Election 2022: Lambert wins 4th House 71 term, says more work to do in Austin

It was just the early voting summary in the candidate's hands, but he delivered welcome news at Cypress Street Station 75 minutes after polls were supposed to close Tuesday.

And leave it to former Abilene mayor Norm Archibald to sum up candidate Stan Lambert's big early lead that later turned into his fourth emphatic Election Night victory.

"Where is my mouthpiece? Norm? Norm?" Lambert quipped.

From across the room, on cue, Archibald was ready.

"Stan is walking proud, talking loud and drawing a crowd," Archibald shouted, drawing big applause.

Due to heavy late turnout at some Taylor County voting centers, the first results of Tuesday's general election were late to arrive.

When Lambert announced about 8:15 that he had taken 77% of the early and absentee vote, supporters let out a cheer.

His 3-to-1 advantage looked to be too for much his opponent, Democrat Linda Goolsbee. Turned out, it was.

Lambert earned 30,560 votes in Taylor County to 8,343 for Goolsbee. He won Callahan (4,777 to 452), Jones (4,353 to 588) and Nolan (3,118 to 631), in unofficial totals.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Lambert told the group. "We didn't get to do this two years ago."

He said he was humbled, grateful and privileged to serve three counties to this point, and soon to add Callahan County when the 88th session of the Legislature convenes in January.

Lambert was seeking a fourth two-year term.

Goolsbee was making her first run for political office.

More:House District 71 Race: Here are top issues for incumbent Lambert, challenger Goolsbee

What the winner said

Lambert told his supporters that property tax would front and center in the 88th session, as well continuing to put more funding into public education.

He encouraged those in business to keep spending money because the forecast is sunny for economic growth in Texas.

But Texas also had to look west to its border with Mexico.

"Our border continues to be extremely porous due to the fact that ... the Biden administration and his staff have ignored what's going on. We've been down there. I've been down and I've talked to DPS and I've talked to Border Patrol, and it's not getting any better."

To those who say what goes on at the border doesn't matter in Abilene, Lambert said Tuesday, "Folks, it does."

He cited drugs and trafficking as two issues to deal with.

"We've got to do something to mitigate some of that activity down there," he said, adding the governor has his support in "building some sort of wall."

He paused.

"Those are some of the things we'll be working on, but thank you, thank you, thank you."

Asked later to reflect on taking a big win, Lambert said, "What we kept hearing throughout the last couple of months was is 'You're doing what we asked you to do, you've delivered on some things we asked you to do when you first went down there six years ago.' But there's some things that continue to be problems or issues that continue to rear their head."

Lambert pledged to continue work on those issues.

One is education, he said. The goal remains for the state to contribute 50% toward public school education. Recent efforts have brought that up to 45%, he said.

"So, we have some more work to do, especially the safety issues that are confronting our schools ," he said.

The work ahead includes the border, as he had said earlier.

"We need to make sure we have the resources to keep Texans safe," Lambert said.

Health care and infrastructure remain primary concerns.

Because Texas is growing so fast, "people that are moving here don't bring their health-care dollars, they don't bring their education dollars, they don't bring their road and construction dollars. So, we have to make sure we're keeping up with the growth in Texas as the result of our strong economy," Lambert said.

Lambert led early and absentee voting with 77% of the unofficial vote. He won Election Day voting with 80%.

Overall, Lambert earned 79% of the vote this time around. the percentage was close to what he had in the previous three elections.

He defeated Pierce LoPachin with 81% of the vote in 2016 and twice defeated Sam Hatton, with 78% in 2018 and 79% in 2020.

"I would say (voters) are pleased with the job we're doing. My staff and I are focusing on the issues that are important to rural Texas. They're willing to give me another shot at going down there and work on these issues."

Coming to Election Day, Goolsbee had emphasized four points: Health care, especially in rural Texas; a woman's choice vs. recent abortion decisions, gun safety vs. gun rights; and education.

She drew the full support of Beto O'Rourke, the Democrat who sought to be governor.

Lambert had emphasized the things he mentioned Tuesday evening. He recently spoke at Gov. Greg Abbott's rally in Abilene.

∎ Note: A Reporter-News photographer was not allowed to enter Miguel's, where Goolsbee had her watch party. Management cited media presence as associating the restaurant with a political party.

What the loser said

"Do I sound cheerful?" Goolsbee asked Wednesday morning, laughing.

"I got to thinking, 'Would I do this again?' she continued. "And the answer is yes. I would do it again because my opinions were able to be expressed out loud and in front of people. There were many folks who came up and said, 'Oh, I am so glad to hear you say that, particularly on pro-choice."

Goolsbee graded her effort.

"I didn't do it particularly well," she said, referring to Lambert's margin of victory. "But I was kind of all by myself."

She believed the sanctuary city vote worked against her, drawing more conservative voters to the polls.

"Stan won the election, obviously," she said, but she was pleased to hear an indication that Senate Bill 8 would be reviewed, particularly in regard to getting more medical community input.

"I am glad that he has been listening to the constituents," she said. "It sounded like he's going to kind of be willing to discuss or look at expanding Medicaid. What we are doing now is Texas is paying money to the federal government and it's coming back to Oklahoma."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Lambert wins 4th House 71 term, says more work to do in Austin