Appearing at a campaign event in Austin, Republican nominee for Lt. Governor Dan Patrick labeled himself the true pro-business candidate running in November touting dozens of endorsements from business and trade-associations.
Houston Republican State Sen. Dan Patrick started his speech, listing off the number of business associations that support his candidacy.
They include The National Federation of Independent Businesses, The Texas Oil and Gas Association, The Texas Medical Association and a dozen others. All have endorsed Patrick for Lt. Governor and were present during the Austin announcement.
Patrick says that when it comes to who is the pro-business candidate there is no debate. It’s the first major announcement that Patrick has made since the unofficial start of the general election. During the event he also pointed to his Democratic opponent San Antonio State Sen. Leticia Van De Putte’s past vote on tort reform and how that issue affects businesses and medical professionals fearing lawsuits.
Patrick said, “My opponent was one of only four senators to vote against tort reform, one of the most important bills that helped create jobs in this Texas, my opponent would repeal if she could.”
But Patrick’s not the only candidate pointing to their opponents voting record. Here’s Van De Putte’s statewide ad that began airing earlier this month, taking issue with Patrick's vote on school funding.
From the Van De Putte Campaign Ad titled "Twice"-- “Five billion in cuts to schools, 11-thousand teacher jobs. Dan Patrick voted to cut, I voted to protect our schools”
Van De Putte has compared those 2011 cuts to reducing the pool of skilled workers by taking away the money schools need to educate a future labor force. The two face-off at a debate in Austin on September 29. So far it's the only statewide debate scheduled between the two.
