LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick made a campaign stop in Lubbock on Wednesday, hoping to shore up support ahead of November’s election.
Patrick is seeking his fourth term as the state’s second highest executive official. He was first elected as Lieutenant Governor in 2014. Prior to that, he served in the Texas Senate for eight years.
As the leader of the Texas Senate, the Lieutenant Governor is responsible for the flow of legislation into the chamber. If reelected, Patrick says his first priority come January is affordability through property tax relief. He said lowering the age to get payments frozen is something the Legislature can achieve next session.
“If it’s good enough for Denny’s to say you’re a senior at 55 for a discount on the grand slam breakfast, it’s good enough for us,” Patrick said. “By lowering the senior exemption to 55, it will save the average homeowner about $10,000 to $12,000 in that 55-65 range.”
He also wants to eliminate taxes schools use to pay for maintenance and operations, saying it is too big a burden on homeowners.
“We’re going to eliminate all school M&O taxes for every homeowner in the next two sessions,” Patrick said. “Already, 39% of homeowners do not pay any more school M&O tax in the state when you combine every one. So we’ve proven we can do it. Two more sessions, we’ll wipe it out for everyone.”
Patrick said he’s also focused on the state’s electric grid and infrastructure. He said he has a plan to build more natural gas plants as data centers continue to put a strain on the ERCOT grid.
“We’ve added 12 million people since 2000,” Patrick said. “We’re going to add another 10 to 12 million in another 15 years. So we have to keep up with that infrastructure. And we can’t rely on windmills and solar panels only. It’s been holding, but if we don’t continue to add more natural gas plants and more dispatchable power, we’re going to continue to stress the grid.”
Patrick said that grid strain is something he’s paying close attention to, especially after a recent conversation with ERCOT’s President and CEO, Pablo Vegas.
“He said the grid is under pressure because of data centers. They’re not at the point yet where they can put power back on the grid,” Patrick said. “When Vegas says we got pressure on the grid, my antenna goes up and I want to know why.”
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick made a campaign stop in Lubbock on Wednesday, hoping to shore up support ahead of November’s election.(KCBD Video)
Water and clean energy are key priorities of Patrick’s Democratic opponent, Vikki Goodwin. Goodwin is the current Texas House representative for western Austin, a seat she’s held since 2018.
She attended the protest against data centers here in Lubbock back in July, saying Texas has given too many incentives to data center developers.
“We have this huge incentive for data centers and I want to make sure people understand what the situation is in Texas,” Goodwin said. “We’ve given $1 billion dollars worth of incentives to data centers in 2025 and that could grow to $3-3.5 billion in the coming years.”
Goodwin says Patrick has used his legislative power to serve his donors and enact an “extreme agenda.”
Goodwin trailed Patrick 35% to 42% in an August poll released by the Texas Politics Project. If she wins, she’d be the first Democrat to become lieutenant governor in 27 years and the first woman ever in the role.
“We’ve had Republican control for 30 years; it’s time for change,” Goodwin said. “And I’d love to bring about that change.”
The last day to register to vote is October 5, and early voting begins October 19.
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