Brailey enters lieutenant governor’s race
Carla Brailey, the vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party, is joining the race for lieutenant governor.
Brailey, who currently serves as an assistant professor in the sociology department at Texas Southern University, is a longtime educator who said she “couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore.” She hopes to unseat Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who, she said, “tried to drag our state backward” through the GOP’s elections legislation and other conservative priorities.
“Texans are crying out for change and for leaders that will build a state that cares for all Texans,” she said in a Monday news release. “We’re not just trying to win an election. We’re building a movement. We will unite Texans to bring change, build equity and protect the rights of everyone in our great state.”
She also has a background in government, working in the late 2000s for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in Washington, D.C. In 2019, she placed third in a race for Houston City Council; the seat was eventually won by Carolyn Evans-Shabazz.
Much of Brailey’s work, including her classes at TSU, has focused on social justice and diversity, equity and inclusion — values that she hopes to bring to the lieutenant governor’s post.
“When I have a seat at the table, the community has a seat at the table,” she said in an interview Monday afternoon. “Those who are marginalized, who can’t physically be at the table — I bring them to the table with me. Advocacy is what I do, it’s what I write about, it’s what I think about, it’s what I dream about, in terms of making sure that people have a fair shot.”
Brailey and other Democrats have denounced Patrick for using “hateful rhetoric” and pursuing legislation that would disproportionately impact minority groups. In September, Patrick referred to Haitian immigrants crossing the Texas border as pawns in Democrats’ plan to “take over this country,” repeating a conspiracy theory embraced by white supremacists.
Brailey appears to be the last Democrat to announce her bid for lieutenant governor ahead of a 6 p.m. candidate filing deadline on Monday. She will face off in a Democratic primary against State Rep. Michelle Beckley of Carrollton and Houston accountant Mike Collier, who lost by less than 5 percentage points to Patrick in 2018.
More than two dozen leaders in the Texas Democratic Party have already endorsed Collier. Party rules prevent chairman Gilberto Hinojosa from endorsing candidates, but he issued a message of support earlier this month calling Collier “one of the strongest, hardest working, committed Democrats” in the state.
Former George W. Bush aide and ABC news commentator Matthew Dowd had also announced a campaign for the Democratic nomination, but he dropped out last week as news of Brailey’s impending announcement spread. Dowd said he was quitting the race because the state needs more diverse representatives.
The winner of the March primary will go on to face Patrick, who is seeking his third term as lieutenant governor and leader of the Texas Senate. He is one of the state’s most conservative Republicans and has a huge fundraising advantage, reporting nearly $24 million in his campaign coffers over the summer.
Patrick has been rolling out a slew of endorsements in recent weeks, primarily from local business organizations and police associations.
This year, he championed a number of Republican priorities — including the elections overhaul, a near-total abortion ban and limitations on the way public schools can teach about racism — helping to define what many consider to be the most conservative period of Texas lawmaking in recent history.