Mike Collier
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.
Collier’s candidacy could complicate the path for the Democratic nominee if he ends up siphoning Democratic votes. State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, is the only major candidate to enter the primary to oppose Patrick.
Let me first say that it’s a lot easier to say that you will run for something statewide as an independent than it is to actually do so. Here are all the requirements to run as an independent candidate in Texas. The TL;dr of this is:
1. You need to collect enough valid signatures to exceed one percent of the total votes cast in the previous gubernatorial race. In 2022, there were 8,102,908 such votes cast, so you need at least 81K signatures. Of course, you should collect more than that since some number of them will not be valid for one reason or another.
2. You can’t start collecting them until after the March primary, and your filing deadline is 30 days after the primary runoff. Basically, that’s a three-month window.
3. Anyone who votes in a primary or a primary runoff is ineligible to sign your petition. In other words, the most politically engaged voters are out of bounds for you.
That’s a lot to do in a relatively short amount of time, and the exclusion of primary voters raises the bar. It’s doable, but it takes resources and organization. Good luck with that.
And that last paragraph doesn’t go far enough. I’ll be blunt, if 2026 is a better year for Dems than 2018 was, then Mike Collier could bear Dan Patrick head to head (*), and Vikki Goodwin could beat Dan Patrick head to head. But Mike Collier and Vikki Goodwin on the same ballot as Dan Patrick will cannibalize each others’ votes, and that will make it nigh impossible for either of them to beat Dan Patrick. The single best thing Mike Collier could do to ensure Dan Patrick’s re-election is qualify for the ballot as an independent. If Collier wants to challenge Goodwin in the primary, I say have at it and let the voters decide. But if Collier goes down this path, he will betray everything he says he stands for. As someone who likes and has admired Mike Collier since he first appeared on the scene, I really hope he rethinks this.
(*) The presence of a Libertarian candidate would hurt Patrick a little, the presence of a Green candidate would hurt Collier or Goodwin a little but not as much as a Libertarian would hurt Patrick. The main thing either would accomplish is to allow the winner to not have to get fifty percent of the vote.