Outgoing Texas Lieutenant Governor Recommends Reducing His Office's Powers Before Democrats Take Charge

Texas Republicans could remove the wide powers of Lieutenant Governor’s office before a far-left Democrat is sworn in to the position — and the outgoing officeholder, Dan Patrick, is on board with the move. Democrats won every statewide office on the ballot in 2026 in Texas, highlighted by the defeats of Ken Paxton by James Talarico in the U.S. Senate race and by Gina Hinojosa’s defeat of three-term Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats also flipped the Texas House of Representatives, gaining at least 19 seats with five others still uncalled. Yet in the Texas Senate the GOP maintained a 19-12 advantage. Patrick lost his re-election bid to state Rep. Vikki Goodwin. In Texas, the Lieutenant Governor is elected independently of the state Governor. The officeholder presides over the Senate and holds a wide number of powers including writing the state budget, controlling which bills come to the floor for votes, and appointing committees. Patrick endorsed removing many of these powers from his official capacity before the new Senate is sworn into session next year. Appearing on the Mark Davis Show on Monday, Patrick said Texas Senate Republicans should vote to give a Republican Majority Leader the powers of the Lieutenant Governor. “The lieutenant governor derives her power from the Senate. Sixteen out of thirty-one senators, a simple majority, can change the rules. As we’ve always said, the lieutenant governor of Texas in the most powerful position in the country legislatively… but I could see, based on the data we have, it’s going to be tougher and tougher and tougher for Republicans to continue to hold all the statewide offices,” Patrick said. “We can still do it if we do it right. But if you lose the statewide offices and you still have the majority in the Senate, which we do — 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats — you shouldn’t give up your majority because the governor lost, or the lieutenant governor lost or the attorney general lost. You’re still the majority.” Patrick noted that the last time the lieutenant governor and Texas Senate were from different parties was in 1997-98 when Republicans took over the chamber under Bob Bullock, a Democrat. “Vikki Goodwin won, but she doesn’t have a majority on the floor,” Patrick added, and said Republican senators were elected to represent the interests of their constituents as well. Follow Matt Mercer on X: @mattmercer.