Dan Patrick - The Texas Observer

How We Got Here

Texas’ health system has been underfunded, understaffed, and unprepared for years. Here, COVID-19 found the perfect place to spread.

Mon, Nov 9, 2020 |

Texas’ health system has been underfunded, understaffed, and unprepared for years. Here, COVID-19 found the perfect place to spread. By Sophie Novack November...Read More

Greg Abbott captains a ship called Texas. The crew follows his numerous orders that arrive in quick succession; one crew member says, "At least he's not saying 'blow holes in the bottom' like Lieutenant Patrick."

by Ben Sargent

Loon Star: Greg Abbott’s Rickety Ship

Hoist the tops! Lower the tops!

Mon, Aug 10, 2020 |

To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section, or find Observer political reporting here. Read more from the Observer:...Read More

In this Oct. 22, 2018, file photo, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks during a campaign rally in Houston. Patrick has been called away from his duties overseeing the opening of the state's legislative session for a meeting at the White House. Patrick headed Donald Trump's 2016 campaign in Texas and his trip to Washington comes as the president prepares to address the nation on the partial government shutdown sparked by a fight over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

by Justin Miller

Texas Republicans’ Pandemic Performance Is True to Form

Dan Patrick performs for Fox News; Greg Abbott dithers; and John Cornyn defiantly refuses to log off.

Tue, Mar 24, 2020 |

On Monday evening, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick went on Fox News with Tucker Carlson and issued a call for the American economy to ramp back up in the very n...Read More

High school students Celeste Lujan, left, and Yasmin Natera, right, mourn their friend, Leilah Hernandez, one of the victims of the August 31 shooting in Odessa.

by Justin Miller

Will Dan Patrick’s Bare-Minimum Effort for Gun Control Go Anywhere?

By supporting expanded background checks for private sales between strangers, Patrick has quickly become a conservative non grata.

Mon, Oct 21, 2019 |

Days after a man drove through Midland and Odessa, shooting his AR-15-style rifle out his window at bystanders and killing seven people, Lieutenant Governor Dan...Read More

Ed Scruggs, Board Vice-Chair of Texas Gun Sense – Advocacy group that promotes common sense, right, listens to Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, left, during a roundtable discussion to address safety and security at Texas schools in the wake of the shooting at Santa Fe, at the state Capitol in Austin, Texas, Wednesday, May 23, 2018. Abbott, a Republican who has worked to expand gun rights in the state, called for the meetings as he weighs ideas for possible legislative action or executive orders. Two dozen groups were invited to attend the session, which was expected to include conversations on monitoring students' mental health. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

by Justin Miller

Why a Texas Gun Control Activist is Optimistic About the Chances for Reform

Texas Gun Sense’s Ed Scruggs on how Abbott and Patrick talk about guns behind closed doors—and what that says about the prospects for change.

Mon, Sep 23, 2019 |

Ed Scruggs has been on the frontlines of the battle to reform Texas’ gun laws ever since the Sandy Hook massacre. That 2012 tragedy galvanized a movement that...Read More

by Michael Barajas

Texas (Kinda, Sorta) Accidentally Decriminalized Weed. Now What?

How harshly you’re punished for pot possession depends on where you’re caught, even more so now that a new law legalizing hemp has sowed confusion.

Tue, Aug 20, 2019 |

Texas lawmakers like to declare themselves leaders on criminal justice reform, but this session they mostly did nothing about it. During the 86th Texas Legislat...Read More

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at the 2016 Texas GOP convention.

by Gus Bova

Dan Patrick’s Long History of Toxic Immigrant-Bashing

You know, the kind that might encourage violence in a place like El Paso.

Tue, Aug 6, 2019 |

On Saturday morning, a 21-year-old white man allegedly opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle in a Walmart just a few miles from the Bridge of the Americas con...Read More

An El Paso family bring flowers to the makeshift memorial for the victims of the mass shooting in El Paso

by Michael Barajas

White Terror on the Border

After an anti-immigrant shooting in El Paso, Texas’ GOP leaders blamed mental health and video games rather than gun laws and white supremacy.

Sun, Aug 4, 2019 |

On Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after a white gunman killed 20 people and injured two dozen more at an El Paso Walmart, Fox News called on Texas Lieutenan...Read More

by Christopher Hooks

Power Steering

The most interesting story in American politics in the coming year isn’t in Iowa, but on the outskirts of Houston and Dallas.

Wed, Jul 10, 2019 |

For years, the question asked of Texas politics has been whether or not the state would “turn blue” during a presidential election or high-profile statewide...Read More

Articles tagged: Dan Patrick

Texas’ health system has been underfunded, understaffed, and unprepared for years. Here, COVID-19 found the perfect place to spread.

Hoist the tops! Lower the tops!

Dan Patrick performs for Fox News; Greg Abbott dithers; and John Cornyn defiantly refuses to log off.

By supporting expanded background checks for private sales between strangers, Patrick has quickly become a conservative non grata.

Texas Gun Sense’s Ed Scruggs on how Abbott and Patrick talk about guns behind closed doors—and what that says about the prospects for change.

How harshly you’re punished for pot possession depends on where you’re caught, even more so now that a new law legalizing hemp has sowed confusion.

You know, the kind that might encourage violence in a place like El Paso.

After an anti-immigrant shooting in El Paso, Texas’ GOP leaders blamed mental health and video games rather than gun laws and white supremacy.

The most interesting story in American politics in the coming year isn’t in Iowa, but on the outskirts of Houston and Dallas.