Democrat Mike Collier embraces his GOP past in bid to unseat Dan Patrick

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Democrat Mike Collier is more and more leaning into his background as a former Republican as he tries to pull off an upset in opposition to GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

After making it by means of a Democratic major and runoff in which his GOP past was a delicate difficulty, Collier is making overt appeals to Republicans with his promoting, endorsements, stump speeches and public feedback.

“There’s an awful lot of people in Texas who would rather not vote for Dan Patrick,” stated Collier, who’s been a Democrat for almost a decade however was beforehand a Republican and twice voted in opposition to President Barack Obama. “My job is to make sure they get to know me.”

Collier’s efforts to court docket Republicans paid off over the weekend as he landed endorsements from two of Patrick’s GOP critics, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and state Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, each of whom are leaving workplace after this yr. In explaining their choices, Whitley cited Collier’s profession as an accountant, when the candidate largely thought of himself a Republican, and Seliger particularly pointed to Collier’s earlier affiliation with the GOP.

“He’s always been conservative,” Seliger informed The Texas Tribune after his endorsement. “He used to be Republican. And I think he will be conservative, but I think he’s going to … represent everybody in the state of Texas.”

Patrick’s marketing campaign dismissed Seliger and Whitley as “dinosaur[s]” looking for relevance on their manner out of workplace. And polling exhibits partisans have all however locked in their decisions in the race — a survey launched Wednesday gave Patrick 91% assist amongst Republicans, with 4% backing Collier and 5% undecided.

But Collier is hopeful. He stated these endorsements from longtime GOP names who oppose Patrick “dramatically accelerate” his efforts to attain out to disaffected Republicans and different voters who don’t historically determine as Democrats — voters his marketing campaign wants to have a shot at unseating the incumbent.

And Collier’s efforts aren’t over. During a go to to the Dallas space this week, Collier stated he deliberate to go to with three Republican county judges to discuss his marketing campaign. So ought to voters anticipate to see extra GOP endorsements for his marketing campaign?

“I’m hoping that more come out,” he stated. “There’s an awful lot of them that are telling their neighbors and their communities and their friends that they’re voting for me. Whether they say something publicly in a way that I can then use as part of my campaign, I don’t know. That, only they’ll decide. I hope they do.”

Patrick made an adversary out of Whitley with his push to limit how much municipalities could raise property taxes. Whitley argued native officers wouldn’t have to increase tax charges if the state correctly funded infrastructure and public colleges.

Similarly, Seliger and Patrick continuously battled over the lieutenant governor’s assist for personal college vouchers, which Seliger opposed. After voting in opposition to a few of Patrick’s legislative priorities, Seliger was stripped of committee management positions and ultimately drawn into a district he couldn’t win throughout final yr’s redistricting cycle.

Collier stated that the current GOP assist has taken years to manifest. This is his third marketing campaign for statewide workplace and in every of these races he tried to attain out to Republican voters. Those efforts have gotten his foot in the door with voters and elected officers who don’t historically assist Democrats, and Collier stated it’s his marketing campaign’s job to strive to persuade them to assist his underdog run in opposition to a Republican incumbent.

Last month, Collier launched an advert in which he identifies himself as a “former Republican” and says, “I know plenty of good Texas Republicans, and Dan Patrick ain’t one of them.” The spot has run digitally and on radio in GOP-dominated West Texas. The marketing campaign has additionally purchased adverts on the video broadcasts of “The Joe Rogan Experience” and the “Howard Stern Show” — uncommon locations for Democrats to marketing campaign — because it seeks to increase its numbers with Latino and white males who contemplate themselves politically unbiased.

In particular person, too, Collier stated he’s leveraging his past as an oil and vitality skilled, a former accountant for one of many largest skilled providers manufacturers in the world and, importantly, as a former Republican.

But it’s his place on points and Patrick’s unpopularity with disaffected Republicans and independents that persuade voters to assist him, he stated.

“There’s gonna be an awful lot of people that really hate the partisan war and will gravitate towards this campaign specifically because it takes on not a partisan feel, but a policy feel,” he stated. “Mike Collier versus Dan Patrick, who do you trust to fix the grid? Who do you trust to solve the property tax problem? Who do you trust to fund schools? All the things that Texans are worried about. It doesn’t feel like a D versus R contest.”

Becoming a Democrat

In his 2017 e-book, “Out of Comptrol,” Collier wrote extensively about his transformation from a Republican to a Democrat.

He charted the transition again to the late 2000s, when he stated he had grown “ambivalent” in regards to the Texas GOP below then-Gov. Rick Perry. Texas Republicans, he wrote, had grow to be insular and conceited in their dominance of the state. Collier turned a fan of Democrat Bill White, a fellow enterprise chief who was Houston mayor on the time, and he wrote he “enthusiastically voted” for White over Perry in 2010.

