Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has always felt comfortable in the political spotlight. But his frequent headlines have made many believe he wanted to move on to a higher office ... maybe Governor. Patrick took time Monday to put a stop to that speculation.
Patrick says he’s tired of seeing speculation of his political future splashed across various media headlines.
"I'm either joining the Trump administration, I'm interested in the U.S. Senate seat or I'm running against Greg Abbott for Governor," he said.
He says each of those scenarios is nothing more than someone's pipe-dream. And he wants to put an end to it.
"So, I'm having this press conference today to say three things. No. 1, today I'm announcing that I'm running for Lt. Governor in 2018," he said.
Announcement No. 2 of the press conference: he's got more than $13 million in his campaign war chest.
And No. 3: he's endorsing Greg Abbott for Governor in 2018. But, Abbott has yet to announce he's running for re-election.
Senator Ted Cruz has announced his re-election bid. Did Patrick want to jump in with an endorsement there? Not yet, he says he'll do that when the appropriate time comes.