KHOU-11’s website picks up an AP story on local talker and likely Texas Senator Dan Patrick.
Here’s an excerpt:
Patrick’s laser focus on conservative issues and the ensuing bedlam his broadcasts can ignite have since become known around the Capitol as the “Dan Patrick Effect.”
Now Patrick hopes to set up shop in the Capitol himself–not only to continue beating up on politicians in his radio broadcasts, but as a state senator himself, representing northwest Houston. Patrick coasted to victory in the GOP primary and is heavily favored in the Nov. 7 general election.
He plans to continue broadcasting as often as possible from a studio near the Capitol.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said the new job, if Patrick wins, might be an adjustment for him.
“He might have to get used to letting people talk so that all points of view are heard. That usually isn’t the case on the radio show,” Coleman said. “He may run the phone lines and board there, but he will not run the state government. His ideas will be looked at with everyone else’s.”
He’s already annoying his own party with stinging rebukes of fellow Republicans and on-air promises to bring budget cuts and fiscal restraint to Austin. He’s stirring up the Houston editorial pages with promises to curb illegal immigration and pass a “trigger law,” which would preemptively outlaw abortion in Texas if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.
Incidentally, the Chronicle has yet to correct its mischaracterization of South Dakota’s trigger law in its editorial, and multiple emails to the Chronicle‘s reader representative on the topic have gone unanswered. It shouldn’t require a reader forum for the newspaper’s executive editorial leadership to figure out that correcting errors is a way to boost credibility and transparency.
Interesting tidbits from the AP story: 1) Patrick’s “Democratic” opponent in his Senate race, Michael Kubosh, is one of twelve investors in Patrick’s new Dallas-area radio station; 2) Richard Murray is referred to as a Democratic pollster; he and Houston bicyclist Bob Stein are rarely identified by local media as Democrats.
