Dan Patrick narrowly defeated his Democratic opponent, Mike Collier, in his bid for lieutenant governor, allowing him to maintain the ultraconservative direction of the Texas Senate during the upcoming legislative session, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Patrick was consistently polled ahead of him before he won a third term as lieutenant governor of Texas.
This race was the second collision between Collier and Patrick. In 2018, in the last race for lieutenant governor, Patrick beat Collier by 5 percentage points.
The lieutenant governor of Texas plays a huge role in influencing the legislature compared to the second in command in other states. As president of the 31-member Texas Senate, the lieutenant governor has a strong influence over the fate of bills. During his first two terms, Patrick took the already considerable power concentrated in the state’s No. 2 office to another level, pushing opponents out of races and tightening his grip on the Senate.
Patrick’s ascension to the state’s top power broker was unlikely. Baltimore native, former sports broadcaster turned conservative shock jock radio host in the 1990s. Patrick entered the Senate in 2007 as a rabble-rousing outsider and a thorn in the side of chamber leaders. In 2014, he ousted his party’s lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, a member of the party establishment.