Watch John Cornyn and MJ Hegar debate the pandemic, police reform and voting

Before U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and his Democratic challenger, MJ Hegar, meet for their first official debate, we caught up with each of them virtually to see what they had to say on some of the issues important to Texans.

This is a race the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is targeting, committing at least $1 million to Hegar's efforts to unseat the veteran lawmaker. Hegar, a former congressional candidate and Air Force helicopter pilot, beat state Sen. Royce West of Dallas in a July runoff. Cornyn, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, sits on the Senate Finance, Intelligence, and Judiciary committees.

The Texas Tribune interviewed Hegar on Aug. 28 and Cornyn on Sept. 3, asking each the same set of questions in separate virtual interviews.

In the first video of our 2020 "Split Decision" series, watch the two weigh in on the pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service, police reform and working with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, among other topics.