Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank and Democratic challenger Jessica Killin on Thursday night clashed over the war in Iran, the federal budget and healthcare when they took the stage in Colorado Springs for a sold-out debate in the race to represent Colorado’s 5th Congressional District.

The debate, which came just over five weeks before general election ballots go out to Colorado voters, gave both candidates an opportunity to offer points and counterpoints on some of the biggest issues facing the district, the state and the country.

Crank, a former radio host and longtime political operative, is seeking a second term in the reliably Republican district, which nearly mirrors the boundaries of El Paso County.

Killin, a U.S. Army veteran and former chief of staff to Doug Emhoff — the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris — criticized H.R. 1, the congressional budget, insisting it delivered tax cuts to billionaires and worsened conditions for working families.

“That bill adds $5 trillion to the debt, and if you feel like your mortgage interest rates are going up, other interest rates are going up on your credit card, you have Jeff Crank to thank,” Killin said. “Regardless of what you want to say about the Medicaid changes, it’s estimated to take 225,000 people off of their healthcare here in Colorado.”

Crank countered that the congressional budget, in fact, delivered tax relief to millions of Americans, pointing to, among other things, the income tax deduction of up to $25,000 on tip income for several years.

“You remember the price of eggs?” Crank also said. “Do you remember groceries? All these things are up. They’re still high. They’re way too high, and we still need to do more. What did we do? We passed the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. We put more money in the pockets of the American people in El Paso County.”

A significant portion of the debate centered on the war in Iran and the welfare of the troops.

Killin questioned President Donald Trump’s decision to enter military operations against Iran. She said Congress should assert its authority under the War Powers Act and must work to define a clear strategy moving forward.

Seeking to put Crank on the defensive, she said Congress had several opportunities to assert its war powers and serve as a check on the president — but that her Republican opponent chose not to.

Crank defended his position, arguing he saw the intelligence that Iran was preparing to attack U.S. troops if the Trump administration did not strike. He said the Democrats would be calling for Trump’s impeachment if he hadn’t acted and U.S. troops suffered casualties as a result of his inaction.

“I’m not going to vote to pull the rug out from underneath our men and women who are deployed and fighting for us in the military by voting against authorization of the War Powers Act,” Crank added.

Expectedly, Killin sought to closely tie Crank to Trump.

Crank pushed back against the Democrat’s assertion that he voted “100% of the time with Trump,” citing instances in which he disagreed with the president on several issues, including water projects and tariffs.

“I haven’t voted with the president 100% of the time, and I don’t agree with the president 100% of the time,” Crank said. “I’ve disagreed with him on mid-decade redistricting, on the veto of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, wildfire and flood disaster relief funding, water project funding in Colorado, Argentinian beef.”

The debate, held at the Pikes Peak Center, was sponsored by The Gazette, Colorado Politics, KOAA and El Pomar Foundation.

Killin surpassed the Republican’s fundraising since she declared her candidacy last summer. An internal poll released last month by her campaign showed the race to be in a statistical tie — within the survey’s margin of error — with Crank leading Killin 45%-44% and 11% undecided.

The candidates, in fact, agreed on more than most anticipated, including that regulations around data centers should be decided by local jurisdictions. They agreed on restrictions on stock trading by lawmakers and they said there should be more oversight on insurers, although they disagreed on exactly how to do that.

For the first time, the National Democratic Congressional Committee and its allies are targeting the CD5 seat, which hasn’t elected a Democrat since its creation in the early 1970s, saying its voters’ rapid shift toward Democratic candidates over the last decade.

Crank won the election two years ago by nearly 14 percentage points over the Democratic nominee, while Trump carried the district’s electorate by a little over 9 percentage points. While both margins were decisive — and outside what’s typically considered a competitive range — the two Republicans posted the closest margins yet for either race in a county considered to be a Republican enclave.

Crank and Killin are scheduled to face off a second time next month at a debate sponsored by the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC.

Colorado Politics reporter Ernest Luning contributed to this story.