McALLEN — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick continued to go on the offensive against his Democratic opponent Mike Collier during a campaign stop here on Wednesday, linking him to the Biden administration and its border “chaos” and spoke of “loners” when addressing school shootings.
During a news conference at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, which is one of the 130 cities where he’s campaigned in less than a month, Patrick mostly hit Collier on immigration and linked him to the Biden administration, which he has recently done in a campaign ad.
On border security, Patrick, who gained notable Democratic support last month from longtime and retiring Democratic state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., believes the GOP is united.
“We as Republicans in Texas — the governor, the lieutenant governor, attorney general, our senators, our house members — we are going to do everything we can within our power, to protect the border, and Texas and America,” Patrick said. “If the other side were to win this election, which they’re not, they would pull all those people off the border and it would be more of Joe Biden’s chaos.”
Collier, meanwhile, has himself picked up some Republican support and on Wednesday, the same day as Patrick’s visit to the Rio Grande Valley, called him a coward in a Texas Democratic Party news release.
“Only a coward wouldn’t debate for the most powerful position in Texas.” Collier said in the statement. “I do not envy Dan Patrick’s task. I wouldn’t debate either if, like Dan Patrick, I had to defend skyrocketing property taxes, underfunded schools, and a broken power grid.”
Patrick didn’t address these topics and when asked if he would debate Collier, he said he didn’t have the time.
“My schedule has been absolutely jam-packed virtually everyday for several months all the way up to Election Day, which is only three weeks from this coming Tuesday so there is not even a day there to debate,” Patrick said.
However, Patrick has taken opportunities on the campaign trail to link Collier to what Republicans have called a border crisis. At the news conference, in response to the FBI reporting low crime rates in the border communities of McAllen and Brownsville, Patrick instead focused on law enforcement and said the low crime rates were “because we haven’t defunded the police on the border.”
“The reason the border is safe is number one our law enforcement including local law enforcement … are doing an incredible job,” Patrick said. “Number two they are getting out of here real quick because this is one place we haven’t defunded the police.”
Media questions shifted to school shootings and gun laws, but Patrick said he would prioritize mental health.
“When I went to school there was kids we called loners … today there are no loners because of the internet. They are all connected to loners like themselves everywhere and they encourage each other on,” Patrick said. “It’s not as simple as taking that gun away two or three years earlier.”
