Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin speaks to reporters during her first post-election press conference. Credit: Screenshot / Texas Senate

Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin campaigned against Republican efforts to ban THC products and voiced support for recreational cannabis legalization, but she stopped short of pledging to make legalization a priority during a Tuesday press conference, her first since the election.

Instead, Goodwin — much like Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, her Democratic colleague — focused on bipartisanship and her ability to work across the aisle in a Senate that Republicans still control.

“As a Democrat in the legislature for eight years, I have worked collaboratively with the Republicans in the House and the Senate,” said Goodwin, who’s expected to preside over the upper chamber. “So, when you get a bill passed in the House, you still have to work to get it passed through the Senate. I have that experience already of finding common ground.”

Like Hinojosa, Goodwin also named Republicans to her transition team, including former state Sens. Kel Seliger and Tommy Williams.

Goodwin trounced Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick by 6 percentage points on election night in a blue tsunami that gave Democrats every major statewide executive office in Texas in addition to the Texas House.

Although Goodwin campaigned on health care reform and public education funding, the issue that got her the most media attention was THC. During a sit-down interview with the Current before Election Day, Goodwin came out in support of full legalization of recreational cannabis.

That position helped rally support among hemp advocates across the state in response to Patrick’s ongoing war on THC, which he tried to ban three separate times during the previous legislative session. Hemp enthusiasts turned out in support of Goodwin.

Although those attempts were unsuccessful, they left a bad taste in many voters’ mouths — including veterans who consider the state’s limited medical marijuana program too pricey and restrictive.

Even so, Goodwin took a more cautious stance Tuesday when asked whether THC would be included in her Senate agenda for the upcoming 90th Legislative Session, set to start Jan. 12.

“I think we need regulation around THC. I’m not interested in a full ban on THC, but there’s a lot of details to be worked out, and I look forward to working with all of the senators to work out those details,” Goodwin told reporters.

Goodwin’s colleagues in the Texas House, where Democrats now hold a 16-seat majority for the first time in more than two decades, are taking a less cautious approach.

On Monday, the first day lawmakers could prefile bills for the upcoming session, House Democrats offered up at least four pieces of THC-related legislation.

State Reps. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, and John Bucy III, D-Austin, filed a proposal that would allow Texans 21 years or older to possess and transport up to two ounces of cannabis and up to 15 grams of cannabis concentrate. Bucy filed an additional bill that would prevent state agencies and local governments from drug-testing most employees and independent contractors.

Other bills would reduce criminal penalties for marijuana concentrates and expand medical cannabis access to patients experiencing menstrual cramps.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...