DEL CERRO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Candidates from the 51st congressional district faced off Monday at the Tempel Emanu-El synagogue in Del Cerro for a debate on a wide range of issues from abortion to homelessness. Rep. Sara Jacobs, the incumbent in the race, spoke to what she plans to do for a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives while flanked by her opponent, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells. The two candidates are polar opposites: Jacobs is a Democrat and Wells is a Republican, both with starkly contrasting views. MORE: Your Local Election Headquarters 2024 Homelessness, a top issue locally, was one of the major points of the debate. Jacobs pointed to her legislative record on the topic, such as co-authoring the "Return Home to Housing Act" on veteran homelessness, as evidence of what she would continue doing in a third term. However, the two candidates disagreed about what needed to be focused on to the root cause of the homelessness crisis. For Jacobs, it is about housing access and affordability. Wells disagreed, saying it has little to do with housing. “Homelessness is 100% about drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues and us turning a blind eye and letting people die on the side of the road,” said Wells. On the topic of abortion, which has been a sticking point in national debates as some conservative lawmakers have called for federal restrictions, Jacobs said she "does not believe that any politician or any government should have the right to make that decision for a family." "That to me is what real freedom means," the representative continued. Wells said he personally considers himself "pro-life," but believes abortion access is not an central concern for San Diego County given California's existing protections for reproductive health care. State law currently allows pregnancies to be terminated up until fetal viability, which is the point where it would be able to survive outside the womb without extraordinary medical intervention. Experts say this usually considered to be around the 21 to 24-week mark. After viability, California only allows for termination if the life of the mother is at risk and the fetus has a low likelihood to survive — a procedure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows is rare, accounting for less than 1% of all abortions nationwide. “California has abortion written into the constitution," the mayor said. "You can have an abortion up until the day of birth. I’m not sure what the issue is." Immigration was also a combative issue between the two candidates during the debate. "We can write it off and say this is no big deal, it’s no different from the Irish or the Jewish coming over in the 1800s," Wells said. "It’s extremely different and we need to wake up and take care of this our we are going to lose this country completely and a lot of us are going to lose our lives." Meet the candidates running for Congress in San Diego County Jacobs retorted, “It sounded like he only wants white immigrants in this country." She went on to say demonizing migrants "like all of our ancestors did" would sow dangerous divisions. Now it is up to the voters of the 51st congressional district to send one of them to Washington, D.C. to represent a large swath of central and east San Diego County. More information about both candidates, including on-air interviews, can be found at FOX 5/KUSI's Election Headquarters. Voting has officially kicked off for San Diegans, with ballot collection beginning at drop boxes and Registrar of Voters office on Tuesday. The final day to vote by mail, drop box or in person in this year's election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.