Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will seek fourth term as conservative priorities take shape in Senate

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Tuesday he will seek reelection in 2026, a departure from his previous stance that a third term would be his last. He was reelected to a third, four-year term in November.

Coming at the end of a daylong panel hosted by The Texan, an Austin-based conservative media outlet started in 2019 by former state Sen. Konni Burton, Patrick said he would "absolutely" run for reelection to a fourth term as he also addressed key legislative issues heating up at the Capitol: education, taxes and politics.

"I think we'll continue to be successful. I'm in good health, and I just won by eight hundred and thirty-some thousand votes," Patrick told The Texan. "So why wouldn't I come back?"

Here are a few takeaways from the lieutenant governor's conversation Tuesday:

Running again in 2026

Before the 2022 election, in which Patrick defeated Democratic challenger Mike Collier in a rematch of the 2018 race for lieutenant governor, Patrick had said a third term would be enough, according to the Texas Tribune.

However, after winning reelection in November — outpacing Collier's vote by more than 10 percentage points with more than 800,000 additional ballots — Patrick has had a change of heart and wants to remain in one of the most powerful political seats in the state.

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"I really love what I do, I actually do have the easiest job of everyone in the Senate; the senators really work hard," Patrick said Tuesday. "I like the people I work with."

If Patrick, 72, were to run and win in 2026 and serve the full four-year term, he would become the second-most-tenured lieutenant governor in state history. If he were to serve through 2030, his 16 years in office would fall behind former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby's 18-year tenure from 1973 to 1991, according to the Legislative Reference Library.

On Wednesday, while conducting business on the Senate floor, Patrick said he hopes the next lieutenant governor will come out of the Senate like he did in 2015.

But, with his now known intent to keep his office, it remains to be seen how long statewide office hopefuls will have to keep waiting.

"Now, the Democrats all want to see me lose? Absolutely. Do they love me? Absolutely not," Patrick joked at Tuesday's panel discussion. "But do we have a healthy respect for each other? Yes. And, so, I love it."

In the state's highest political office, advisers close to Gov. Greg Abbott have said he is not ruling out a possible fourth term in 2026, which, if he won, would tie him with former Gov. Rick Perry as the longest-serving governor in Texas history at 16 years. He and Patrick both were elected to the state's executive branch in November 2014 and began serving on Jan. 1, 2015.

The 2024 presidential election

Patrick also addressed a different campaign on Tuesday as he again affirmed his support for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

In 2020, Patrick was a member of Trump's campaign team and has since been an ardent supporter of the former president.

"Full-throated endorsement, we're all in and hope to be working with the team again," Patrick said Tuesday of Trump's 2024 campaign.

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When asked to consider the field of challengers, specifically Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Patrick said he doesn't know DeSantis and that Trump is the front-runner.

"I don't know who's going to win, I don't know who's going to be in the race, but I think right now Donald Trump is the person to beat," Patrick said. "I think Ron DeSantis has done a terrific job; I don't have anything negative to say about him."

School brackets and professor tenure

In his own chamber, Patrick said he would not apologize for forwarding a conservative agenda to the House this legislative session.

A large part of that agenda will come down to education, including a push for a school voucher program and possibly altering tenure requirements at state universities.

Patrick expressed a desire to see school choice voucher plan passed by the Legislature while also lending some clarity as to what he meant by creating "brackets" for schools under such a program.

"What I was talking about is, finding a way to bracket the schools so that we get the bill passed and the parents can still have school choice," Patrick said. "But we have to do something to get those votes to convince those Republicans to vote for it."

The brackets proposal would be based around curbing the financial impact to rural districts caused by possibly losing students to other schools without limiting the options of students attending schools of their choice in larger metro areas.

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"A big school district can kind of absorb that, but if you have a small budget in a small district with 1,000 kids, that's big dollars to them," Patrick said. "If we address the money, then really there's no reason why a Republican won't vote for it in the House."

Patrick was also passionate in speaking in favor of reforming tenure for college professors and possibly removing tenure as an option.

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"I believe in academic freedom, but when you are teaching our students that America is evil and capitalism is bad, I'm sorry, that will destroy our country long term," Patrick said.

The details of that plan are not yet clear, but Patrick tamped down concern that the legislation would affect the decisions of professors to teach in Texas, saying conservative-minded teachers wouldn't have an issue with it.

Patrick also said tenure is top of mind for Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who chairs the Senate's committees on Education and Higher Education.

"We're going to push for it," Patrick said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature: Lt. Gov Dan Patrick will seek reelection in 2026