Abortion Patrick opposes
abortion and authored Texas' "Mandatory Ultrasound Bill", a bill signed into law in May 2011 by Governor Perry, which requires women seeking abortion to have a
sonogram of the
fetus taken at least twenty-four hours before the abortion is performed. Patrick purported that the bill might stop more than 15,000 abortions annually with an estimated goal of eliminating one in five abortions. Regarding his estimation, Patrick stated the following: "There's no other piece of legislation anywhere else in the country that has that kind of impact... I don't take credit for it. It's God's hands." Patrick's Mandatory Ultrasound Bill was initially halted by an injunction issued in
Zurawski v. State of Texas, a legal challenge headed by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights. On January 10, 2012, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in Texas' favor and the law was allowed to take effect. Patrick opposes abortion in cases of incest and rape. In January 2014, when he was asked about exceptions to outlawing abortion, Patrick said, "The only exception would be if the life of the mother was truly in danger…but that is rare."
Education Patrick supports increasing the number of
charter schools in the state. At the time, Patrick cited a statistic later determined to be misleading by
PolitiFact that Texas's 1,200+ public school districts, considered as a group, are the fifth-largest employer in the world. Patrick has supported placing
creationism within the public school curriculum in Texas, despite court rulings that such a policy would violate the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 2019, Patrick pushed to increase Texas teachers' paychecks by $5,000. In 2021, Patrick supported legislation to prevent public schools from requiring that students read writings by prominent
civil rights figures, such as Susan B. Anthony, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King Jr., when covering women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement in social studies classes. In 2022, Patrick pledged to end tenure for new hires at Texas public universities. He also said that he intended to revoke tenure for faculty who teach
critical race theory. In April 2025, Patrick championed the passage of Senate Bill 2, a school voucher program that established education savings accounts using public funds for private school tuition. In 2019, Patrick called for requiring background checks for gun sales between two strangers. He later backed away from this position, instead throwing his support behind legislation to expand gun rights, including
constitutional carry.
Illegal immigration Patrick opposes
illegal immigration. As a talk radio host, he reserved some of his "most hard-edged oratory for illegal immigrants." Questions arose during the 2014 lieutenant governor's race about the
immigration status of one of Patrick's employees, Miguel "Mike" Andrade. Patrick and Andrade offered different recollections about Andrade's employment. The matter was raised by one of Patrick's opponents, Jerry Patterson, who questioned Patrick's declared commitment to halt illegal immigration. As Lieutenant Governor, Patrick moved to keep
National Guard troops sent to the Texas-Mexico border during the illegal immigration surge of 2014 indefinitely, rather than until March 2015, as originally planned. Patrick's 2015 budget in the
Texas Senate called for spending $815 million on border security, which he said was more than the previous seven years combined. In a June 2018 interview on
Fox Business Network, Patrick estimated that 30 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S.
LGBT rights In 2014, after a federal court ruled that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, Patrick expressed his opposition to same-sex marriage, and vowed to fight such court decisions should he be elected to the Lt. Governor's office. He argued that if the state ban was removed, then it would lead to the legalization of
bigamy,
pedophilia and
incest. He has stated that if necessary, he would support legislation to require people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender listed on their birth certificates. Hours after the 2016
Orlando nightclub shooting, Patrick tweeted a picture of the Bible verse, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Galatians 6:7." An adviser released a statement that the tweet had been pre-scheduled, and it was later deleted. He issued a statement on the incident, again stating that the tweet was pre-planned and that "I didn't pull down the FB post & tweet because God's word is wrong. His word is never wrong ... I took it down to stop the hateful comments and the misinformation being spread of God's message to all of us- straight or gay." In May 2016, Patrick criticized the
Obama administration after it released a directive stating that all public schools must allow transgender students to use the bathroom and locker facilities that correspond with their identified gender, stating that, on the prospect of the federal government withholding funding for Texas schools for not following the directive, "
he can keep his 30 pieces of silver [and that w]e will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States." In 2017, Patrick strongly advocated for a
bathroom bill that would prohibit transgender students at public schools from using any restroom other than that of their biological sex.
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus of
San Antonio, a
moderate Republican, said that the measure is not an important matter for lower chamber. In April 2019, Patrick called Democratic presidential candidate
Beto O'Rourke "light in the loafers", a slur often used to insinuate someone as gay, though O'Rourke is heterosexual. He also called O'Rourke a "moron." Patrick later stated that while he stood by his comments, the insinuation was unintentional.
Voting rights In 2020, Patrick referred to vote-by-mail expansion efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic as a "scam by Democrats to steal the election." In 2021, Patrick presided over the passage of legislation in the Texas Senate that restricted voting rights, including prohibiting local boards from sending applications for mail-in ballots to voters. In 2021, during an interview, Patrick expressed that he was open to some
medical cannabis changes, while he downplayed the more ambitious efforts. He said: "We're not gonna turn this into California where anybody can get a slip from a doctor and go down to some retail store and say 'You know, I got a headache today so I need marijuana,' because that's just a veil for legalizing it for recreational use." In March 2025, amid debates over THC regulation, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited The Happy Cactus Apothecary, an Austin hemp store with strict age verification. When asked for ID, Patrick replied, “I’m Dan Patrick,” opting not to show it. Some viewed his response as a challenge to the store’s procedures, though management maintained their protocols were routine. Later, at a press conference with state senator Charles Perry and law enforcement, Patrick reiterated concerns over industry practices regarding minor protection. In the 89th legislative session, Patrick pushed for the passage of SB 3 which would ban the sale of consumable hemp products in the state, including those that contained
delta-8-THC. The bill made it through the legislature, but was vetoed by Gov. Abbott. Abbott pushed for "regulation" more in line of those similar to the alcohol industry as opposed to the outright ban. Abbott included the issue of THC regulation in the two special legislative sessions he called over the summer of 2025, but due to continued disagreement with Patrick, comprehensive legislation on the issue failed to pass. On the issue Patrick has said, "I am and will always be against any pathway that could open the door to recreational marijuana in our state."
