Vikki Goodwin Beats Dan Patrick for Texas Lieutenant Governor, First Democrat in 27 Years

AUSTIN, Texas (Orbit Post) Democrat Vikki Goodwin defeated Republican incumbent Dan Patrick for Texas lieutenant governor on Tuesday night. CNN reported the call in a Covers report updated at 11:12 p.m. ET on November 3. Goodwin declared victory that night to become the first Democratic lieutenant governor of Texas in 27 years, according to Texas Tribune reporting carried by the Beeville Bee-Picayune. Patrick had not yet conceded when that report was published.

Unofficial results published by The Shorthorn showed Goodwin with 3,820,945 votes, or 51.06 percent, to 3,486,740 votes, or 46.59 percent, for Patrick. The El Paso Times, in a live entry at 12:42 a.m. ET on November 4, reported that the Texas Secretary of State's office showed Goodwin ahead 51 percent to 47 percent, with 233 of 254 counties reporting. The same live coverage said Democrats were moving toward winning all statewide races in Texas.

Part of a statewide sweep

Goodwin's win came on a night that ended a long shutout. The San Antonio Current reported that her victory, together with James Talarico's Senate win and Gina Hinojosa's win for governor, ended the traditionally red state's three-decade shutout of Democrats from statewide public office. All three will be sworn into office in January, the Current reported.

The result also removes a central figure in Texas gambling debates. Covers noted that Patrick's opposition had helped block sports betting and casino legalization in the Texas Senate, the chamber the lieutenant governor presides over.

A powerful office, with limits ahead

The lieutenant governor is one of the most powerful elected offices in Texas because its holder presides over the Texas Senate. Those powers come largely from rules passed by state senators themselves. The chamber will keep a Republican majority, and that majority could curtail the powers of the office. Texas Senate Republicans had been reported to be working on a scheme to strip the office of legislative powers if Goodwin won, according to Texas Tribune reporting cited by the San Antonio Current.

The two candidates

Goodwin is a state representative from Austin. She has represented Texas House District 47 since 2019, after flipping that House seat in 2018. Her pitch to voters centered on public schools, access to health care and affordability.

Patrick, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was first elected lieutenant governor in 2014 and was seeking a fourth term. He won his last reelection in 2022 by 10 points. Trump won Texas in 2024 by 14 points. Both marks show the size of the shift on Tuesday night, when a Democrat took an office the party had not held in 27 years.