GOP State Rep Takes Torch from Apathetic
Senator with Trump Toll Road Naming Pitch
Capitol Inside
June 5, 2026
A Texas House Republican from Denton County raised the bar on bootlicking to another record level on Thursday when he took at shot at U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the course of revealing a push to rename a toll road after President Donald Trump in the Democratic stronghold of Dallas.
One of five dozen House Republicans who voted to impeach the GOP's current U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton as the attorney general in 2023, State Rep. Jared Patterson of Frisco said that he plans to file a resolution calling for the conversion of the Dallas North Tollway to the Donald J. Trump Tollway.
While Patterson didn't mention Cornyn by name in a social media post on the Trump toll road proposal, he took a back-handed slap at the veteran senator who was ousted from the post by Paxton in the primary runoff election in Texas last week. Patterson moved swiftly to announce the plan after Cornyn admitted that his own quest to rename a federal interstate freeway after Trump was no longer a priority for him.
"During the U.S. Senate primary, we heard a lot of talk from the losing candidate about honoring President Trump with a named highway," Patterson said on X. "Apparently, the promise only held true when it was politically convenient, and it is no longer a priority based on today’s news. My support for President Trump and the Republican Party isn't tied to a campaign calendar."
Patterson said his measure would give colleagues an opportunity to second his call for the North Texas Tollway Authority to change the DNT name in a tribute to Trump. Patterson appeared undaunted by the fact that millions of residents and travelers would be offended by the proposal for a major roadway in an area where a majority of the voters are Democrats.
Trump lost to Democrat Kamala Harris by 22 points in Dallas County where she received more than 60 percent of the vote in 2024. Former Democratic President Joe Biden and 2016 nominee Hilary Clinton carried Dallas County with 65 percent and 60 percent of the vote respectively in Trump's first two bids for the presidency.
The Dallas North Tollway that Patterson wants to grace with Trump's name connects the central city to the suburbs in Collin and Denton counties. Trump beat Harris with 56 percent of the vote in Denton County in 2024 when he carried Collin County with 54 percent. But when the votes that Trump and Harris garnered in Dallas, Denton and Collin counties combined are calculated together, the Democrat won the area that's laced by the Dallas North Tollway with 52 percent of the vote.
Cornyn hatched a plan to name U.S. Highway 287 after Trump as a desperation Hail Mary in a frantic quest to score an endorsement from Trump for a primary runoff fight with the Texas attorney general in the U.S. Senate race here. Trump was content to let Cornyn think he had a decent shot at securing the endorsement for three months before dishing it to Paxton a week before the overtime vote. Paxton rode the president's blessings to victory with 64 percent of the runoff vote.
But Patterson didn't mention the Trump toll road post whether the polished apple for the president could be as a way to get back in Paxton's good graces after siding with House Republican leaders in 2023 in the vote to kick the attorney general out of office on charges of corruption tied to a mistress and donor.
Patterson had been viewed as a rising star on then-Speaker Dade Phelan's leadership team during his second regular session with the gavel. Patterson served as the chairman of a Select Committee on Protecting Texas LNG Exports in the Phelan House. Current House Speaker Dustin Burrows named Patterson to chair the Local and Consent Calenders Committee in a promotion at the start of his first and only regular session in the dais in 2025.
Burrows and most of the current committee chairs in the House backed Paxton's impeachment on the final weekend of the regular session in 2023 as well. Paxton was acquitted by the Senate Republicans four months later in a trial over which Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick presided.
Paxton vowed to seek revenge against the Republicans who voted for his impeachment by fielding opponents to run against them in the 2024 primary election. But a Republican who'd plan to challenge Patterson in House District 106 backed out in a move that cleared the path to his nomination without first-round opposition. Patterson staved off a challenge from a Democrat in the general election with almost 61 percent of the vote.
Patterson had eyed a race for a Senate seat that was opening up in the part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he's a resident. But Patrick made it clear he would not support Patterson for the open contest - prompting the representative to seek a new term in HD 106 where he was elected initially in 2016.
Patterson, Patrick and Paxton are teammates now on the GOP ticket for the general election in Texas this fall. After meeting with Trump in the Oval Office earlier this week, Paxton said the president would be coming to Texas multiple times for rallies in his fight for the Senate seat in the midst of opposition from Democrat James Talarico in the general election in November.
Patterson expects to run as a heavy favorite in his home district this fall in a bout with Democrat Joe Mayes. But Patterson's vote for Paxton's impeachment could make it difficult to land a place on the stage with Trump at an event for the Senate nominee despite the attempt to take the torch from Cornyn in the ring-kissing movement here. The four-term House member wasn't worried about comparisons to Cornyn with the demeaning post about the Republican who's held the Senate seat in Texas for nearly two dozen years.
"Few places in America better represent the success of President Trump's pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-family agenda than the corridor stretching from Dallas through Collin and Denton Counties," Patterson said in the pitch on X. "The Dallas North Tollway runs through the heart of North Texas — the financial engine of our state — and connects communities that have flourished because of the policies President Trump has championed: lower taxes, less regulation, American energy dominance, secure borders, and economic opportunity.
"Naming this iconic roadway after President Trump would be a lasting tribute to a President whose leadership helped fuel unprecedented growth and prosperity across our region. I look forward to leading this effort — and my commitment is unwavering," Patterson added.
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