Lt. Gov.-Elect Vikki Goodwin Unveils a Bipartisan Transition Team as Dan Patrick Urges Senate Rule Changes

Lt. Governor-elect Vikki Goodwin stood at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday with the bipartisan transition leadership team that will prepare her to run the Texas Senate, CBS News Texas reported. The team includes two former Republican state senators - Tommy Williams, from the Houston suburbs, and Kel Seliger, from Amarillo - and is chaired by outgoing Democratic state Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, who praised Goodwin for trying to bring Texans together: "She is a leader who cares deeply about Texas and knows that to get results for the people, lawmakers must work together to find common ground. Texans expect and deserve nothing less."

Goodwin, who said she is "so honored to be the first woman Lt. Governor-elect of the State of Texas," takes office on January 19 as a Democrat presiding over a Senate where the Republican majority remains in place. She signaled a different style from her predecessor: "It's not going to be one person's agenda. It's going to be formed by all of the senators." Her stated top priorities are boosting public education funding and healthcare coverage, and on THC - which outgoing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tried to ban last year - she said: "I think that we need regulation of THC. I'm not interested in a full ban on THC."

Patrick, meanwhile, is urging his party to move first. He told conservative radio host Mark Davis this week that Senate Republicans should change the rules, saying: "Vikki Goodwin won, but she doesn't have the majority of votes on the floor. So, I believe, and I support the Republicans standing up for their voters." CBS News Texas reported there is no word yet on what rules Senate Republicans will try to change, and that Republican state senators it contacted were unavailable or did not respond. The lieutenant governor's office is among the most powerful legislative posts in the country - its holder writes the budget, picks committee chairs and decides which bills reach the Senate floor.

Goodwin was not the only incoming leader building a cross-party team on Tuesday. The presumptive next Speaker of the Texas House, Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, announced a transition leadership team that includes three former Republican Speakers: Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen and Dade Phelan. The House elects its Speaker on the first day of the session, Tuesday, January 12; if Thompson is formally elected, the Capitol's top elected leaders will all be women for the first time - Thompson, Goodwin and Gov. Gina Hinojosa.