Instead, Whitley threw his weight behind Mike Collier, the Democratic candidate hoping to unseat Patrick. Unlike Patrick, the judge said, Collier understood the need for “local control.”
Whitley blamed Patrick, in part, for a 2019 bill that limits a county’s ability to raise property taxes and for the state's failure to provide additional funding despite county jails holding incarcerated people who ought to be in state facilities.
State Sen. Kel Seliger, a Republican from Amarillo who’s butted heads with Patrick in the past, told the Texas Tribune that he’d also vote for Collier in November.
In a press release at the time, Patrick’s chief strategist, Allen Blakemore, responded by calling Seliger and Whitley “dinosaurs” who were “desperately searching for relevance in an age when voters hold political leaders accountable to stand up for Texas values.”
In recent years, Patrick has emerged as an influential figure among the Texas GOP's ultra-conservative flank, railing against Republican rivals such as House speaker Dade Phelan and pushing for more hardline legislation on issues like abortion.
But the defections continued. In late September, former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff said he'd vote for Collier. "As a former elected Republican, I’m putting partisanship aside and joining the growing number of Republicans voting for the man we think is best for Texas, and that’s Mike Collier," he said in a press release issued by Collier's campaign.
Along with Whitley, Seliger and state Rep. Lyle Larson, former Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett, former state Rep. Byron Cook and former state Rep. Bennett Ratliff all signed an open letter endorsing Collier."What we're not seeing is a groundswell of Republicans moving to Collier on the basis of the endorsements by three fringe actors within the Republican Party." – Mark Jones, Rice University
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"As a growing state, our Legislature must face Texas’ problems with honesty and transparency," the letter reads. "From funding public education, to tackling our property tax system, to ensuring our infrastructure keeps pace with Texas’ growth, to working with — not against — local leaders, we believe Mike’s skill and corporate experience make him best equipped to provide the leadership Texas deserves."
Larson took it a step further on Twitter, describing Patrick as an "awful person" and the "tip of the spear in the culture wars."
Bad press or not, Republican feuding with Patrick hasn’t appeared to hurt him much in the polls. In late September, The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler published a poll that found voters supported Patrick over Collier by 11 percentage points.Don’t always agree with the SAEN on their endorsements but this one is spot on. Dan Patrick is an awful person and is the tip of the spear for the cultural wars in Texas. If you want to change the content and tone of government in Texas we have to elect Mike Collier. pic.twitter.com/nlOWhk39D3
— Lyle Larson (@RepLyleLarson) October 14, 2022
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said the surveys he has worked on throughout this election season have consistently found Patrick with a lead of between 5 and 10 percentage points.
Jones explained that the outgoing Republicans represented a “wing of the party that is weaker with each passing day” and that not many GOP voters have followed their lead and backed Collier, who was once a Republican himself.
Collier appeals to some conservatives because he’s considered more moderate than some in the Democratic Party, Jones said. Still, he added, "What we're not seeing is a groundswell of Republicans moving to Collier on the basis of the endorsements by three fringe actors within the Republican Party."
Patrick recently launched a statewide campaign tour that will stop in more than 130 cities and towns and is focused on building up support in rural parts of Texas.
November's vote will be a rematch of the 2018 lieutenant governor's race, when Patrick and Collier first faced off against one another. During that election, Patrick won with 51% of the vote to Collier's 46%.
