Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and his Democratic challenger, John Hickenlooper, clashed on familiar topics Tuesday in an hourlong debate that aired primarily in Spanish, in a first for a Colorado Senate race.

The candidates answered questions and lobbed attacks at each other on everything from health care and gun violence to the pandemic’s impact on the Latino community and the Trump administration’s decision to cancel the DACA program.

The debate, taped Sunday at Telemundo Denver’s studios, aired exclusively on the Denver TV station and streamed on its website. The candidates, neither of whom is fluent in Spanish, delivered their remarks in English, which were simultaneously translated into Spanish.

It was the second time the candidates have met this week in a contentious race that could determine which party controls the Senate after the November elections. Gardner has trailed Hickenlooper in every publicly released poll, although recent surveys suggest the contest could be tightening.

The candidates’ first debate was Friday in Pueblo, where Gardner stayed on the attack, mostly jabbing Hickenlooper over ethics issues, while the former two-term governor hammered the Republican for his votes to overturn the Affordable Care Act and his loyalty to President Donald Trump.

The debate that aired Tuesday followed a similar pattern, though the opponents’ exchanges appeared sharper as they stuck more closely to policy differences.

Hickenlooper pointed to his record as governor expanding health insurance to an additional 500,000 Coloradans, bringing coverage to almost 95% of residents. The Democrat contrasted that to more than a dozen times Gardner voted to weaken or repeal the Affordable Care Act and his support for a lawsuit that could end protection for people with preexisting conditions.

Gardner countered that he’s introduced a bill to require coverage for preexisting conditions — a claim Hickenlooper said has been ruled in a fact-check to be “horse excrement.”

On immigration, Gardner touted his work with a bipartisan group of senators — including his Democratic colleague from Colorado, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, whose name Gardner invoked several times — crafting legislation to protect Dreamers, children brought to the U.S. with their undocumented parents, while securing the border.

Gardner also reminded viewers that Hickenlooper once boasted he’d turned over the names of 8,000 undocumented immigrants to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Hickenlooper countered Gardner has been all talk but has failed to deliver on immigration and has stood by silently while Trump antagonizes immigrants.

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, applauded Hickenlooper after the debate. “COVID-19 has hit Colorado’s Latinx community disproportionately, and not only has Sen. Gardner failed to stand up to President Trump, but he has failed to deliver the relief that our families, small businesses, and frontline workers so desperately need,” Gonzales said in a statement.

Joanna Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, declared Gardner had won the debate. “Tonight, Cory Gardner continued to hold John Hickenlooper accountable for his failed record on issues like immigration and health care,” she said in a statement.

“Cory Gardner has been a consistent champion for the people of Colorado, and tonight they saw once again Hickenlooper is ‘not cut out to be a senator.’”

Latino voters could account for roughly 10% of Colorado’s electorate, according to an estimate by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund that projected a Latino turnout of around 280,000 voters in the November election.

The next debate will be 5 p.m. Friday on Denver7.