Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, one of Texas鈥� most prominent Republican local leaders, is backing Lt. Gov. 鈥檚 Democratic challenger.
鈥淭he one person who I'll support statewide that will get me a little in trouble: Mike Collier for lieutenant governor,鈥� Whitley said on Y鈥檃ll-itics, a WFAA politics podcast.
Whitley and Patrick have frequently clashed, and on the podcast Whitley slammed Patrick for waging 鈥渨ar on local elected officials.鈥� He said the GOP incumbent limited property taxes, a major source of revenue for local governments.
Patrick shepherded in 2019 that meant to slow the growth of Texans鈥� property tax bills. The bill requires many cities, counties and other taxing units to hold an election if they wish to raise 3.5% more property tax revenue than the previous year, not counting the growth added by new construction.
Meanwhile, Whitley said Tarrant County jails are housing more than 700 inmates that should be in state custody without additional funding from the state. The COVID-19 pandemic and the inability to make jail transfers contributed to state inmates being held in county jails, reported.
鈥淲e鈥檙e paying 20 million plus a year because the state is not paying anything and yet they're sitting down there talking about all the cash that they've got,鈥� Whitley said.
Patrick responded to the endorsement by calling Whitley and Collier "two-of-a-kind, tax hiking, big spenders." He said Texans were being taxed out of their homes because of big spending from local governments like Whitley's in Tarrant County.
State Rep. , a Republican from Lubbock and one of the architects of the property tax bill, said Whitley鈥檚 endorsement of Collier was reflective of 鈥渉is contempt for people having the right to vote on excessive property tax increases.鈥�
Whitley is not seeking reelection this year. The potential successor he backed in 2022, former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, lost to a Patrick-endorsed opponent, Tim O鈥橦are.
Whitley said he is backing Collier because of Collier鈥檚 experience controlling budgets. Collier, an accountant and auditor from the Houston area, is a self-described .鈥� Collier also worked as a landman for Exxon, which Whitley said indicated the Democratic nominee understood the oil business.
鈥淎nd I just think he's someone who understands local control. And that's what I'm looking for,鈥� added Whitley, who as county judge is the county鈥檚 top elected official and administrator. 鈥淲e do everything. We're the front door for basically all the federal and the state services that the state and the federal government passed laws for us to do.鈥�
The Texas lieutenant governor oversees the state鈥檚 31-member Senate, making him the most powerful elected official in the Texas Legislature. The officeholder can dictate much of the state鈥檚 policy by influencing which bills move forward and which ones are halted.
Though Tarrant County has had a Republican judge at its helm for 15 years, it has turned purple in recent years. The county narrowly voted for Beto O鈥橰ourke over Ted Cruz in 2018 and for Joe Biden over former president Donald Trump in 2020.
The lieutenant governor race in November is a rematch from 2018, when Collier went head-to-head with Patrick and lost by 4.8 percentage points. In Tarrant County, Collier lost to Patrick by . A Democrat has not won statewide office since 1994.
Whitley鈥檚 displeasure with Patrick has been well documented for years. Whitley has said Patrick, as lieutenant governor, has a 鈥渟tranglehold over what goes to the governor鈥檚 desk鈥� and is driving Gov. to the .
After the 2020 election, Patrick criticized Whitley and Tarrant County for its handling of faulty mail-in ballots due to defective bar codes. Whitley told that Patrick should keep his nose out of local government.
Collier jumped on Whitley鈥檚 comments to promote them Sunday as a call to moderate Republicans, which he said Tarrant County is rich with. Collier also recently released a radio and digital ad across West Texas called 鈥淣ot a Good Republican鈥� that attacks Patrick.
鈥淲e may be of different parties but we both care deeply about the people of Texas,鈥� Collier said in a statement about Whitley. 鈥淎nd as Lt. Governor, I will be a partner with our cities and counties so that we can build a state where our children can have dreams as big as Texas.鈥�
