Dan Patrick (politician) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dan Patrick
Patrick in 2017
42nd Lieutenant Governor of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office January 20, 2015
Governor	Greg Abbott
Preceded by	David Dewhurst
Member of the Texas Senate from the 7th district
In office January 9, 2007 – January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Jon Lindsay
Succeeded by	Paul Bettencourt
Personal details
Born	Dannie Scott Goeb (1950-04-04) April 4, 1950 (age 75) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jan Rankin ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	2, including Ryan
Education	University of Maryland, Baltimore County (BA)

Dan Goeb Patrick (born Dannie Scott Goeb; April 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host, television broadcaster, and politician. He has been serving as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Texas since January 2015, under Governor Greg Abbott.

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Patrick began his career as a radio and television broadcaster. After forming a chain of sports bars and subsequently going bankrupt, he became a radio host again, this time becoming a conservative commentator. From 2007 to 2015, Patrick was a Republican member of the Texas Senate for the 7th District, which included a small portion of the city of Houston and several Houston-area suburbs located mostly in northwest Harris County.

Patrick defeated three-term incumbent David Dewhurst in the primary runoff for lieutenant governor on May 27, 2014. He then won the position in the fall general election. He was re-elected in 2018 and 2022, defeating Democratic nominee Mike Collier.

Early life

Patrick was born Dannie Scott Goeb in Baltimore on April 4, 1950. He was raised in a blue-collar neighborhood in East Baltimore. He is the only child of the former Vilma Jean Marshall (1926–2016) and Charles Anthony Goeb (1926–2002), who worked at The Baltimore Sun for thirty-one years as a newspaper vendor, before he retired in 1984.

Patrick graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the first member of his family to graduate from college. After graduating and embarking on a broadcasting career, he changed his name from "Dannie Scott Goeb" to "Dan Goeb Patrick" – informally in 1977 and legally in 2004 – to honor his wife's family and brother-in-law.

Broadcasting and business career

Radio and television

Patrick started his first radio job in 1968 at the age of 18. After college, in 1977, he became a television broadcaster at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Patrick later held a similar position at WTTG in Washington, D.C., before he became the lead sportscaster with KHOU-TV in Houston.

As a broadcaster, Patrick got attention through various stunts, such as painting himself blue in support for the Houston Oilers and wearing a large cowboy hat. He became the second most popular TV personality in Houston by 1983, as well as one of the most well-known, though surveys also found that he was one of the most disliked. Patrick's public speaking skills caused him to be nicknamed "the Silver-tongued Devil." Patrick left his job at KHOU in the mid-1980s after failing to reach an agreement with Belo Corporation (which bought KHOU-TV in 1984) for a long-term contract.

Sports bar chain

In November 1983, Patrick and several investors opened one of the first sports bars in the U.S., which they named Dan and Nick's Sportsmarket. The bar did well for a time, due to "the strength of Patrick's personality" and an oil boom in Houston at the time, and they eventually took ownership of five sports bars in the city.

When the oil boom of the mid 1980s ended, Houston's economy went into decline and fiscally damaged Patrick's sports bar chain. In 1986, after the sports bars failed, Patrick filed for personal bankruptcy and in October 1992, discharged several hundred thousand dollars of debt obligation. Patrick, who stated it took him 10 years for he and his family "to regain financial equilibrium," has frequently and openly discussed the ordeal and stated how it shaped him as an individual and conservative.

Conservative talk radio host

Following bankruptcy, Patrick reinvented himself as a conservative talk radio host in the 1990s. He began by buying a four-hour timeslot at AM 700 KSEV (then called KTBT) in the summer of 1987. He originally was a sports radio host, operating out of his remaining sports bar. However, he was able to take over the radio station in 1988, and he switched to politics shortly afterward. He hosted a conservative radio talk show. The program, Dan Patrick & Friends, was broadcast in the Houston radio market on KSEV and in Dallas on AM 1160 KVCE. Initially he broadcast under the pseudonym Dan Scott as a radio host, later changing to the current name at the request of his employer to avoid confusion of Patrick with another anchor at a competing station with the last name of Scott.

Patrick grew successful and influential through his talk radio career. He earned high name recognition. As a talk radio host, Patrick advocated for fiscal conservatism, evangelical Christian values on social issues, and he became a vocal opponent of illegal immigration. He was also known as a populist. Patrick's talk radio career was instrumental to his political rise, including his election and influence in the State Senate and his eventual election as lieutenant governor. One notable decision Patrick made as the owner of a talk radio station was to sign relative unknown Rush Limbaugh for airing on KSEV in 1989 via radio syndication. Limbaugh's success as a national talk show host helped increase ratings of Patrick's radio station.

