The lieutenant governor is one of the most powerful elected positions in Texas, and Matthew Dowd wants the job.
Dowd is running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, and if he’s successful he’ll challenge the incumbent, Republican Dan Patrick.
Mike Collier is also seeking the Democratic nomination. Collier wants a rematch against Patrick. In the 2018 election, he lost to Patrick by five percentage points.
Dowd’s entry into the race brings some excitement into the Democratic primary race that is still waiting for Beto O’Rourke to officially announce whether or not he's going to run against Gov. Greg Abbott.
Dowd was the chief strategist for 2004 George W. Bush presidential campaign. But he later publicly split with the former president over the handling of the Iraq War.
Before he was a Republican, Dowd was a Democrat who worked for Bob Bullock, who in 1994 was the last Democrat elected as Texas lieutenant governor.
