Goodwin, a Democrat, said the current lieutenant governor pressures senators into falling in line rather than allowing real debate on legislation. She wants senators to see themselves as representatives of their own communities first, not votes to be whipped into a predetermined outcome.
"There would be a huge change in the Senate and the way it operates," Goodwin said.
Goodwin is running against the incumbent lieutenant governor, according to the Rio Grande Guardian. Her pitch centers on process as much as policy, arguing that Texas budget priorities should come out of genuine floor debate rather than top down pressure from the presiding officer.
Senators would gain more room to break from leadership under her approach. For voters, Goodwin is framing the lieutenant governor's race as a question of who actually gets heard in Austin, senators or the person running the chamber.
Goodwin made her comments in Harlingen, hundreds of miles from the Capitol she's hoping to help reshape.