Republican Ken Paxton, Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza campaign for attorney general
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Labor Day represents the start of the political sprint toward Election Day.
Both the Republican and Democratic candidates for Texas Attorney General stumped for votes in North Texas.
Democrat Rochelle Garza told Dallas County Democrats she's fighting for the children and families of Texas.
In an interview, she told CBS 11 that means consumer protection and abortion rights.
"Abortion rights is on the ballot in November, and a vote for a Democrat, a vote for myself, is a vote for abortion rights," she said.
The state's new law bans most abortions except to save the mother's life.
At the Collin County Republican Party rally in Plano, two-term incumbent Ken Paxton didn't take reporters' questions.
But he told supporters he's fighting to save the State of Texas against what he calls the federal government's efforts to trample over the state's rights.
"I think we've now sued the Biden administration 32 times in less than two years," Paxton said. "And why does this matter? It matters because we are literally fighting for this thing we call the U.S. Constitution."
In a recent Dallas Morning News/UT Tyler poll, Paxton led Garza by two percentage points.
But 25% of those asked said they're either unsure who to vote for or want someone else.
Paxton still faces a trial on state felony fraud charges seven years after he was indicted, and he's reportedly under investigation by the FBI on unrelated allegations of bribery made by his former top lieutenants.
Paxton has denied any wrong-doing and both candidates said their opponents are wrong for Texas.
Garza said, "We're going to let voters know that he does not deserve to be in office, he's not fit for office."
Paxton told supporters, "She would not be supportive of the Texas Legislature, she would not be supportive of the Governor. She would be doing her own thing. I can tell you if they get a foothold whether it's in my race, whether Lt. Governor's race, whatever it is, they will use it to cause trouble for our state."
In addition to the candidates for Attorney General, the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Mike Collier also appeared in Dallas.
He won the backing of Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a Republican who is retiring from office at the end of the year.
In an interview Collier told CBS 11, "I was very pleased and very honored he endorsed my campaign."
Collier said he believes state Republican leaders, including two-term incumbent Dan Patrick, are to blame for high property taxes.
"Dan Patrick always says he's going to bring them down, but they always go up," Collier said. "It's because they aren't honest about it."
In response to the endorsement, Patrick tweeted, "It's no surprise Judge Whitley, who made Tarrant County property taxes among the highest in Texas doesn't get it. People are being taxed out of their homes by big spending local governments. Collier &
Whitley are two-of-a-kind, tax-hiking, big spenders."
Collier acknowledged the DMN/UT Tyler poll that shows he's behind Patrick in the polls by eight percentage points.
But Collier said he believes he can close the gap.
Patrick, who recently began a bus tour across the state, is working to prevent that.
