Dan Patrick and Leticia Van de Putte, Texas Senate colleagues and rivals for lieutenant governor (AP pool photo, Sept. 29 KLRU debate)
Update at 9:45 p.m.: Dan Patrick said his election reaffirms the state’s conservative tilt.
“Texas voters sent a powerful message to the rest of the country – the liberal, Washington-style agenda my opponent so proudly boasted simply has no place in Texas,” he said in a written statement. “Tonight’s decisive victory proves they picked the wrong battleground.”
Van de Putte told supporters that she called Patrick and offered “sincere congratulations on a well-disciplined campaign.” Van de Putte, who didn’t have to give up her Senate seat to run statewide, added that she assured Patrick “I would continue in my public service.”
Update at 8:28 p.m.: Van de Putte has conceded, congratulating Patrick for “running a disciplined campaign.”
In a statement, she thanked supporters and said she looks “forward to continuing to serve my community and this great state.” See note below about how she retains her Texas Senate seat.
“This campaign and my service have always been about securing the future for the next generation, para mis hijos y nietos,” Van de Putte concluded.
Update at 8:16 p.m.: AP has called the race for Patrick.
Original item at 8:08 p.m.: Republican and tea party darling Dan Patrick established a solid lead over Democrat Leticia Van de Putte in Tuesday’s tally of the early vote for lieutenant governor.
With more than 2.1 million early votes counted, Patrick is leading Van de Putte with 56 percent to her 41 percent.
Playing rope-a-dope in the fall contest, Patrick avoided gaffes and lowered his public profile. This was after he ran a highly combative campaign to capture the GOP nomination earlier this year.
But while Patrick coasted through the general election, he didn’t tone down his staunchly conservative views.
Au contraire.
Seizing full advantage of the summer’s influx of unaccompanied children from Central America, the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East and the arrival of Ebola in Dallas, Patrick hewed to his hard line on immigration and border security.
He raised the prospect of Islamic terrorists crossing the Texas-Mexico border in his fall TV ads.
In other ads and his single televised debate with Van de Putte, he also stood firm against abortion, under any circumstance; and for school voucher-like proposals to shake up public schools.
Van de Putte, not well-known beyond her San Antonio base, didn’t raise the big money that fellow state Sen. Wendy Davis did in the governor’s race.
But as Patrick’s senior colleague in the Texas Senate, Van de Putte soon could be in an interesting position: Last year, she drew a four-year Senate term and thus did not have to give up her seat to run for lieutenant governor. If she loses to Patrick, she can sit back and watch him preside — and offer critiques, if she chooses.