In addition to radio, Patrick anchored The Patrick Report, a half-hour news program which aired on Houston television station KTBU during 2001. Patrick was also general manager of KTBU. By February 2006, Patrick already owned one radio station. In 2006, Patrick signed a deal to purchase radio station KMGS AM 1160 in Highland Park, Texas (now KBDT). By 2013, Patrick was the majority owner of two radio stations, in Houston and Dallas radio markets. Patrick continued broadcasting after his election as a State Senator, and he continued to own KSEV after his election as lieutenant governor.

Other

In November 2008, Patrick began work to produce The Heart of Texas, a movie based on a real-life story of two families in Simonton, a small Houston-area city. The movie was released the next year on DVD.

Patrick proposed a boycott of Bill Maher's television show Politically Incorrect over controversial statements made by the comedian following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Patrick is also frequently at odds with the Houston Chronicle and announced a boycott of that newspaper in April 2004. He owned a blog called Chronically Biased, which criticized the newspaper.

Early political career

Patrick first considered running for the United States House of Representatives in 2004.

Texas Senate

Patrick at a 2013 press conference on education

Patrick was first elected to Texas State Senate's seventh district in 2006, winning the primary election with 68.8% of the vote and the general election with 69.2% of the vote. His term began on January 9, 2007, with the convening of the Eightieth Texas Legislature.

In the 2010 general election, Patrick was reelected with 86.4% of the vote. He also endorsed Rick Perry for re-election in the 2010 election. Soon after winning re-election, Patrick announced, and subsequently created, a Tea Party Caucus in the Texas state legislature, which at its creation had 48 legislative members.

Patrick obtained passage of three Senate bills during his first session. In the Senate, Patrick actively advocated for a "fiercely conservative agenda." At the time, few of his proposals passed.

W. Gardner Selby, editor of the Austin American-Statesman's "PolitiFact Texas", listed Patrick as third among the top 10 Republican political influencers in Texas. Patrick is also listed in Texas Monthly as one of the state's most powerful players.

In May 2012, acrimony between Patrick and fellow Republican state senator John Carona was widely reported throughout Texas. In an email exchange, Patrick accused Carona of spreading false rumors about Patrick's marriage. Carona denied that. Carona further said to Patrick: "I've never been shy about sharing my dislike and distrust of you. Put bluntly, I believe you are a snake oil salesman, a narcissist that would say anything to draw attention to himself." News reports suggested the feud was motivated by positioning to succeed David Dewhurst as lieutenant governor should Dewhurst have won a seat as U.S. senator in 2012.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education (Chair)
• Committee on Criminal Justice
• Committee on Finance
• Committee on Health & Human Services
• Committee on Intergovernmental Relations
• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Fiscal Matters
  • Subcommittee on Public Education Funding
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding

Lieutenant governor of Texas

2014 campaign

On June 26, 2013, Patrick announced he would challenge incumbent David Dewhurst in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor in 2014. This challenge came despite Patrick's enthusiastic endorsement of Dewhurst in his failed 2012 bid for the U.S. Senate. Patrick stated that while he had been planning on retiring from politics after his Senate term ended, he decided to run for lieutenant governor after Dewhurst failed to end fellow State Senator Wendy Davis's filibuster of Texas Senate Bill 5 and after Senator Jane Nelson refused to run herself.

Patrick led the four-candidate field in the primary with 550,769 votes (41.5%). Dewhurst followed with 376,196 (28.3%); Staples, with 235,981 (17.8%), and Patterson, 165,787 (12.5%). Election watchers did not expect Patrick to get first place. In the runoff election on May 27, Patrick won with 487,829 votes (65.1%), defeating Dewhurst, who had 262,086 votes (34.9%). Patrick's victory was one of several notable primary victories by Tea Party movement-aligned Republicans in the election runoff.

According to Ross Ramsey of The Texas Tribune, Patrick did not shift to the political middle as the general election approached, contrary to what political candidates typically do. On November 4, 2014, Patrick won the general election against his state Senate colleague, Democrat Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, to become the lieutenant governor-elect of Texas. He was swept into office in a Republican landslide that saw the party retain all statewide elected offices for the fifth consecutive election.

