BEAUMONT, Texas — Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick stopped in Beaumont Thursday to further his campaign ahead of the midterm elections.
He was rallying for votes during a press conference at Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum.
Beaumont is one of the 130 stops on his election tour.
Lt. Governor Patrick discussed several key issues, such as including the need to improve school safety in Texas.
He wants to supply school districts across the state with $50 million to purchase ballistic shields for police officers, which is in response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde.
Lt. Governor Patrick says this election is more important than ever. He says the soul of Texas is at stake.
"We have Democrats who want to turn Texas into California with their policies that are anti-oil and gas. They would like to kill this industry that was created right here where we stand," he said.
One of the biggest hot button issues has been his response on a recent cease-and-desist letter he received from his Democratic opponent Mike Collier on his latest campaign television advertisement.
In a tweet Tuesday, Collier expressed why he was asking tv stations to take the ad down, calling it false and misleading.
"Our ads are still on the air, no tv station is asked us to take them down because of what we said we stand by and he said it himself in his own words he said Joe Biden policies are my policies are exactly alike there's no day light between us those are his words not mine, " Lt. Governor Patrick said.
Lt. Governor Patrick says this election is more important than ever, with the 254 counties being split between the Republican and Democratic parties.
The lieutenant governor left Beaumont Thursday afternoon and headed to La Porte. His tour ended in Baytown.
Meanwhile, Collier was in Austin Thursday, holding an in-person phone bank to reach voters.
Collier has spent a large part of his campaign focusing on the state power grid.
He has a long history working in oil and gas and has worked with petroleum companies, such as Exxon in Houston.
Collier says he's been endorsed by at least a dozen republican elected officials.
"Partisan politics makes life difficult for them, I mean they're just trying to make sure that we have good roads, law enforcement, make sure the budget makes sense and they hear me come around and we just talk about the numbers and what's it take to have good policy in the state," Collier said.
Collier challenged Patrick for the position of lieutenant governor back in 2018 and lost by five percent.
This is his third time going up against Patrick.
