In a recent interview with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, he was asked whether he was going to run for the position of Governor to which he said he would not. He did, however, confirm that he would be running for re-election. But along with his denial to challenge Abbot for the position, there is already little to no activity of anyone who wants the seat. Dan Patrick's position, however, is currently being sought after by retired businessman Mike Collier for the Democratic Party.
Collier sees a toxic GOP
In early May, Mike Collier spoke with Wise County Democrats where he went after Dan Patrick for catering to the hard right.
Collier's involvement in politics is said to have started in 2011 when Republicans made cuts to public education for which he recently went after Patrick for, saying that the incumbent Lt. Governor had not addressed trying to make public schools better. In 2013, Collier was interviewed by the Texas Tribune where he said that Republicans, like Patrick, had decided to go for a more extremist view of conservatism rather than reach across the aisle.
At the time, Collier was running for State Comptroller which he lost by 20 percent of the vote. He suggested at the time that having a Democrat as state comptroller would add a new level of accountability to government. He also said that he had voted for Republicans and Democrats over the years but could never see himself running as a Republican, not only for the reasons already mentioned but because he supports gay marriage, being pro-choice and immigration reform.
At a certain point during his bid for Lt. Governor, he said that Donald Trump has very little to do with Texas politics, however, as Blasting News reported recently, it's difficult to look at Gov. Greg Abbott's recent actions and believe Trump doesn't have some influence.
Mike Collier, the Democratic nominee for Texas comptroller in 2014, will run for Lt. Gov. in 2018. #txlege https://t.co/WI6Stq01cW
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) March 3, 2017
Collier vs Patrick
For the time being, Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick doesn't seem to see a Mike Collier run for his position as a threat as he hasn't even addressed the challenge. Dan Patrick has said that rumors that he could be challenging Gov. Greg Abbott for his seat were false. He also said that he and Abbott are friends and share similarities in how they approach issues so not only does he not see a run for Governor as an option, he claims that he hasn't even thought about it.
As an example of how a run for Texas Governor is also not being challenged, there is currently no sign that anyone is running for that position either.
During Collier's speech for the Texas Democratic Convention for the comptroller position in 2013, he referred to Republican involvement in the government's finance system as crony capitalism. As a certified public accountant, he said that he would be more qualified as the new comptroller as opposed to a tea party Republican. Whether he's running for comptroller or Lt. Governor, what's certain is that he sees Republican-run government as more of a problem than its been before. Collier has stepped down as the finance chair for the Democratic Party to run for the position.
