Patrick starts Leadership PAC, names son as treasurer

AUSTIN – The Texas Tribunes reports Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced on Wednesday the creation of a new political action committee dedicated to advancing the goals of the conservative majority in the Texas Senate.

The new PAC will be called the Texas Senate Leadership Fund. The Quorum Report political newsletter says Patrick’s son Ryan Patrick will be the treasurer. No money has been received yet, said Allen Blakemore, a spokesperson for Patrick.

“There are other PACs where donors may support the work done by various House and Senate Caucuses and even to support the mission of House Leadership,” Patrick said in a news release. “But, until now, there hasn’t been a place to support the work on the Texas Senate Leadership in fulfilling its goals. In order to ensure the resources to support the mission of the conservative majority in the Texas Senate, I have launched this new political action committee.”

Patrick said in his statement that the Senate has led on issues like border security, property taxes, Second Amendment rights and voter integrity. He said the chamber has also led on education, health and infrastructure.

Patrick presides over the Senate and has steered the chamber in a more conservative direction than previous lieutenant governors. He has pushed major reforms to the chamber’s procedures that have enabled conservatives to more strongly advocate for their policy preferences.

In recent years, Patrick has increasingly been at odds with House Speaker Dade Phelan, a fellow Republican from Beaumont, who he criticizes as being insufficiently conservative and blocking legislation that Patrick says is important to Texas conservatives, such as school voucher bills.