San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro has offered Dan Patrick, one of the Republican candidates running for lieutenant governor, several dates for debate on the topic of immigration. The debate was spurred by a Twitter exchange between the two men in January.
Castro said he had grown sick of the rhetoric regarding the topic of immigration and singled out Patrick as being "anti-immigrant."
"Dan Patrick is scapegoating immigrants and using fear as a means to try to win votes and try and get elected lieutenant governor," Castro said.
Patrick has been criticized by members of his party, including Hispanic Republicans, for his comment at a statewide debate in Dallas where he called for "stopping the invasion" referring to illegal immigrants.
Patrick quickly replied to Castro on the social media site and the two agreed to debate the issue. So far they haven’t found a date that works.
"We offered three different dates in March, he offered some dates in February," Castro said. "If he wants to debate were going to have to do it in March."
Those March dates would be after the primary election, which political experts say a later public debate wouldn’t be as helpful for Patrick to win votes. But Castro said he is confident Patrick will be around after the March primary.
"I understand why he would want it before the March primary; however, I’m confident he will still be around in a runoff going into May," Castro said.
Castro said some of the rhetoric coming from Patrick campaign isn’t good for the Texas economy. Immigration and border security have become some of the biggest issues for Republican candidates in the lieutenant governor’s race.
