Lt. Governor Dan Patrick predicted Republicans in Texas will close the gap with Democrats during early voting sometime next week. In an interview with CBS News Texas on Friday, Patrick said,
“The Democrats have the early lead, but we have about 600,000 of the high-propensity voters who haven’t shown up yet,” said Patrick. “So, one of my messages to the Republicans is you need to get off the bench and get out and vote. We’ll probably catch up and pass the Democrats sometime early next week, midweek. We should have a pretty healthy lead when we go into the end of early voting.”
Patrick explained that high-propensity voters are those who have voted in two, three, or four primaries over the past several years. After sounding the alarm for months that Republicans need to turn out for the midterm election, he expressed optimism.
“I believe that Texans will come out,” said Patrick. “I think actually Monday, the Democrats having a big turnout was actually good for us. It woke up some Republicans.” He said Republicans also had a good turnout on Monday, but it wasn’t as large as the Democrats’.
Patrick’s Democratic challenger, Vikki Goodwin, a State Representative from Austin, told CBS News Friday that she’s pleased with the number of voters turning out. Last week, CBS News Texas reported on some long lines of voters at various polling locations, including Keller, Arlington, Fort Worth, and Plano.
Goodwin said that among those were new voters who don’t have a history of voting in the primaries.
“We have seen a huge increase in the turnout numbers, and it’s really inspiring,” said Goodwin. “What we’re seeing is a lot of new voters are showing up. Just digging into the first few days of early voting results, it’s looking good. People are coming out because they do feel like their vote is going to make a difference this time. Sometimes, we see that people feel discouraged as though their vote won’t count. This time is different.”
In a University of Houston poll conducted between October 10-14, Patrick led Goodwin by five percentage points, 47%-42%, while the most recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, conducted between September 25-October 5, showed Goodwin leading Patrick 49%-46%. Goodwin and Patrick are crossing the state, urging supporters to cast their ballots and making their final arguments to voters.
Last week, Goodwin received the endorsement from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and Patrick criticized Goodwin, calling her too radical for Texas.
“She was excited to get Bernie Sanders, crazy Bernie Sanders’ endorsement. Excited,” said Patrick. “What’s Bernie stand for? He’s already on the record saying he wants to take away private insurance from people, health insurance. He’s already on the record he wants to destroy the oil and gas industry. He’s already on the record he wants to raise taxes and eliminate people’s ability to pass anything onto their families after all their years of hard work. That’s who Vikki Goodwin is, and that’s why she’s radical.”
Goodwin told CBS News Texas, “I am happy to have any endorsements of my campaign. I want to make sure that we are supporting all Texans, and I believe the reason that Bernie Sanders endorsed my campaign was because of my healthcare plan. We want to make sure all Texans have access to affordable, quality healthcare. Right now, five million Texans don’t have health insurance.”
She has also criticized Patrick’s close ties to President Trump. “President Trump is very unpopular with the tariffs, with the war in Iran, with everything that he does, the corruption that we see, and so, I think knowing that Dan Patrick is his person here in Texas, that is important for people to understand, because Dan Patrick won’t stand up to Trump,” said Goodwin.
Early voting continues through Friday, October 30. Starting Monday, the polls will remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
Long lines, voting machine problems or other issues at the polls? CBS News Texas wants to hear from you, click here.
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