2018 campaign

On January 9, 2017, the day before the 85th Texas Legislature began its session, Patrick announced he would run for re-election in 2018. He stated his early announcement was in order to dispel rumors that he would challenge Governor Greg Abbott or U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. Patrick easily won the Republican primary on March 6, 2018, defeating Rockwall City Council Member Scott Milder.

In addition to his own campaign, Patrick was active in endorsing and assisting Republican primary candidates in the Texas Senate, including some challengers to GOP incumbents. Patrick's favored candidates won nearly all the races where Patrick made intraparty endorsements. Later in the year, Patrick donated nearly $175,000 to Texas Senate candidate Pete Flores in a special election; Flores won the election in an upset, increasing Patrick's chances of keeping a three-fifths GOP majority in the Senate after the 2018 elections. Patrick succeeded in maintaining a three-fifths majority in the Senate, though Republican Senator Kel Seliger was considered a possible swing-vote.

In the November 6 general election, Patrick won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic challenger Mike Collier. He won about 51% of the vote against Collier's 46%.

2022 campaign

In the 2022 general election, Patrick again defeated Democratic challenger Mike Collier, winning about 53.8% of the vote to Collier's 43.5%, with an over 826,000 margin.

On January 25, 2023, Patrick told The Texan's reporter McKenzie DiLullo that he would be running for reelection in 2026.

Tenure

Patrick, third from left, attending an October 2017 meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and FEMA officials, on Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery efforts.

Patrick was sworn in on January 20, 2015. Soon after assuming office, the Texas Senate voted to drop the threshold needed to consider a bill from two-thirds to three-fifths, something that Patrick had long supported. Under Patrick, the Senate enforced procedural rules that had long been ignored.

Major legislation that Patrick helped pass during his tenure as lieutenant governor include legalization of campus carry and open carry, a bill allowing pastors to refuse marrying couples if it violates their beliefs, and expanded border security and enforcement measures.

Patrick made legislation prohibiting state or local governments from issuing subpoenas on pastors' sermons a priority in the 2017 session. Governor Abbott signed the bill into law on May 21, 2017.

Patrick made legislation requiring the U.S. national anthem at state-funded events a priority for the 2021 session, along with legislation to protect "election integrity" in Texas. Otherwise, Patrick assumed a low-key profile at the beginning of the legislative session. Following the regular 2021 session, The New York Times described Patrick and Governor Abbott as "the driving force behind one of the hardest right turns in recent state history," with Patrick the more conservative of the two. According to the Houston Chronicle, Patrick "uniquely grasped and wielded the power of the growing right-wing movement in Texas," allowing him to become influential in the state.

During his tenure as lieutenant governor, Patrick became influential in Texas Republican politics. He actively endorsed candidates in the 2022 Republican primaries for the Texas Senate, something described as "unusual" for a lieutenant governor. He reportedly had an influential role in former president Donald Trump's endorsements in Texas elections.

..... Alonzo was placed on administrative leave immediately, and was formally censured by UTMB. The investigation by Texas A&M found no evidence of wrongdoing, and Dr. Alonzo's leave was ended two weeks later. Patrick defended his conduct in an August 2, 2023, op-ed in the Houston Chronicle.

Political positions

Education

Patrick supports increasing the number of charter schools in the state.

In February 2011, Patrick, who at the time was vice chairman of the Texas senate's Committee on Education, spoke in favor of cutting an unspecified number of non-teaching positions from the state's public school districts, citing positions such as "math department supervisors" or "curriculum experts". At the time, Patrick cited a statistic later determined to be misleading by PolitiFact that Texas's 1,200+ public school districts, considered as a group, are the fifth-largest employer in the world.

Patrick has supported placing creationism within the public school curriculum in Texas, despite court rulings that such a policy would violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In 2019, Patrick pushed to increase Texas teachers' paychecks by $5,000.

In 2021, Patrick supported legislation to prevent public schools from requiring that students read writings by prominent civil rights figures, such as Susan B. Anthony, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King Jr., when covering women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement in social studies classes.

In 2022, Patrick pledged to end tenure for new hires at Texas public universities. He also said that he intended to revoke tenure for faculty who teach critical race theory.

Gun laws

Patrick generally supports gun rights.

In 2019, Patrick called for requiring background checks for gun sales between two strangers. Patrick later backed away from this position, instead throwing his support behind legislation to expand gun rights, including constitutional carry.

Illegal immigration

Patrick opposes illegal immigration. As a talk radio host, he reserved some of his "most hard-edged oratory for illegal immigrants." Patrick expressed support for Arizona's SB 1070 immigration enforcement law, and supports passing a similar law in Texas that would allow local law enforcement to ask lawfully-stopped individuals about their immigration status and would make it a state misdemeanor to be present in Texas as an illegal immigrant. Questions arose during the 2014 lieutenant governor's race about the immigration status of one of Patrick's employees, Miguel "Mike" Andrade. Patrick and Andrade offered different recollections about Andrade's employment. The matter was raised by one of Patrick's opponents, Jerry Patterson, who questioned Patrick's declared commitment to halt illegal immigration.

As Lieutenant Governor, Patrick moved to keep National Guard troops sent to the Texas-Mexico border during the illegal immigration surge of 2014 indefinitely, rather than until March 2015, as originally planned. Patrick's 2015 budget in the Texas Senate called for spending $815 million on border security, which he said was more than the previous seven years combined. Governor Greg Abbott signed the measure—for about $800 million—into law. In a June 2018 interview on Fox Business Network, Patrick estimated that 30 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S.

Voting rights

In 2020, Patrick referred to vote-by-mail expansion efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic as a "scam by Democrats to steal the election."

In 2021, Patrick presided over the passage of legislation in the Texas Senate that restricted voting rights, including prohibiting local boards from sending applications for mail-in ballots to voters.

In 2022, Patrick's campaign sent out a mass mailing to Republican voters across Texas with inaccurate instructions on how to send requests for absentee ballots. The mailing included return envelopes that were addressed to the Texas secretary of state's address when they should have been to local election offices. Patrick's campaign defended the inaccurate instructions, saying it "gave voters an added layer of comfort" not to have to mail sent to "Blue County election officials."

Domestic partner benefits

In November 2012, Patrick asked then-Texas attorney general Greg Abbott's office to issue an opinion on the constitutionality of government entities providing domestic partner insurance benefits. An amendment to the Texas Constitution in 2005 limits marriage to heterosexual relationships and prohibits similar, alternative legal arrangements. Patrick did not disclose his own views on same-sex marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples. He told the Houston Chronicle that his request was prompted by Dallas County's November 2012 decision and an Austin-area public school districts' October 2012 decision to join other Texas cities and counties in extending benefits to their unmarried employees' heterosexual or homosexual partners.

Confederate monuments

Patrick is a strong supporter of maintaining Confederate monuments on public display, despite opposition from civil rights groups who consider the statues as a defense of the institution of slavery and of the Civil War.

Personal life

Lt. Gov Dan Patrick of Texas speaking to the Montgomery County Texas Tea Party in The Woodlands, Texas on November 7, 2022.

Patrick's first marriage ended in divorce. His second wife is Janetlea "Jan" Patricia Rankin, a former teacher. They were married in 1975 and live in the Houston suburb of Cypress. They have two children, Ryan and Shane. Ryan served as a district judge from Harris County, Texas, and swore his father into office as the lieutenant governor in 2015. In July 2017, Ryan Patrick was chosen to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas by U.S. President Donald Trump, and the United States Senate subsequently confirmed him.

Religious views

While growing up, Patrick and his family were "not very religious." After moving to Houston, he and his wife attended a Catholic church, but he joined a Baptist church soon after learning about it. Though Patrick was a member of the Second Baptist Church Houston since 1992, he stated he was not truly a Christian until March 1994, when, on a television-and-radio convention in Las Vegas, he repented of his sins, committed his life to God, and was saved. After this, Patrick's faith became an important part of his life, and he considered going into Christian ministry for a time.

Patrick, an evangelical Christian, is a member of various Christian organizations, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the International Bible Society, and has served as guest pastor of his church, the Second Baptist Church Houston. He is very outspoken about his Christian faith, and he stated in his inauguration speech upon becoming lieutenant governor that "I respect all faiths and religions, but I am a Christian first, a conservative second and a Republican third, and I praise Jesus for this moment and this day." Patrick was baptized in the Jordan River during a trip to Israel in 2016.

Electoral history

2022

2018

2014

2010

2006

Works

• Patrick, Dan (2002). The Second Most Important Book You Will Ever Read: A Personal Challenge to Read the Bible, Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Inc., ISBN: 0-7852-6286-5
• The Heart of Texas (film). Heart Of Texas The Movie. Dan Patrick, Executive Producer. 2009 Plaid Shirt Pictures and Media Tech, Inc.