Dan Patrick
With just a month left until the Texas primary, bathroom bills aren’t scoring points for Republicans anywhere in the state.
While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick bitterly said after the defeat of the bathroom bill in the special session that lawmakers would have to face their constituents, The Texas Tribune reports, “it is hard to find a GOP nominating contest for the Legislature where a candidate’s position on the issue has emerged as a major point of contention.”
One reason, the Tribune points out, could be that the two Republicans who did the most to block the bathroom bill — House Speaker Joe Straus and House State Affairs Committee Chair Byron Cook from Corsicana — are not seeking re-election. Since the bathroom bills were never about protecting anyone, Patrick views ending Cook’s and Straus’ political careers as a win.
In addition to the demise of bathroom bills as a campaign issue, Patrick had to reword his latest TV ad. In his original, he criticizes “big city liberals.” Seems that phrasing just wasn’t catching on in the big cities where the ad was playing. His “big city liberals” ad ran in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. In his latest commercial, he’s equally condescending, but only criticizes “liberals.”
— David Taffet