Collier Gives Dems Experienced
Candidate vs. Ex-Bush Strategist

Capitol Inside
October 4, 2021

Democrat Mike Collier launched a bid for a rematch with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on Monday after falling less than five points short in 2018 when he'd been viewed as a longshot underdog in a fight with Donald Trump's top Texas ally.

But Collier won't have a clear path to the ring in the primary election like he did in his initial race for the Texas Senate president's post - having drawn an opponent a week ago with Matthew Dowd's emergence as a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022 as well.

Collier ignored the threat that Dowd poses as a veteran political consultant and television commentator - setting his sights exclusively on Patrick instead.

"The last few months have shown that our state faces a crisis of competent leadership, and Texas needs a proven business leader, not a radio shock jock zealot, at the helm of this great state, Collier said in an email today.

Collier - a certified public accountant who's a former corporate executive - will be hoping his third statewide race is a charm not a strike. Collin lost by 20 points to Republican Comptroller Glenn Hegar in an open race in 2014 when all of the Democratic statewide nominees received between 35 percent and 39 percent of the vote. Collier passed his first test, however, when he defeated Michael Cooper in the Democratic primary election earlier that year.

Collier bounced back four years later when he held Patrick to 51.3 percent of the general election vote for a victory of 4.8 points - the lowest winning margin for a GOP nominee in a lieutenant governor's race in Texas during 20 years of Republican rule.

But Collier ran unopposed in the primary election in 2018. He won't have such a luxury next year though with Dowd as an unique and unconventional first-round foe. Dowd had been an adviser to Democrats like Lloyd Bentsen and Bob Bullock before converting to the GOP as a strategist for George W. Bush in victorious races for president. Dowd worked as a consultant to the Republican National Committee as well.

Dowd will be counting on strong support from independent and moderate voters in the suburbs where the Republicans have made themselves historically unpopular with an abortion ban, restrictions on voting rights and a lackadaisical approach to infrastructure that set the stage for the failed power grid in a winter storm early this year.

Collier could end up depending on a delicate balance of rural voters and base liberals as the candidate who will expect to have the party hierarchy in his corner as well.

Patrick will be a heavy favorite on paper against the eventual Democratic challenger with a war chest that contained almost $24 million this summer. Patrick served as Trump's campaign chairman in Texas in White House contests in 2016 and 2020.

I will focus the attention of the State Senate on the real challenges facing our state, such as fixing the damn grid, fully funding our public schools, protecting our constitutional rights, reigning in property taxes by closing corporate loopholes, bringing the jobs of the twenty-first century to Texas, and so much more," Collier said. "Together, we will rebuild our beloved state. A more united, stronger Texas is in our very near future.”