Vikki Goodwin wasn't exactly a household name when the then-top-ranked Texas Longhorns kicked off their 2026 football season.
But during the Longhorns' first game, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick came out swinging against his Democratic opponent with an ad blitz that used AI imagery of her crowing for more taxes at a UT game. People took notice, including Goodwin, who filed a criminal complaint, but the backlash also came with an unintended benefit: name recognition.
The West Austin Democrat has run a comparatively low-profile campaign against one of the highest-profile Republicans on the ballot in Texas. But polls put Goodwin in an unlikely dead heat with Patrick, riding a wave of dissatisfaction with the GOP nationally and in Texas that could put her in one of the most powerful statewide offices.
Disinformation aside, Goodwin said Patrick's ad got to her because taxation — particularly property taxes — is an issue where she can see eye-to-eye with a lot of Republicans. After the state representative defeated longtime Republican state Rep. Paul Workman in 2018, she was invited to speak at the Lakeway Men's Breakfast Club.
"I was told it is mostly Republican men, that there might be a couple of Democrats in the crowd," she said. "But they still enjoyed what I had to say."
And what did she talk about with those Republican men from Lakeway?
Taxes.
"I can really get in depth on things like property taxes and why they are the way they are, why they're going up," Goodwin said.
Goodwin owns a real estate brokerage in West Austin. She's seen property taxes skyrocket over the last 15 years, and she's argued a boost in public school funding at the state level would help blunt that rise, so Texas school districts won't have to rely as much on taxes.
It's the kind of pocketbook issue Goodwin said Patrick hasn't highlighted this campaign, pointing to his focus on hot-button issues like restricting books in public schools.
"To me, that's a distraction," she said. "We shouldn't be talking about banning books. We should be talking about how we can encourage young kids to learn how to read. Our schools are severely underfunded. Well, he doesn't want to talk about that."
Patrick did not respond to an interview request, but the lieutenant governor has been hitting Goodwin hard in the lead-up to this election. Despite a distinct advantage as an incumbent with name recognition, Patrick has been on his back foot compared to previous election cycles, said pollster Jim Henson with the Texas Politics Project.
"This is an unprecedented level of competition between the two parties in any election over the last 25 years, if not more," he said. "[This is] certainly the most competitive election I've seen since I've been doing this for over two decades."
Henson said Democrats are simply more excited about heading to the polls than Republicans this year. That excitement has been spurred by Democratic state Rep. James Talarico's race against embattled Republican Ken Paxton for the open U.S. Senate seat. That's trickled downballot, and this is arguably the closest competition Patrick's seen in his entire political career.
That's despite the fact that, historically, the lieutenant governor's race isn't top-of-mind for a lot of Texans, Henson said.
"I think it's fair to say the lieutenant governor's office is the most powerful office that most people ... don't think about very much in Texas," Henson said.
Patrick regularly uses the bully pulpit that comes with that powerful office. In campaign ads and speeches, he touts his push in the Senate for property tax cuts, his effort to remove certain books from public schools and his ban of certain THC products.
The state's THC ban is an issue Goodwin has seized on. She said that ban started with Patrick, and many Texans — even ones in his own party — don't agree with banning THC outright.
"I think a lot of people are really angry at what happened, and it is an opportunity," she said. "I believe that we should do what the majority of Texans want us to do as a representative government. We are supposed to be doing what the majority wants."
Goodwin's also seized on the widespread backlash against data centers in the lead-up to Election Day.
Patrick has out-fundraised Goodwin 10 to one — amassing $22 million through September. But Henson said this "unprecedented" election season has been kind to Goodwin, and the political environment has played a huge role. President Donald Trump's approval ratings are at historic lows, and the party in power tends to lose midterm elections. Henson said polls suggest Texas Republicans aren't exactly rushing to the ballot in the same way Democrats are this election.
"Democrats have a lot of wind in their sails. Republicans are seeing a lot of resistance that we typically associate with midterm elections," he said. "[But] it's a very unusual, if not historically tough environment for Republican incumbents and Republican candidates this cycle."
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