Texas State Senator and Democratic Lieutenant Governor nominee Leticia Van de Putte released her first two campaign television ads, one in English and one in Spanish this morning.
In “Twice”, Van de Putte calls out Republican Lieutenant Governor nominee Dan Patrick for the cuts to the education system he supported in past budget sessions:
The ad points to Patrick’s 2011 vote to cut more than $5 billion from public education in Texas. The cuts came on the tail end of the Great Recession, which dramatically lowered state tax collections. Patrick has defended his vote, saying the state had to balance the budget and no choice but to cut spending to do it. Van de Putte voted against the cuts in 2011.
The ad claims Patrick voted “against our kids” again in the 2013 session. Patrick did vote against the 2014-2015 budget which restored part of the education funding cut in 2011. Patrick spokesperson Alejandro Garcia told the Houston Chronicle last month:
“As Chair of the Senate Education Committee and a member of the Senate Finance Committee last session, Senator Patrick voted for an increase in education spending both in committee and on the floor. The final budget changed substantially before final passage and Senator Patrick voted against it for reasons not related to education funding."
Patrick has yet to release a campaign ad during the general election campaign.
The two major party candidates for Texas Governor, Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis, released statewide campaign television ads back in mid-June and early August. Greg Abbott's campaign ad "Contamos" featured both his mother-in-law and sister-in-law, touting Abbott's values in Spanish.
Wendy Davis' campaign ad, "A Texas Story," took a different approach, as a dramatization of an event that occurred in 1993. The ad tells the story of a vacuum cleaner salesman offering in-home demonstrations who raped a young mother. The ad says the victim and her family asked the Texas Supreme Court for the right to sue the vacuum cleaner company. A majority of six judges agreed, but Greg Abbott – then a judge on the state Supreme Court -- and two other judges dissented.
