The experience is part of what she said makes her confident she can defeat her Republican opponent, Dan Patrick, in a state with a reputation for voting red.

Van de Putte, 59, of San Antonio, spoke to her qualifications Wednesday morning while in town for an editorial board meeting at The Eagle.

The mother of six -- which includes an Aggie graduate -- and career pharmacist said running for lieutenant governor wasn't something she'd planned on, but made the decision when she heard Patrick was throwing his name in the race.

"My one fear was, 'what if they select him?'" she said.

While she didn't shy away from criticizing her Republican opponent, Van de Putte -- who came dressed in a bright blue blazer -- said that, in her experience in the Senate, things didn't get done without bipartisanship.

Many of the most contentious matters, such as water, aren't about "being a Democrat or Republican," she said, but stem from issues between rural and urban communities.

A good portion of the hourlong discussion with Van de Putte centered around the direction she would steer public education if elected.

Van de Putte said she would work to lower the stakes for public schools, teachers and students when it came to accountability testing.

She said teachers are having to gear their lesson plans toward getting students to master tests that cover a broad range of topics instead of helping them conquer the subjects and material they'll need down the road.

As it's set up now, the accountability system is "destroying the love of learning," she said.

Van de Putte said she's also in support of expanding career and technology programs in high schools.

More often lately, she said, she's seeing students from middle-class families who would otherwise seek a post-high school education not do so because their parents aren't able to afford tuition, but they don't qualify for low-income funding.

As a result, she said, she's proposed the "Texas Promise Scholarship Program," which would take $2 billion from the state's Rainy Day Fund to pay for up to two years of community college or technical college for qualifying Texas high school graduates.

The funding would cover up to 45,000 students, Van de Putte said.

Texas needs more than two Tier 1 universities, she said, adding she'd support investing in "research and creativity" in working to make that happen.

When asked about her thoughts on immigration and border security, Van de Putte said she was a strong supporter of putting the resources in the hands of local leaders along the border who were familiar with the area and had the authority to make arrests.

Having members of the National Guard on the border is not an efficient use of resources, she argued. Getting money to law enforcement and prosecutors in the border regions would be a better alternative, Van de Putte said.