In late August, I began my Texas bus tour with the goal to recognize, galvanize, and mobilize rural Texans to keep the Lone Star State red.
The fun has only just begun…continue to check back for more updates from the road!
Check out our most recent video across North and East Texas and finishing at the San Jacinto Monument…
Our last stop was in Baytown at Floyds Mont Belvieu. It was a fantastic tour through East Texas. I met so many wonderful people and ate some delicious food along the way. It has been a privilege to visit communities all across Texas and learn more about our beautiful state.
BAYTOWN, TX
LA PORTE, TX
I started my tour at the Alamo and ended it at San Jacinto. I’m a huge history buff, and I always enjoy it when I get to visit monuments and museums around Texas (and the world) and reflect on the rich history of our country and state. This bus tour has allowed me to do just that.
We then drove over to Beaumont, where I held my press conference at the Spindletop Gladys City — Boomtown Museum. I had a great time with a family I met showing their kids around the museum…we watched the gusher go off together. I want one of those in my backyard but my wife, Jan, would probably disagree!
BEAUMONT, TX
ORANGE, TX
Next, we headed over to Orange for lunch at the Old Orange Cafe. I was able to shake the hand of everyone at the restaurant and several people told me they had already voted for me!
I needed a quick caffeine break and stumbled upon a great cafe in Lumberton, Hard Bean Coffee. Everywhere I went, people came up and said, “I just voted for you!”
LUMBERTON, TX
SILSBEE, TX
We then headed to Wooden Pallets Ltd. in Silsbee, where I got a tour of the facility and spoke with over 100 of their employees. They asked some great questions. I have always enjoyed learning how products are made and I have learned a lot about the lumber business while visiting East Texas.
I started my morning in Woodville before heading over to Colmesneil for a delicious breakfast at the Bulldog Country Cafe. It was great visiting with so many people from the community.
WOODVILLE, TX
JASPER, TX
I finished my evening in Jasper. I ate a delicious meal at Martin’s Mexican Restaurant and stopped at every table to encourage people to go vote. I also ran into a group of golfers from Montgomery County. We prayed together before dinner.
I then met with some of the members from the Jasper County GOP to discuss legislative priorities and why voting in this election is so important.
When I came out to board the bus to head to Woodville, Texas to stay the night, I felt a moment of great peace when I saw the beautiful church stained glass towering above our big bus. We have been all over this state, well over 100 cities in about 3 weeks. As we come to a close in the next week in this campaign, I thanked God for all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way, the great sites, great laughs, great food, and all I have learned on our road trip. And I thanked God for keeping us safe over the many miles we traveled on our bus tour. We’re now only 12 days away from the election. Please be sure to vote if you haven’t already. We will have a record turnout and every single vote is important.
Next, my team and I stopped at the Eaton’s Hardware Store to get supplies to make a minor bus repair. We met the nicest people while in Corrigan.
We needed to fill up the tank, so we popped into a gas station with a Whataburger attached just to say hi to a few more people and get out the vote! As we were filling up the 150 gallon tank with expensive Joe Biden gas, a little girl with her mom at the station was looking at the bus. We took a photo and I gave her a special pin.
CORRIGAN, TX
LUFKIN, TX
The next stop was 58 Music Cafe while in Lufkin – which is a beautiful Texas town. It was great saying hello to a bunch of friendly folks. The mayor and I got a photo in front of the Lufkin sign, as you can see I made the letter “i” to make the photo complete. It’s one of the photo ops in the city for people traveling through…a pretty cool idea.
Next, we stopped for lunch at County Seat Cafe in Groveton – I ordered the Philly cheesesteak, one of my all time favorite foods, and it was the BEST I’ve ever had! There was a great turnout of Republican women who came to show their support.
GROVETON, TX
ONALASKA, TX
The bus was making great time on the road, so I was able to stop at a coffee shop in Onalaska named Moon Does. I had time for a quick game of checkers. I haven’t played in years and forgot how much fun it is. While there, a few Polk County deputies stopped by to say hello. I remember traveling to Onalaska in the spring of 2020 when the area was hit by a tornado. The community has come together to rebuild after that terrible day.
Then, I made my way over to Trinity to tour a local business, the Patriot Trinity Steel Fabricators. I spoke to around 100 hardworking employees about the importance of voting. I also thanked them for their dedication to the job and showing up to the plant every day.
TRINITY, TX
CROCKETT, TX
I started my morning at the Moosehead Cafe in Crockett to rally the community to get out and vote! A lot of great people were there and the decor in the place was fantastic!
I then headed over to Nacogdoches to meet with the Nacogdoches GOP. It was a packed house! Everywhere I go, I meet people who have fled from blue states and moved to Texas. A couple told me they had been driving around the country to find out where they wanted to move, and while they were listening to the local radio station in Nacogdoches, they heard the next day was “Take your Bible to School Day.” They knew they had found their home.
NACOGDOCHES, TX
JACKSONVILLE, TX
In the afternoon, I needed my caffeine fix so I stopped by the Postmasters Coffee Co. in Jacksonville for an iced tea. There was a great crowd of people and the tea was delicious!
Next, I traveled over to Henderson to tour the West Fraser Lumber Mill. It was a sight to see – and especially impressive seeing a huge tree trunk get cut down into several 2x4s!
HENDERSON, TX
TYLER, TX
Afterwards, I headed over to Tyler for a lunch with Senator Bryan Hughes and several others. Then I went to the Historic Aviation Memorial Museum (HAMM) to speak to the local press about early voting, the election, and what my priorities would be for the upcoming session. If you have never been to HAMM, I highly recommend it. They have a wonderful collection and a great display of handcrafted model airplanes made from scratch.
I started my East Texas tour in Longview at HATCO to take a tour of their facilities and meet the employees. HATCO manufactures both Resistol and Stetson hats, and they also make the hats our brave DPS officers wear. They produce around 7-8 thousand hats a week!
LONGVIEW, TX
I was running early for my next stop so I decided to stop by the beach to admire our beautiful coastline. While there, I met several Texans and we discussed the upcoming election. I met two folks from Dallas enjoying the beautiful day — great Republicans. There’s nothing like campaigning on the beach.
I was honored to be with Senator Lucio to end my night on South Padre Island for two great events at the beautiful South Padre Island Birding Center and later on at the beach to help raise money for scholarships for students in need. He was kind enough to present me with his 2022 Texas Legend Award. Senator Lucio, a conservative pro-life Democrat, is working hard in the Valley for my re-election. He’s a great friend.
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX
HARLINGEN, TX