Author: Savannah Behrmann and Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY

Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana and James Lankford of Oklahoma were among more than a dozen Republicans who visited the Rio Grande Valley.

While the Democratic field has grown and shrunk repeatedly in the past few weeks, the stage held only seven candidates — the fewest of any debate so far this cycle.

Health care dominated the first hour of the debate, Julián Castro’s attacks on Joe Biden didn’t land well and Beto O’Rourke was praised by his fellow candidates for the way he talked about gun violence in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting.