Dan Patrick Urges Senate Republicans to Strip the Powers of the Office From the Woman Who Beat Him — and Vikki Goodwin Answers With a Bipartisan Transition
The lieutenant governor's power over the Senate exists only in the Senate's own rules, and a simple majority can move it to a Republican majority leader. Patrick, on talk radio Monday, said he supports exactly that. Goodwin, who beat him by six points, is introducing a bipartisan transition team today and says the state is best served by a deliberative, collaborative body.
AUSTIN — The fight over the Texas Senate's gavel has moved into the open. Outgoing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is urging Republican lawmakers to strip his own office's control over the Senate before his successor takes office, according to a San Antonio Current report published today on the Washington Post's reporting. Under the current rules, Texas's lieutenant governor controls what is debated on the Senate floor, appoints committees and their chairs, is heavily involved in the budget process and works with the governor to set each session's priorities — a power structure Patrick spent more than a decade building into one of the most powerful lieutenant governorships in the nation. In comments to talk radio host Mark Davis, Patrick urged his Republican colleagues, who still hold the Senate, to shift those powers to a majority leader of their choosing; doing so would require only a simple majority vote. "I support the Republicans standing up for their voters," Patrick told Davis.
The machinery was already moving before he spoke. Shortly after last week's election — which put Democrats in control of the Texas House and every statewide elected office — Senate Republicans held a closed-door meeting to discuss reining in the incoming lieutenant governor's power, according to the Quorum Report, though details of the gathering's outcome remain sparse. The counterargument arrived with a name attached: Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson told the Current the senators should think carefully, because Hinojosa and Goodwin would immediately argue that the voters' decision to transfer leadership was being obstructed. In Dallas terms, the caution is not abstract — Republican State Sen. Bob Hall, whose district includes parts of Dallas County, told CBS News Texas last Friday that he had no intention of blocking bills just to be partisan, according to T-SPAN's report.
Goodwin's public answer is a transition, not a threat. Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin, who defeated Patrick by six percentage points, holds a news conference at the Capitol today to introduce her bipartisan transition leadership team, and in a statement her transition team said the state is "best served by a deliberative, collaborative body." "I think we can find consensus on these issues," Goodwin said. "Texans spoke up, whether they are Republican or Democrat, they said that we're ready for a change in direction. So, I want to make sure that I have conversations with each and every Senator to understand what their district needs." The rules fight itself cannot be settled until the Senate convenes — Patrick also announced Monday that he has formed a consulting company, Patrick Strategies, which he will lead after leaving office. Lawmakers, meanwhile, filed more than 1,200 bills on Monday, including education funding measures and a repeal of the state's Education Savings Account program.
