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Both candidates are former businessmen, but they argued over their plans to recovery from the pandemic, to rebuild and create jobs.

\"What I'll do as governor is build a booming economy as I did before. (I) created a large amount of revenue, I left with a big surplus,\" McAuliffe said, also referencing a Washington Post editorial that said Youngkin's economic plan \"would run our economy into the ditch.\"

The former governor claimed, citing \"independent reports,\" that Youngkin's plan would cut $10 billion from education funds, leading to 43,000 less teachers and cutting $50 million from the commonwealth's law enforcement budget. Youngkin, standing at the podium next to him, could be heard saying, \"Not true,\" while he shook his head.

\"God made me with a big nose, but Terry McAuliffe has racked up so many Pinocchios I'm afraid you can't fit in the building. Everything he's just said is categorically false. The studies he's claiming that had been written weren't even on my plan and if you've read my plan, Terry, you would know that,\" Youngkin said. \"By the way, if Terry McAuliffe is your next governor ... get your checkbook out, because he's gonna have to raise taxes for you. My plan, in fact, recognizes that our economy stalled under his leadership.\"

Abortion

Spurred by the Supreme Court declining to block the most restrictive abortion law in Texas earlier this month, abortion was thrust into the forefront of the Virginia gubernatorial campaign, and on Thursday, it was one of the most contentious moments of the night. The Texas law has a unique -- and controversial -- citizen-enforcement method, essentially outlawing abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks of pregnancy, only giving exceptions to when the life of the mother is endangered.

\"PHOTO:
Steve Helber/AP
PHOTO: Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin, right, gestures as Democratic gubernatorial candidate former Governor Terry McAuliffe, left, listens during a debate at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va., Sept. 16, 2021
>

Youngkin was asked whether he would enact a law, if passed by the state legislature, that banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat was detected, excluding in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is endangered. Despite the moderator pressing, the Republican nominee would not directly answer, but said he is \"pro-life,\" supports all three of the aforementioned exceptions and believes a \"pain-threshold bill legislation would be appropriate.\" That is understood to be 20 weeks post-fertilization, but the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks reproductive health legislation, calls that an \"unfounded assertion.\"

Youngkin cast McAuliffe as \"the most extreme pro-abortion candidate in America today,\" but McAuliffe cast himself as a \"brick wall\" to protecting choice in women's reproductive health.

\"I'll say this again to every woman watching tonight. I will protect your rights, I believe a woman ought to make a decision about her own reproductive rights, and I will support those,\" McAuliffe said. \"I am terrified today about what's happened with the Trump Supreme Court. I am terrified today that they will rollback Roe v. Wade, so ... the only thing I would like to see is enshrining Roe v. Wade in the Virginia constitution.\"

McAuliffe said he supports \"the laws that we have on the books today,\" which only allows a woman to receive an abortion after the second trimester in select circumstances when three doctors agree the woman's life or health is significantly endangered. However, he was asked about a specific proposed bill that would reduce that to just one doctor's opinion. McAuliffe said in rural areas of the state, there often aren't three doctors.

\"That really puts women in rural communities at a real disadvantage. So if they came up with a solution -- and a woman's life has to be in danger, has to be certified -- and if you have a legitimate doctor that says this woman, her life is in danger, of course I would support that,\" he said. \"I'll do anything I can.\"

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