The Texas Lieutenant Governor is the second most powerful office in the Texas Legislature. The holder of this office presides over the Texas Senate and is the gatekeeper for all legislative bills, budgets or proclamations. (Wikipedia) Dan Patrick (Republican) is the incumbent candidate elected to the office in 2015. Patrick has five primary challengers on the Republican primary ballot in 2022: Todd M. Bullis , Zach Vance, Daniel Miller, Trayce Bedford and Aaron Sorrells.
The Republican Primary Candidates for Lieutenant Governor
Will this Primary Battle Go into a Runoff Election?
According to his campaign website, Bullis’ legislative priorities include, election integrity, abolishing abortion and opposition to Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandates.
Zach Vance :” I am a 35 year old medically retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient. University of North Texas graduate. Husband and father of 2 young sons.” On the issues, according to his website: ” If elected I will charge the “Temporarily Winter Storm Surcharge” on your utility bill to gas providers that posted profits of 20 percent or higher because of the winter storm. For the most part, I believe power generators and the grid are protected from extreme weather. ”
Daniel Miller: According to a article by Dodge Landsman of CBS 7 News, “The race for lt. governor is heating up, with incumbent Dan Patrick polling below 50%. His most visible opponent is Daniel Miller, who may very well make it to the runoff. He’s a sixth generation Texan that’s been talking about “Texit”, or Texas secession, and has made that the centerpiece of his campaign. he even had some unique ideas should Texas be an independent nation to better protect the power grid.”
Tracye Bedford, According to her campaign website, “Bedford served as “grassroots leader and activist in Texas as president of Dallasand the Texas Eagle Forum.” Of the Issues she stands for is fighting Human Trafficking.
Aaron Sorrells: is running on a platform for Individual rights concerning the Covid-19 mandate, as well as ending property taxes, and deploying the Natonal Guard to strengthen border security.
The Democratic Primary Candidates for Lieutenant Governor
On the Democratic Primary Ballot, Mike Collier, Michelle Beckley and. Carla Brailey are the three candidates vying for to win this primary election to run as the Democratic Party’s candidate against Dan Patrick.
In an WFAA Inside Texas Politics Interview , Michelle Beckely In her interview, she stated the Medicaid expansion in Texas and saving rural hospitals are priorities for her. She also stated she votes the Democratic platform. According to Michelle Beckley’s campaign website, it reads, “Representative Michelle Beckley was elected to serve House District 65 in the Texas House of Representatives on November 8, 2018. She was inspired to run for office after attending the Dallas Women’s March in 2017.”
Dr. Carla Brailey stated in an WFAA interview she has served as Vice-Chair of the Texas Democratic Party for 3 1/2 years and ran for city council. Brailey has not held an elected office. She went onto say she education and the power grid and affordable, high quality healthcare are among the issue on the top of her list.
Mike Collier ran against Dan Patrick in 2018 and came within 400,000 votes of winning. In the WFAA Inside Texas Politics interview, he said setting the right agenda for the state and solving the complex problems of the state including property tax problem, the power grid problem and finding permenant funding education. Regarding solving the property tax problem, Collier said, “The key isto make the system fair again.” He went on to say large commercial industrial properties are not paying on inflated appraisals but on underinflated appraisals.”