Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick sought to take credit on Wednesday for Donald Trump's election-day forecast for a blowout victory in the presidential race while Governor Greg Abbott falsely claimed that he had a perfect record with the Republicans he supported in races for the statehouse in Austin this fall.
"Every candidate that I backed in Texas House general election races won tonight," Abbott said prematurely in a social media post at 11:29 p.m. on Tuesday.
Abbott might have believed that he wouldn't lose a House race when he went to sleep last night. But the governor and his advisor apparently didn't realize that the candidate he'd vigorously supported in a House race on the border would see a lead vanish during the wee hours of Wednesday morning at the finish line.
But that happened when Democratic State Rep. Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass surged from behind after midnight to beat Republican challenger Robert Garza of Del Rio before sunrise today in House District 74. Morales effectively rendered the governor's late-night gloating
to be inaccurate when he defeated Garza in a rematch by more than 3 points with almost 52 percent of the vote.
Abbott - from a technical perspective - actually suffered two defeats in Texas House battles when Garza and Richardson Republican Steve Kinard are both are included in the mix. Abbott donated $4,773 to Kinard's campaign in September for data. Kinard lost to Democratic State Rep. Mihaela Plesa of Dallas by more than 4 points in House District 70 in Collin County.
But the governor contributed more to Garza for the general election than he gave to any of the other Republicans in competitive races for the Texas Legislature's lower chamber in 2024. Abbott spent more than $203,129 on expenses for Garza's campaign in September and October before pushing the total beyond $266,391 when donations that he made to the HD 74 challenger in the final week before the election are included in the equation.
The GOP wrestled two other House seats in South Texas from the Democrats when Don McLaughlin of Uvalde and Denise Villalobos of Corpus Christi emerged victorious on Tuesday night in open races. Abbott gave substantial sums to both of the Republicans who flipped House seats on or near the border to their party's column in a chamber where the GOP will have an 88-62 edge in 2025 after a net gain of two seats in Tuesday's vote.
As Abbott tried to squeeze into the spotlight with the incorrect assertion on a sweep in House races, Patrick bragged in a post on X about a phone conversation that he had with Trump early Tuesday right before the former and incoming president made a bold prediction on Fox News for an overwhelming victory Patrick said he told Trump he was confident that he'd run the table in the battleground states.
"I didn’t know he would share my enthusiasm on Fox shortly after our conversation," Patrick said. "He had to win then. I was on the hook."
Patrick predicted in an appearance on Fox News two weeks ago that Trump would win somewhere between 297 and 312 votes in the Electoral College based on his performance at the ballot box. Trump had 291 electoral votes late Wednesday afternoon with a shot to push the count to 308 with wins in Arizona and Nevada where he's leading Kamala Harris by margins similar to those he had in other swing states on Tuesday.
It was a great night for Texas and America," Patrick added. "The people rose up against the crazed leftist socialists and their attempt to take over our nation. There will never be a candidate or President like
@realDonaldTrump
again. He will Make America Great Again."
