State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, a Democrat from West Austin, is running close to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in polling for the November election, in a contest a veteran Texas pollster calls the most competitive he has seen in more than 20 years, KUT News reported.
No Democrat has been elected lieutenant governor since 1994, which was also the last time the party won any statewide race in Texas. Texas Politics Project pollster Jim Henson called it "the most powerful office that most people ... don't think about very much in Texas."
Goodwin's pitch
Goodwin, who owns a real estate brokerage, told KUT she has watched property taxes climb sharply over the past 15 years and argues that more state money for public schools would ease the pressure on local school taxes.
She said taxes are an issue where she finds common ground with Republicans, recalling a talk to a Lakeway men's breakfast club she was told was mostly Republican.
She accused Patrick of steering away from school funding toward fights over books in schools. "We shouldn't be talking about banning books," she said. "We should be talking about how we can encourage young kids to learn how to read."
She has also campaigned against the state's ban on THC, which she said Patrick started and which many Texans, including some Republicans, oppose, and against the spread of data centers.
