TX Tribune: “Patrick’s ascent to top statewide power broker has been somewhat unlikely. Born Dannie Goeb in Baltimore in 1950 — he started using the name Patrick in the late 1970s — Patrick got his start as a TV sports broadcaster, eventually reinventing himself in the 1990s as a conservative shock jock radio host. (He famously got a vasectomy during a live radio broadcast.) Patrick, now 71, entered the Senate in 2007 as a rabble-rousing outsider and a thorn in the side of the chamber’s leaders who would go on to topple the lieutenant governor from his own party, David Dewhurst, in 2014.
While he has not always gotten his way, Patrick has tallied significant victories on issues that Republicans had previously shirked, like the ban on so-called sanctuary cities, stricter abortion laws and restrictions on the rights of transgender Texans.
Patrick has done so with an increasingly loyal Republican caucus in the Senate, leaving little room for dissent and retaliating against those who do, stripping them of leadership roles.
“He’s the undefeated heavyweight champion,” said Bill Miller, a veteran lobbyist in the state. “He is absolutely the strongest [lieutenant governor] that’s ever been and he’s every bit as strong as he’s reputed to be, probably more so.””