Schatzline Pivots Back to House Race
after Patrick Picks Different SD 9 Horse
Capitol Inside
June 27, 2025
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick sought to bolster his credentials as a kingmaker on Friday when he endorsed a longtime Republican activist for a Texas Senate opening that a state House member who's a friend and ally had been seeking for the past three days.
Patrick made it clear that he wasn't going halfway in the Senate District 9 race when he issued his "total endorsement" to Leigh Wambsganss of Southlake in a social media post that praised her a leader of the conservative movement in the Lone Star State and Tarrant County in particular. The Texas Senate president spoke as though Wambsganss' election would be a foregone conclusion at the polls in SD 9.
"She will be a great addition to our conservative Texas Senate," Patrick said in a plug on X.
Patrick threw his muscle behind Wambsganss shortly before Governor Greg Abbott called a special election in SD 9 for November 4. She will have the luxury of running as the incumbent in the primary election several months later if she wins the special vote this fall. Keller Mayor Armin Mizani said on Saturday that he's "prayerfully" considering a potential bid for SD 9 as well.
Wambsganss has been a force at the local level as the self-styled leader of the fight against critical race theory in North Texas. Wambsganns' emergence with the Patrick stamp of approval came at the expense of another staunch conservative from the local area where GOP State Rep. Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth entered the competition for SD 9 on Tuesday with considerable fanfare.
Schatzline, fresh off his second regular session, cancelled the Senate campaign on Friday afternoon and announced a bid for re-election in its place as soon as the news broke on Wambsganss as Patrick's candidate in the contest. Schatzline tried to save some face with a post on X that said he'd accomplished his central objective of having a "true conservative" in the field.
But Schatzline assumed he'd have no chance in the GOP primary election nine months from now with Patrick on the Wambsganss bus as the driver from the moment she launched her campaign for SD 9 today.
One of Patrick's greatest assets for the Senate contenders he supports is an aggressive style and proven ability to clear the fields for them or to minimize the competition if they don't run unopposed in the GOP primary. Seven current Senate Republicans won seats with minimal if any opposition after hitching stars to endorsements from the lieutenant governor.
State Senators Pete Flores of Pleasanton, Brent Hagenbuch of Denton, Adam Hinojosa of Corpus Christi, Phil King of Weatherford, Mayes Middleton of Galveston, Tan Parker of Flower Mound and Kevin Sparks of Odessa rode Patrick's support into the upper chamber in recent years.
Patrick has a history of getting out in front of campaigns before they have a chance to stumble. Patrick is the gold-standard when it comes to scaring off potential competition. While Patrick has turned on incumbent allies when he decides he wants to replace them with candidates he likes more.
Schatzline appeared to have little hope for a Patrick endorsement as a Senate candidate after bashing a film incentives measure that the lieutenant governor conceived as a handout to Hollywood liberals. But Schatzline failed to anticipate Patrick as a potential obstacle even though the lieutenant governor has hand-picked more than a half-dozen of the Senate's current Republican members. Or Schatzline could have been presumptuous and thought he'd be the eventual recipient of Patrick's make-or-break support.
The seat opened up this month with Republican Kelly Hancock's abrupt departure from the Senate so he could go to work as acting state comptroller and run for the post next year with Abbott has the marquee supporter.
Wambsganss has served on the Tarrant County GOP Executive Committee for more than 10 years. She's the chief communications officer for Patriot Mobile. Wambsganss has been a force behind the Southlake Families PAC, which has had influential roles in local fights.
Wambsganss vowed to fight to "ensure Texas remains a stronghold for faith, family, and freedom" - and she portrayed herself as a "lifelong conservative leader" - a term when taken literally would mean she was dead.
"I am not a career politician - I'm a battle-tested conservative who gets results," Wambsganss said in a statement on the launch of her campaign for SD 9.
"I don't need a paycheck to fight for what's right - I've been doing it all my life," she added.
more to come ...
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