PHOENIX - Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego accused each other Wednesday of trying to conduct an extreme makeover of who they are - at least for voters.

During their televised debate in the bid for the U.S. Senate, Lake said that Gallego has a record on border security. That, she said, includes deriding the "dumb, stupid border wall.''

"That border wall keeps us safe,'' said the Republican contender seeking to fill the seat being vacated by Kyrsten Sinema. And she said Gallego, a Democrat who has served in the U.S. House for a decade, has supported what she said is Joe Biden's "open border policy.''

"You're going to watch somebody who has tried to reinvent himself,'' Lake said to the TV cameras.

Gallego countered that he does not support an open border, which is why he said he supported a bipartisan plan that would have included funding not just some additional barriers but also technology and additional Border Patrol officers. But he said Lake opposed the measure, which eventually died.

The Democrat, for his part, cited Lake's history of statements on abortion, including one where she said she was "thrilled'' when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 because it would allow Arizona to once again enforce its 1864 law, which made it a crime to perform an abortion except to save the life of the mother. She even referred to that statute as "a great law.''

"This is who Kari Lake is,'' Gallego said. "She has told us what she would do.''

Lake has since said she supports the state's current ban at 15 weeks, one that contains no exception in cases of rape or incest.

But she sidestepped the question of whether she would support Proposition 139, a measure on the Arizona ballot that would provide a specific right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution. Instead, Lake said she will abide by the decision of voters.

Lake, however, did say she believes the Supreme Court made the right decision in 2022, a move that left it to each state to decide what restrictions to place on the right of women to terminate a pregnancy. Gallego, for his part, said it is unacceptable that the question of whether a woman can get an abortion - including in instances of rape or incest - turns on where she lives.

"Now we're going to trust her?'' Gallego said.

"This is the same person that's still lying about winning the 2022 (gubernatorial) election,'' he said. "She's failed the basic test of honesty.''

Lake still has a case pending before the Arizona Supreme Court where she wants another bite at the legal apple, contending that lower court rulings affirming that Katie Hobbs won would be reversed if the justices just give her a chance to introduce new evidence. And if they won't do that, Lake wants the 2022 governor's race rerun in Maricopa County.

And Lake herself brushed aside a question from Gallego whether she really believes that she won the race.

But it was the issue of border security that took up half of the 53 minutes that the two candidates had in their first - and only - debate.

That is not surprising, as the issue is second among Arizona voters in terms of importance, behind only the economy. And Republicans nationwide have sought to make illegal immigration - and crimes they say are linked to those who crossed the border illegally during the four years Joe Biden has been president - a key in winning contested races like this one.

"They've done nothing to secure the border,'' Lake said of Democrats.

As to Gallego, she acknowledged he had introduced a piece of border immigration. But that was a 2015 proposal he co-sponsored to strike the words "illegal alien'' from federal law and replace it with "undocumented foreign nationals.''

"He's more worried about semantics than our security,'' Lake said.

Gallego said he supported the bipartisan plan that he believes would have helped stem the flow of people across the border, a measure that was supported by National Border Patrol Council. It died amid Republican opposition as well as presidential hopeful Donald Trump urging members of his party not to support it.

Lake, he said, "can't explain why she was against that bill,'' Gallego said.

Lake countered that there were good reasons.

"It's because it would codify into law 5,000 people every day coming in illegally,'' she said.

What the legislation would have done is give Border Patrol the authority to summarily remove migrants after a certain number had crossed the border. That was an average of 5,000 a day for a week or 8,500 on any single day.

But Lake said she also was troubled by the fact that the provision, at least at one point, was attached to a $150 billion appropriation "that was going overseas to kill people.''

When that package didn't fly, she said, it was separated out.

"And Ruben Gallego voted to send another $60 billion to Ukraine,'' Lake said. And she pointed out that, after that vote, he and other members of Congress were walking around the House floor with Ukranian flags.

"He sold us out to Ukraine,'' she said. "But he would not help President Trump build the border wall.''

Gallego said that there had been a deal to give Trump money for a border wall in exchange for providing a path to citizenship for "dreamers.'' They are in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, those who arrived in this country as children and under an order by President Biden have been allowed to remain and even work - but with no legal status beyond that.

He said Trump then changed the terms of the deal.

All that relates to campaign promises by Trump to engage in wholesale deportation of people not in this country legally. Lake added her support, saying she is particularly targeting people who came in during the Biden presidency.

"In order to save our homeland, we must send them back to their homeland,'' she said.

Gallego said that it still leaves unanswered whether Lake wants to send back about 530,000 of those with DACA status - about 22,000 in Arizona - as part of all that. She did not provide a direct answer, instead repeating her claim that could have been done if Democrats were willing to deal with Trump.

Gallego said much of this would not be an issue if Trump and some other Republicans had been willing to work on comprehensive border legislation, legislation that Lake opposed "not because it wasn't a good solution'' but that it would have eliminated this as a political issue.

"She needs this talking point,'' he said.

"This is the difference between me and Kari Lake,'' Gallego said. "I actually try to work on things. She just has talking points, just talk and not really know what she's saying.''

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