Domestic partner benefits In November 2012, Patrick asked then-
Texas attorney general Greg Abbott's office to issue an opinion on the constitutionality of government entities providing domestic partner insurance benefits. An
amendment to the Texas Constitution in 2005 limits marriage to heterosexual relationships and prohibits similar, alternative legal arrangements. Patrick did not disclose his own views on
same-sex marriage or
civil unions for same-sex couples. He told the
Houston Chronicle that his request was prompted by
Dallas County's November 2012 decision and an
Austin-area public school districts' October 2012 decision to join other Texas cities and counties in extending benefits to their unmarried employees' heterosexual or homosexual partners.
Statutory rape laws Patrick was interviewed extensively on
ABC's
20/20 segment "The Age of Consent: When Young Love Is a Sex Crime," defending his position on the strict Texas
statutory rape laws. "While it seems unfair, he was 19, she was 15," says Patrick, "That's the price you pay. Even if you end up getting married."
Confederate monuments Patrick is a strong supporter of maintaining
Confederate monuments on public display, despite opposition from civil rights groups who consider the statues as a defense of the institution of
slavery and of the
Civil War. As one of six members of the board that oversees the
Texas State Capitol grounds, Patrick described the need: "to learn from history all of our history, including events and times that many would like to forget. ... Our goal should be to have a meaningful dialogue for future generations so those moments in our history are not repeated."
Ten Commandments On June 21, 2024, Patrick, stated that he would seek to pass a similar bill to Louisiana's
House Bill 71 requiring the
Ten Commandments in schools in the next legislative session. He criticized
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan for failing to put the bill (Senate Bill 1515) to a vote on the floor in the previous legislative session. In May 2025, the Texas Legislature passed SB 10 which requires every classroom to visibly display a poster containing the Ten Commandments, sized at least 16 by 20 inches. The law has come under legal scrutiny and its enforcement has been blocked in some Texas schools while the courts examine the issue.
COVID-19 pandemic In an interview with Fox News host
Tucker Carlson on March 23, 2020, Patrick stated that he was willing to risk his life from the
COVID-19 pandemic if it would avoid an economic shutdown, which he stated would negatively impact subsequent generations. Patrick also stated that he thought many grandparents agreed with him on this. Patrick later moderated his rhetoric while continuing to show skepticism of shutting down the economy. Patrick worked to increase access to
hydroxychloroquine, an unproven drug to treat the coronavirus which President Trump promoted. On April 7, 2020, Patrick announced the creation of a task force to make recommendations on how to re-open Texas's economy. Patrick again garnered controversy on April 21, when he defended his previous comments on the pandemic by saying "And what I said when I was with you that night, there are more important things than living. And that's saving this country for my children, and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us. And I don't want to die, nobody wants to die, but man, we got to take some risks and get back in the game, and get this country back up and running." In May 2020, Patrick paid a $7,000 fine imposed on a Dallas businesswoman after she defied Texas's lockdown orders in order to keep her hair salon open. He said, "Seven days in jail, no bail and a $7,000 fine is outrageous."
Donald Trump Patrick endorsed Texas Senator
Ted Cruz for the
2016 Republican presidential primaries and served as his Texas
campaign chairman. After
Donald Trump became the Republican nominee, Patrick endorsed him and eventually became the Texas state chairman for
his campaign. Trump won Texas by 9 percentage points, the closest result since
1996. In January 2018, Patrick stated that he considered Presidents Trump and
Ronald Reagan as the two greatest presidents in his lifetime, and the
Austin American-Statesman described Patrick as an "ardent defender" of Trump. At a political rally for President Trump on October 17, 2019, Patrick told a crowd of 20,000 that liberals "are not our opponents, they are our enemy." After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Trump made
false claims of fraud, Patrick backed Trump as he refused to concede. Patrick said he would pay up to $1 million for reports of voter fraud across the country. In October 2021, Patrick paid the first reward of $25,000 to a Pennsylvania poll worker who reported a man that voted twice.
Child pornography In 2025, Patrick applauded the unanimous passage of
Texas Senate Bill 20 in the
Texas Senate and called it "a priority" to protect children in Texas, and Texas citizens and thanked
Pete Flores for his work on "this important issue." He later described the bill as part of the "bold, conservative agenda" that the Texas legislature passed during the 2025 legislative session. Some critics described the law as
unconstitutional, saying it violated the
Free Speech Clause of the
First Amendment which prohibits abridgement of freedom of speech and the press, including the legal precedent set in
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition. Much of the controversy regarding the law involves the broad language pertaining to "obscene" pornographic images as including A.I.-created, animated, and cartoon depictions, with some critics arguing it could have a
chilling effect on
anime,
manga,
graphic novels, and other media produced, distributed, or created within Texas. ==Personal life==