Diane Patrick (Texas politician)

Background

Patrick attended Longview High School in Longview in East Texas. In 1966, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in professional education from the Southern Baptist-affiliated Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She also holds Master of Arts (1969) and Doctor of Philosophy (1999) degrees from the University of North Texas in Denton. She is a former professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and at her alma mater, UT-Arlington.

She taught in the Richardson and Birdville independent school districts from 1967 to 1971 and 1986 to 1989, respectively. From 1981 to 1992, Patrick was a trustee and later board president of the Arlington Independent School District. In 1992, she was elected to a single four-year term to the Texas State Board of Education. She did not seek reelection to the state board in 1996 and was succeeded by fellow Republican Richard Neill.

Patrick is a member of the Junior League, Rotary International, the Arlington Republican Club, and Reagan Legacy Republican Women. In 2007, the Dallas Morning News dubbed her the best of the freshman class of legislators.

Patrick and her husband, Ned Howard Patrick (born c. 1944), a dentist, have two children, Craig Madison Patrick (born c. 1970) and Claire Patrick Casteel and her husband, Brandon Garrett Casteel (both born c. 1974).

Political life

In the 1992 Republican primary, Patrick defeated Forrest Edward Watson (born c. 1935) for the party nomination to the District 11 seat on the state Board of Education. She polled 36,736 ballots (59.3 percent) to his 25,258 votes (40.7 percent). Patrick then defeated the Libertarian Jerilyn Kay "Jeri" Barthel (born c. 1956) of Arlington, 341,029 votes (83.5 percent) to 67,502 (16.5 percent).

In the 2006 Republican primary, Patrick challenged the incumbent Representative Kent Grusendorf. She made Grusendorf's support for school vouchers and her opposition to them the key to her upset victory. Patrick prevailed, 45,973 (58.1 percent) to Grusendorf's 4,308 (41.9 percent). Patrick then handily won the general election in the majority Republican district with 21,800 votes (63.5 percent) against the Democrat David Pillow of Arlington, who polled 11,147 votes (13.5 percent). A Libertarian, Leslie Herman, held the remaining 1,363 votes (4 percent).

In 2008, then Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland, appointed Patrick and futures trader Salem Abraham, the president of the Canadian Independent School District in Canadian in Hemphill County, to the Public School Accountability Task Force, a group established to oversee a new educational accountability system for public education. Abraham also serves on the legislative committee for the Texas Association of School Boards.

In the 2012 House primary, Patrick easily prevailed over Trina Desiree Lanza (born c. 1969) of Colleyville, 7,310 votes (74.7 percent) to 2,472 (25.3 percent). She then won the general election too over yet another Libertarian, but her fortunes were reversed in 2014.

In 2013, in her last regular legislative session, Patrick served on these House committees: (1) Appropriations, (2) Higher Education (vice chair), and (3) Rules and Resolutions. She also sat on the Joint Committee of Oversight of Higher Ed Governance, Excellence & Transparency.

Patrick supported the ban on abortion after twenty weeks of gestation in 2013, the bill passed the House, 96-49, but it was later blocked in federal court. She also backed companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers. These issues brought forth an unsuccessful filibuster in the Texas State Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who in 2014 is the Democratic nominee for governor. The Texas Right to Life Committee rated Patrick 67 percent favorable in 2013, 60 percent in 2011.

Patrick voted to establish a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools, which passed the House, 73-58. She supported legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity. She backed the successful bill to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. Patrick co-sponsored the bill to prohibit texting while driving. She voted to require testing for narcotics of those receiving unemployment compensation. She voted for the "equal pay for women" measure, which passed the House, 78-61.

Patrick supported the measure to forbid the state from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms. She voted to allow college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. She supported legislation to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit. She backed the redistricting bills for the state House, the Texas Senate, and the United States House of Representatives. Patrick voted to establish term limits for certain state officials.

In 2013, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Patrick 65 percent favorable but only 32 percent in 2011. Adams endorsed Tinderholt. Young Conservatives of Texas rated her 40 percent. The Texas League of Conservation Voters rated her 64 percent; the Sierra Club, 36 percent. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated her 37 percent favorable in 2013, 13 percent in 2011, low scores for a Republican member of the legislature. The Texas Association of Business rated her 92 percent favorable throughout her House tenure. The National Rifle Association rated her 67 percent in a 2012 survey. In 2009, the Libertarian Party rated her 61 percent favorable on issues of economic freedom and personal liberties.