| RELEASE: Tarrant County Judge Becomes First Republican Official to Announce Support of Democrat Mike Collier Republican leader of Texas’ largest GOP county supports Collier |
| AUSTIN, TX — Today, Republican Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley—representing the greater Fort Worth-area—announced his support of Mike Collier, the Democratic nominee for Texas Lt. Governor as polls show a tightening 4-point race. The Republican leader of Texas’ largest GOP county, Whitley’s announcement represents a significant coup for Collier—and blow for incumbent Dan Patrick—and immediately boosts Collier’s independent profile in battleground Tarrant County, a region rich with moderate, suburban voters. Judge Whitley serves as the President of the West Texas County Judges Association and is a former president of the National Association of Counties. The announcement comes on the heels of Collier’s release of Not a Good Republican—a radio and digital ad running across West Texas— takes aim at Dan Patrick’s failures: his failure to fully fund our public schools; his failure in pushing to use of state tax dollars to fund private school vouchers; and his failure to rein in skyrocketing property taxes facing Texas homeowners. |
| In announcing his support for Mike Collier, Judge Glen Whitley said the following on Inside Texas Politics with Jason Whitely: “The one person I will support statewide…is Mike Collier for Lt. Governor. “Mike is a bean counter like me. He worked for PriceWaterhouse. He also worked for Exxon so he understands the oil business. And I just think he’s someone who understands local control and that’s what I’m looking for. “Dan Patrick came on the scene in 2006 with Empower Texas, and since that point in time they’ve basically declared war on local elected officials. They’ve blamed local governments for all the property tax problems when, in effect, they vowed that they were going to lower property taxes but of course they don’t have any property taxes at the state level.” Mike Collier released the following statement: “I am honored and proud to earn the support of Judge Glen Whitley, who has served the people of Tarrant County for more than a decade. We may be of different parties but we both care deeply about the people of Texas. And as Lt. Governor, I will be a partner with our cities and counties so that we can build a state where our children can have dreams as big as Texas. “Together, we will take back our state and build a better Texas.” 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. |