Jerry E. Patterson - Political Career

Political Career

In 1984 Patterson ran for the a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas' 25th congressional district. He faced freshman Democratic Rep. Mike Andrews and lost by a 64% to 36% margin. The district comprised mainly blue collar areas around eastern Harris County in cities like Pasadena and Deer Park.

Patterson won a shocking election to the Texas State Senate in 1992 when he upset longtime incumbent Sen. Chet Brooks with a plurality of the vote. At the time Sen. Brooks was the longest-serving member of the Texas senate. Patterson and his supporters did not know he had won until early the next morning after election day when the final precinct was tallied.

In the state senate, Patterson's became well known as a staunch conservative and had major successes including the passage of the concealed handgun law of 1995, a constitutional amendment allowing home equity lending in 1998, the state coastal management plan, and the creation of the Texas State Veterans Home Program. He has long claimed to be an advocate of individual freedom and constitutional rights. Patterson also works for veterans causes, having himself been a U.S. Marine for more than twenty years.

In March 1998, Patterson lost the Republican primary for land commissioner to David Dewhurst, also from Houston, who left the position after a single term to become lieutenant governor. Dewhurst led with 265,363 votes (51.2 percent). Patterson trailed with 216,250 votes (41.7 percent), and a third candidate, Don Loucks, held the remaining 36,706 votes (7.1 percent). Despite being vastly outspent by the wealthy Dewhurst (who had previously considered running for a U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico) Patterson received most of the endorsements from newspapers and grassroots organizations. Dewhurst's 51% was just slightly over the 50%+1 total to avoid a run-off election.

In the 2002 Republican primary for Texas land commissioner, Patterson defeated Kenn George of Dallas, a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 108 and an assistant secretary of commerce in the administration of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. During the campaign George received negative publicity for campaign literature that made it appear he was a Purple Heart recipient though he was not. Patterson was then elected land commissioner in November 2002 to succeed fellow Republican Dewhurst. Patterson polled 2,331,700 votes (53.16 percent) to Democrat David Bernsen's 1,819,365 (41.48 percent). Two other candidates shared the remaining 5.36 percent.

In 2004, Patterson headed the Texas state campaign for the re-election of George W. Bush.

Patterson was unopposed for renomination in the 2006 Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated the Democrat VaLinda Hathcox. The final results were as follows: 2,314,965 (55 percent) for Patterson, 1,720,985 (41 percent) for Hathcox, and 166,965 (4 percent) for Michael A. French, nominee of the Libertarian Party.

In 2010 Patterson, again unopposed in the Republican primary, defeated former Democratic state senator and actor Hector Uribe by 61.6% to Uribe's 35.3% or 3,001,736 to 1,717,518 out of 4,867,525 votes cast. The two made news for being the only statewide general election opponents to debate each other during the 2010 campaign. Uribe and Patterson are cordial and Uribe attended Patterson's swearing-in ceremony at the Texas Capitol in January 2011. They had also previously been extras in the film The Alamo.