Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick makes campaign trail stop in Donna

By RAUL GARCIA JR | The Donna News

A mother and her three boys made a stop to their favorite Donna pizza parlor for dinner. Little did they know their regular Wednesday night at Morans Pizza was going to be extra special.

The dine in area was packed and the tables were filling up because Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was in town to get out the vote and talk politics over pizza.

And talk a little golf.

Patrick made his way introducing himself to Donna local Veterans, city officials and the Donna High varsity golf team.

“He’s the highest ranking elected official I have ever met,” said Kevin Kromer, Donna High Head Golf Coach. “I think it’s an awesome opportunity for the kids. I can’t imagine what it means for the guys. They were all excited about meeting him. I think its awesome for an elected official from Austin to come down to Donna. I dont think he’s met any other golf team in the state.”

Kromer said the Lt. Governor was very cordial and took his time to talk to the team, and let them know he shoots his golf game in the 70s when he plays 12 holes.

Donna Mayor Rick Morales said he made sure he spoke to the Lt. Governor about important ideas to help the city, and ways to bring revenue from the capitol to fund city improvements.

“I’ve meet with him before and I’ve known the Lt. Governor for about eight years,” Morales said. “We talked about the Enterprise Fund. It’s mostly given to companies in the Austin area, and I asked him to consider giving the Enterprise Fund to citys along the border. He said nobody had ever brought up that idea to him.”

Patrick’s stop in Donna was part of his get out the vote campaign for his reelection. Donna was one of 131 Statewide bus tour stops on Patrick’s campaign trail to the Nov. 8 election. Early voting begins Oct. 24 to Nov. 4.