Shelton repeated his claim that his opponent "has enriched herself with government contracts" and encouraged voters to cast their ballots for him."I'm a supporter of Mitt Romney," he said. "My opponent is a supporter of Barack Obama."Davis said she's an independent voice for residents in District 10."Mark Shelton and others in the state Legislature are listening to voices in Austin, they are listening to the lobby," she said. "When I stand on the Senate floor, it's your voice."Early voting runs through Nov. 2.Online: To see a copy of a sample ballot, go to www.tarrantcounty.com/eVote. For other information call the Tarrant County Elections Center at 817-831-8683.Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsley
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