RELEASE: Republican Rep. Lyle Larson Endorses Democrat Mike Collier for Lt. Governor

September 29, 2022

PRESS CONTACT:

press@collierfortexas.com

RELEASE: Republican Rep. Lyle Larson Endorses Democrat Mike Collier for Lt. Governor

Larson: “It is time that we create a cross partisan approach and pick the right candidate regardless of party.

AUSTIN, TX —Today, Republican State Representative Lyle Larson announced his cross party endorsement for Mike Collier, Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor.  

In issuing his support, Larson cited a multitude of policy issues that demonstrate incumbent Dan Patrick’s failures on behalf of Texans. From his failure to address the breakdown of our state power grid after Winter Storm Uri to his complete rejection of any discussion on Medicaid expansion to his attack on public school funding (ultimately leading to skyrocketing property taxes) in the state of Texas to his pay-to-play approach to governing, Dan Patrick has a clear record of putting politics before the people of this state. 

Larson joins a growing list of prominent Republicans across the state as they endorse Democrat Mike Collier in the race for Lt. Governor—the first time in memory elected Republicans have endorsed a Democrat for statewide office in Texas. With Larson’s endorsement, Collier has now been endorsed by Republicans at all levels of state government.

A portion of Representative Lyle Larson’s endorsement can be be found below:

The full statement can be found here

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” —Abraham Lincoln

If we all want an objective analysis of the Lt Governor race we need to look at the last 8 years of what has transpired in the Texas Senate under Dan Patrick and his announced positions on a few issues in this election cycle.

  • He is openly supporting vouchers to defund public schools in rural and suburban area…This is the reason our property taxes have skyrocketed over the last 8 years.
  • He blocked any attempt to increase Medicaid funding that would allow rural hospitals to stay open[…]
  • He has fueled and passed every cultural war issue in the Senate, advocated by the fringe in our party, including not allowing rape and incest to be an exception in the abortion issue[…]
  • He did not support a special session after Uvalde to deal with red flag and common sense laws on guns and will not in the upcoming session.
  • He did not allow any energy market changes to deal with the grid after the winter storm.
  • He has created more division along ethnic and gender lines in our state than any Lt Governor in our state’s history.

The Lt Governor possesses much more power than the Governor in Texas.

[I] Have met his opponent Mike Collier a few weeks back. A former moderate Republican that worked 22 years as a partner with PriceWaterhouse accounting firm and with Exxon.

Went through all the issues above and he was both reasonable and informed on all of them. He will support putting both Republicans and Democrats as chairs of committees in the Senate. The single party rule in DC and in Texas does not work when good governance is sold out to the extremes in the primary more and more every election cycle. The problem is compounded in politics today when each party is unwilling to address bad actors due to partisan blind loyalty. I am a lifelong “Reagan” Republican that has never endorsed a person from the Democratic party […]

With 40% of Texans identifying themselves as independent, it is time that we create a cross-partisan approach and pick the right candidate regardless of party. 

In this race, the Lt. Governor refuses to debate his opponent. Partisanship is a coward’s refuge.

Dan Patrick does not represent the party of Lincoln or Reagan. With that said, I would encourage all voters in our state to create a balance in state governance and vote for the better candidate Mike Collier.

Mike Collier issued the following statement: 

“We are building a coalition across the state and across the aisle, and I could not be more proud to have Rep. Lyle Larson’s support. Texans deserve more than partisan rhetoric and political theater from their Lt. Governor, and I will put aside politics and work with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike to fund our schools, rein in our property taxes, protect our rights, and fix the damn grid.” 

Mike Collier is a lifelong businessman and energy expert from Houston, Texas. In 2018, he ran the closest race for Lt. Governor in twenty years against Dan Patrick, outperforming the rest of the Democratic ticket in two thirds of Texas counties. 

###