Texas

LetMyPeopleVote

(172,635 posts) Thu Nov 13, 2025, 08:26 PM Thursday

Mike Collier to challenge Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick again -- as an independent

I voted for Mike twice when he ran against Patrick. Mike ran a weak campaign both times. This is a very dumb idea

Link to tweet

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/13/mike-collier-texas-lieutenant-governor-independent-2026

Mike Collier, a two-time Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, announced on Thursday that he is again running to be the state’s second-in-command — but this time as an independent.

Collier, an accountant and auditor, lost his previous bids to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful Republican who presides over the state Senate, in 2018 and 2022. Running as an independent, he is branding himself as a protector of public education who also aims to “restore fiscal integrity” and return power to Texans from political insiders.

“Everything starts with our public schools,” Collier said in a statement. “But Dan Patrick is trying to dismantle them with vouchers and culture wars. I’m running to stop him and to fully fund our public schools, respect our teachers, and make sure every child in Texas has a chance to succeed.”

Patrick beat Collier by 5 points the first time the two went head-to-head and handily beat him four years later, claiming a third term with a 10-point margin.

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Mike Collier to challenge Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick again -- as an independent (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote Thursday OP

Glen Maxey also thinks that this is a bad idea LetMyPeopleVote Thursday #1

LetMyPeopleVote

(172,635 posts)

1. Glen Maxey also thinks that this is a bad idea

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Original post)

Thu Nov 13, 2025, 08:36 PM

Thursday

Glen was the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Texas legislature. I have known Glen for a while. One of my favorite lectures from Glen was when he claimed that he set the record for registering to vote the most naked person between midnight and 4 AM in Austin. Glen has retired from the Texas Democratic Party. Glen just posted this on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/glen.maxey

Mike Collier is a smart guy. But his decision to run as an independent for Lt. Governor is a stupid move. All that happens here is to be a spoiler and that means Dan Patrick wins and continues to cause havoc on the lives of the citizens of Texas.
First, he has to qualify for the ballot by getting signatures. And I know he’ll not get enough signatures if he depends on volunteers. So he’ll have to spend about a million bucks just to get on the ballot.
An independent statewide candidate must get a petition with signatures equal to one percent of the total votes for Governor in the 2022 election. Those signatures must be gathered in a short period after the May 2026 primary runoff election and CANNOT be of anyone who voted in either the Democratic or Republican primary. So it means they must be from the masses of ill informed Texans who won’t be showing up at political meetings or rallies, etc of the two parties. So all door-to-door or on a street corner gathering.
Good luck with that!
Texas Election Code Sec. 142.007. NUMBER OF PETITION SIGNATURES REQUIRED. The minimum number of signatures that must appear on a candidate's petition is:
(1) for a statewide office, one percent of the total vote received by all candidates for governor in the most recent gubernatorial general election;
Total Votes Cast in 2022 Governor’s race: 8,102,908
One percent of that is 81,030.

Getting these signatures will be almost impossible without a ton of funding. If Collier does get onto the ballot, he will only hurt the Democratic candidate

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