Mike Collier starts bid for lieutenant governor, must beat Matthew Dowd to get Dan Patrick rematch

When Mike Collier announced in April that he was considering another candidacy for lieutenant governor, he had a clear path to the Democratic Party nomination and a subsequent rematch with Republican incumbent Dan Patrick.

When Collier officially launched his campaign on Monday by launching a multi-city swing across Texas, he did so knowing that he will now have a formidable rival in the footsteps of the Democratic Party.

Matthew Dowd, former adviser to President George W. Bush, is running against Collier for her party’s nomination. As a writer, political strategist and expert, Dowd is expected to generate substantial campaign money and outperform Collier in the race-earned media, which is invaluable in any political campaign.

An intrepid Collier says he is confident that he will return as the standard bearer of his party. He says he will then free Patrick from Texas in the 2022 general election.

“It’s really changing a lot. I always expected someone to raise their hand because we got so close, ”Collier said of Dowd in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.

In 2018 Patrick Collier beat by five percentage points. Although he lost, he sees the effort as a building block for 2022.

“One of the reasons Democrats don’t win is that it’s often a one-off,” said Collier, adding that a candidate learns from unsuccessful national races.

Collier likes to look back on his 2018 race. He points out that in most Texas counties, he overtook Senate Democratic nominee Beto O’Rourke, despite O’Rourke getting more votes than any Democrat on the ticket.

Republican incumbent Ted Cruz beat O’Rourke by 2.6 percentage points. He is now a potential Democratic Party candidate for governor against incumbent Republican Greg Abbott.

Jason Stanford, who was general consultant for Collier’s 2014 unsuccessful campaign for the Texas Auditor, said Collier was facing a major primary challenge.

“Collier has earned a lot of goodwill from Democratic activists, but Matthew Dowd hasn’t,” said Stanford. “He can explain a balance sheet to people in such a way that they can see how they are being hosed down by the state government. That is his strength. “

But Stanford said Collier was facing a difficult main road.

“The race is obviously more demanding,” said Stanford. “Matthew Dowd has a national profile, and I can’t imagine he would do that if he didn’t have commitments.”

Collier says he can unlock the Democratic Party’s voting in the small towns of Texas, which, along with the voting in the cities and suburbs, would be a recipe for victory.

Collier, a 60-year-old accountant from the Houston area, was one of Joe Biden’s campaign advisors in Texas. For his campaign as lieutenant governor, Collier has hired several former Biden campaign staff and Biden’s election surveyor ALG Research. Collier’s campaign also includes Crystal Perkins, the former executive director of the Texas Democratic Party who was Biden’s finance director for a Texas and the region.

“I have probably the best team ever put together by a Democrat in Texas,” said Collier.

If that’s true, he’ll need it. Collier’s greatest challenge is convincing casual Democratic voters that he has the skill, the game plan, and the ultimate star power to beat Patrick.

Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor Mike Collier speaks during a town hall meeting hosted by the Funky East Dallas Democrats on Kidwell Street on July 2, 2018. (Ashley Landis / photographer)

A Texas Democrat has not won a nationwide race since 1994. Amid all the defeats, some Democrats shied away from campaigning for the same seat multiple times. Others became permanent candidates.

For the races in the districts, some Democrats ran several unsuccessful campaigns, which sparked gratitude from party leaders, but not much else. When these districts were ready to flip, the candidates who ran and lost in earlier, much more difficult competitions were pushed aside by more popular names with better financial support.

Collier has told everyone who listens that Patrick is on the verge of defeat, and he spent years building the party to make that happen. But Dowd’s entry into the race threatens to make Collier – at best – a prophet, not a nominee.

“Collier has support from the party’s activists and activists and the people who are really paying attention,” said Colin Strother, political adviser to the Democratic Party. “Besides, nobody really knows who he is.”

Strother said Dowd could become a media darling who will raise big bucks and take a back seat to all other Democratic contenders.

“Because earned media is such an important part of a nationwide campaign, Collier will be at a disadvantage,” said Strother. “Collier doesn’t seem to be able to get that kind of earned media. He is involved in the insider crowd, but he does not decide on the elections. “

In this file photo dated September 2, 2009, Matthew Dowd, chief campaign strategist for the 2004 Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, speaks at the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Ark. Dowd announced on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, that he would run for lieutenant governor of Texas as a Democrat. (AP Photo / Danny Johnston File)(Danny Johnston)

While Collier was about five points behind Patrick in the 2018 general election, he beat the little-known Democrat Michael Cooper in the Democratic Party’s primaries by just five percentage points.

Strother said Collier has benefits, including the network he has built from his nationwide campaigns for lieutenant governors and auditors.

“He has a base of support,” said Strother. “Dowd needs to get out of there and build that base of support. And he won’t be able to do that from Wimberley. He has to get into the truck and drive off. “

Dowd, 60, lives in Wimberley.

Dallas Democrat David Griggs, who did not endorse a candidate in the race, said Collier has experience from his previous national runs.

“He’s well known and a real Democrat, no question about it,” said Griggs. “He knows a lot of people. He has toured the state. He has a business background and is certainly qualified to know everything about different parts of the state government. “

Collier said Texans are ready for change and that he is the type of candidate who can help put the state on a different course.

“They really want someone who comes from the business world and can solve problems,” said Collier, who is an account.

He said Patrick, a Conservative Republican, was more interested in pleasing GOP primary voters than most Texans.

He said he will work to improve public education, expand Medicaid to provide better health care to more Texans, make the economy work for all Texans, and promote sensible immigration policies.

“My main complaint is that you can’t get him to focus on the important things,” said Collier of Patrick. “You can’t get him to focus on solving the problems we face in the state.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on Friday, July 9, 2021. (Elias Valverde II / The Dallas Morning News)(Elias Valverde II / employee photographer)

Before he can get to Patrick, Collier must face Dowd.

Both are former Republicans. Dowd was a Democrat before he became a Republican and ran President George W. Bush’s presidential campaign. He split from Bush and left the party in 2007.

Before entering politics, Collier identified himself as a Republican.

“You know I was always in favor of the election,” said Collier. “I’ve always been pro LGBT. I have always despised racism. I’ve always been pro-public education. “

Its 2022 platform includes modernizing the state’s power grid, investing more money and resources in public education, helping the state out of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic devastation it has caused, and reducing the property tax burden that average Texans face .

Collier said his time as a Republican, which preceded his political life, should not be compared to Dowd’s time in the GOP.

“The only thing I’ve ever done in politics was to fight to build the Texas Democratic Party,” he said.

Collier said Dowd’s stay with Bush was an issue for voters.

“He’ll have to explain himself,” said Collier. “There will be a lot of people asking a lot of questions.”

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