After White’s loss, Collier sought to get extra concerned in Democratic politics. He had not too long ago moved to Kingwood, a famously conservative Houston suburb, and reached out to the president of the Kingwood Area Democrats on the time, Egberto Willies. He recalled getting a “random call” from Collier sooner or later, expressing curiosity in the group, they usually agreed to meet for espresso. Willies stated he might “immediately tell” Collier was a Republican but additionally noticed he was well-attuned to what was happening in the state and “wanted to do good.”

Afterward, Collier attended his first assembly of the Kingwood Area Democrats and was struck by how welcoming and issue-oriented they had been.

“I think one of the things he realized is that, ‘Damn, everyone really wanted the same thing, eh?’” Willies recalled. “He was able to see on his own that a lot of this division we see in the state and the country wasn’t real. He was like, ‘Hey, the other side wants that, too.’ He doesn’t come from the position of being party-based.”

At the time, Collier was desirous about placing his accounting expertise to use by working for Houston metropolis controller. He thought of himself a Democrat by then, however the place was nonpartisan and he met with Republican consultants about it, figuring he would “just go with the flow.”

One of these conferences cemented Collier’s determination to depart the GOP, in accordance to the e-book. The advisor requested Collier if he opposed abortion, and when he responded he supported entry to abortion, the advisor stated that may be a deal-breaker for Republicans, regardless that it has nothing to do with managing the town’s funds.

Leaving the assembly, Collier wrote that he was “saddened by the feeling of alienation from a party I had felt attached to for twenty-five years.”

“The hard Right of the Republican Party had grown so rigid and uncompromising that ordinary people, like me, we’re just going to have to walk out,” Collier wrote.

“We’re very proud that people want to join us”

Two statewide campaigns later — comptroller in 2014 and lieutenant governor in 2018 — Collier’s partisan affiliation is just not in doubt. In between the campaigns, he additional burnished his Democratic resume by serving as finance chair for the state celebration and an adviser to President Joe Biden’s 2020 marketing campaign in Texas.

Collier went all in for Biden, seeing him as a fellow pragmatist resisting a few of their celebration’s leftward lurches on the time.

“If you line up his policy point of view with my policy point of view, you don’t see a lot of daylight,” Collier stated in a January 2021 TV interview.

Collier obtained an early begin on his newest marketing campaign, making it recognized in April 2021 he would problem Patrick once more after shedding by 5 proportion factors in 2018. He appeared to be a lock for the Democratic nomination till the autumn, when extra opponents began cropping up.

The most critical menace appeared to come from Matthew Dowd, the Republican-turned-Democrat cable news commentator and former strategist for GOP President George W. Bush. Collier moved shortly to strive to disqualify Dowd with Democrats, releasing an acidic assertion on his marketing campaign launch that welcomed him “back to the Democratic Party” and highlighting his Republican historical past on the marketing campaign path.

It pissed off some Dowd supporters who had been nicely conscious of Collier’s personal GOP past, however Dowd stated he wished to keep above the fray and resisted responding in variety. Collier’s years of ingratiating himself to Texas Democrats additionally paid off as he secured an implicit endorsement from the state celebration chair, Gilberto Hinojosa, who launched a supportive assertion after Dowd introduced his marketing campaign.

Dowd ended up abandoning his marketing campaign earlier than the submitting deadline for the first, leaving Collier to face state Rep. Michelle Beckley of Carrollton and Carla Brailey, then the vice chair of the state celebration. Collier failed to win outright and headed to a runoff in opposition to Beckley.

Collier’s political background was additionally a difficulty in the runoff. Beckley ran as a extra dependable Democrat, calling on Collier to drop out as a result of, she stated, he didn’t “inspire the base.” Toward the tip of the runoff, Collier ran a TV advert in North Texas — Beckley’s house base — that emphasised his Democratic credentials, promising he would construct a “stronger, more progressive Texas.”

Collier stated he doesn’t suppose his newfound Republican assist will have an effect on him negatively with Democrats.

“I haven’t had any blowback at all. I haven’t had anybody come to me and say, ‘Well, if he supports you, then that means you’re not who you say you are,’” Collier stated. “My position has been perfectly consistent across nine years and it remains so. So I think just basically I’ve built up a lot of trust.”

Instead, Collier stated, he sees the brand new assist as a supply of delight for his marketing campaign.

“I’ve held my head high as a Democrat now for a decade: This is what I believe in, this is what I’m fighting for. And you have people saying, ‘You know what? Me, too. And we’re gonna join you,’” he stated. “We’re very proud that people want to join us.”

Brailey, Collier’s former major competitor, stated she agreed with his strategy, saying Republican leaders have veered to date proper that “even Republicans are supporting Democratic nominees.”

“As a lifelong Democrat and public servant leader, I understand we need leaders who can reach across party, racial and geographical lines,” Brailey stated in an announcement.

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