Dem Collier in lieutenant governor race

Among the most powerful positions in Texas government, the lieutenant governor, the president of the Texas Senate, often sets the state’s agenda.

With Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the helm, that agenda has been saturated with divisive culture wars that hurt, not help, Texans.

We can offer no recommendation in the GOP primary for this seat.

Readers of these pages know we strenuously disagree with Patrick on any number of issues. These have included changes to Senate rules that fuel partisanship; the demonization of transgender children; political hostility toward cities; a failure to expand Medicaid; and a new election law, motivated by the Big Lie of widespread voter fraud, that already has made it harder for people to vote.

Texas desperately needs new vision and leadership. Unfortunately, we could not find those qualities in Patrick’s primary challengers.

The Democratic field features three strong candidates: Carla Brailey, state Rep. Michelle Beckley and Mike Collier. While their backgrounds and experiences differ, they share similar viewpoints and policy ideas. They want to improve Texans’ access to public education, expand Medicaid and build a more reliable power grid.

Beckley has served as a state representative in House District 65 since 2018. Brailey is an assistant professor at Texas Southern University and served as vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party. In interviews, both demonstrated a deep understanding of the issues, clear vision for the state and a fair approach to governance.

But when it comes to explaining policy and offering a new direction and vision for Texas, Mike Collier stood apart. We recommend him for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary.

His pragmatism is needed in the Texas Capitol, and we see a candidate who can inspire not only Democratic voters but independents and those conservatives who have seen enough from Patrick.

Collier’s accounting experience and charisma are assets. Rather than spouting divisive rhetoric and fueling culture wars, he focuses on making a difference for all Texans.

Texans should be familiar with Collier, a certified public accountant. He ran for comptroller in 2014. Then in 2018, he ran for lieutenant governor, coming within 4.8 points of unseating Patrick. At that time, he benefited from Beto O’Rourke’s stunning Senate run and a favorable environment for Democrats.

O’Rourke is back on the ballot, but it’s a different political environment. Nevertheless, Collier is a quality candidate who deserves voter attention on his own merits. As we said in our recommendation from 2018: “Collier has ideas. Patrick’s tenure has been marked by divisiveness.”

Collier recently told our Editorial Board he would “fix the damn grid,” fund public education, expand Medicaid, reduce property taxes and more.

“We should have expanded Medicaid a long time ago. There’s a lot of people suffering and I feel a great sense of urgency to do that,” he said.

“What Texans want is a lieutenant governor who will solve our problems honestly — and we have a lot of them, and they don’t get that from Dan Patrick.”

A Texas under Collier — a candidate with a plan — would be a drastically different and much improved Texas.