Patrick and Senate Republicans Born Again
as Bipartisan after Colleague Endorses Dem

Capitol Inside
September 11, 2022

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate Republicans appeared to reinvent themselves as old-school bipartisan moderates on Monday when he reminded voters that every GOP member and candidate in targeted races for seats in the east wing are all backing him for re-election at the polls eight weeks from now.

Moving without delay after being branded on Sunday as an extremist by the Senate's only Republican who isn't on the ballot this fall, Patrick announced in an email that he'd also scored an endorsement from State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville as the only Democrat who isn't running again in 2022.

“I’m proud to work with these state senators who share my commitment to the people of Texas and making sure the Lone Star State remains the job creator for the nation, a force in the global economy and a beacon of liberty and freedom," Patrick said in the statement that he tweeted today as well.

Patrick included glowing testimonials from a trio of GOP incumbents who've been rewarded for their loyalty with influential committee chairmanships in State Senators Brandon Creighton of Conroe, Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham and Charles Perry of Lubbock. But neither the lieutenant governor or his allies said a word about the GOP abortion ban, the deregulation of guns, voter fraud, critical race theory, social media censorship or other issues that they championed in 2021 in an attempt to shore up support on the far right.

Patrick didn't mention his role as Donald Trump's state campaign chairman in Texas. The Senate president and his vocal supporters declined to weigh in on claims by GOP colleagues about armed Antifa radicals decked in black as the guardians of drag queen shows for kids here in Texas. None brought up Proud Boys, poll watchers or the possibility of Trump going to jail in the midst of an investigation into the removal of classified documents from the White House. Trump was invisible in Patrick's touting today of the unanimous support he has among incumbent Republicans who expect to return and candidates for the GOP in target contests in the general election on November 8.

Patrick - the most partisan legislative leader in modern Texas history without rival - bragged about the passage of budgets with bipartisan support, record spending on public education and substantial boosts in teacher pay, mental health funding and border security. Perry, the Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee chairman - extolled Patrick's devotion to rural Texas. Kolkhorst, who leads the Health and Human Services Committee, praised Patrick for mental health funding and treating some bills has priorities.

Creighton, who's doing double duty now as the chair of the Education and Higher Education Committees in the Senate, heaped kudos on Patrick for his work in the subject areas that the Montgomery County lawmaker oversees.

“As Chair of Senate Education, I know first-hand that Dan is a true partner to students, teachers, and Texas families," Creighton contended. "He increased spending in public education and increased teacher pay more than any Lt. Governor in history. Dan knows the key to a great education is a great well-paid teacher and involved parents. This session we will work together to pass a parental bill of rights, so their voices are heard and respected.”

Patrick appointed Creighton as the public school panel boss in March as the replacement for outgoing Republican State Senator Larry Taylor of Friendswood. Taylor had been a longtime Patrick ally before he pulled the plug on his support at the last minute in favor of State Rep. Mayes Middleton of Galveston last fall. Neither Patrick or Creighton pointed out the fact that Taylor served as the author of the school funding legislation that both plugged today. Neither mentioned a Teacher Vacancy Task Force that Governor Greg Abbott created early this in the face of an alarming exodus of educators from Texas schools due to poor compensation and threats of criminal charges amid fabricated claims on the infiltration of pornography and CRT in public education here.

None of the Senate Republicans acknowledged the GOP's repeated attacks on local control since Patrick's seized the gavel in 2015. Those were a key reason that veteran Republican State Senator Kel Seliger of Amarillo has endorsed Democrat Mike Collier in his bid to send Patrick packing at the ballot box in 2022.

“In 2017, the Lieutenant Governor made a big pronouncement that he had 30 priorities, 30 legislative priorities," Seliger said Sunday in an interview with the Dallas-Fort Worth ABC affiliate WFAA. " No other Lieutenant Governor had really done something like that.

“I voted against two of them," Seliger, a former Amarillo mayor, added. "And for that, I lost my chairmanship and I lost membership on things like the finance committee, which was a real slap in the face to the people in west Texas. And that’s the way the Senate runs.”

Seliger and Taylor aren't the only Patrick allies who he's chase out of the east side of the statehouse in Austin. The lieutenant governor turned against Republican Craig Estes of Wichita Falls two years ago in a move that paved the way for a blowout defeat in the 2020 primary election.

more to come ...