Jared Patterson

Jared Lynn Patterson (born April 1, 1983) is an American politician from Texas. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the 106th district in November 2018, he assumed office on January 8, 2019. An analysis of votes in the 2023 regular session found that Patterson was the most right-wing of 85 Republican members of the Texas House.

Early life and education

Patterson was born on April 1, 1983. He holds a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University.

Political career

In 2017, he filed to run for House District 106 after incumbent Pat Fallon announced his run for Congress. Patterson won 54% of the vote in the March 2018 Republican primary election, defeating Clint Bedsole, who received 46% of the vote. In the November 2018 general election, Patterson won 58.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Ramona Thompson.

In the March 2020 Republican primary, Patterson won re-nomination with 76.09% of the vote, defeating a challenge from James Trombley. In the 2020 general election, he received 73,692 votes (58.51%), defeating Democratic nominee Jennifer Skidonenko. In 2022, he won reelection in an uncontested race.

In the 86th Texas Legislature (2019), Patterson was a member of the Aggregate Production Operations, Interim Study; Business & Industry; Resolutions Calendars; and Urban Affairs committees. In the 87th Texas Legislature (2021), Patterson was a member of the Business & Industry, Calendars, and Homeland Security & Public Safety committees. In the 88th Texas Legislature (2023), Patterson was a member of the Calendars, Licensing & Administrative, and Procedures committees. Patterson was also a deputy floor leader and a member of the Policy Committee for the Texas House Republican Caucus.

An analysis of votes from the 2023 regular session of the Texas Legislature, conducted by Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, ranked Patterson as the most conservative member of the state House, based on votes cast. He has aligned himself with the Texas Freedom Caucus, a bloc of hardline conservatives. In February 2023, he was named policy chair of the House Republican Caucus.

In 2019, Patterson filed legislation to shut down Power to Choose, a Texas Public Utility Commission-managed website (introduced after the deregulation of the Texas electricity market) that for twenty years had allowed Texans to shop for electricity by comparing electricity plans. Patterson contended that the website unfairly intruded upon private business. In 2021, Patterson introduced an anti-"puppy mill" bill that sought to ban the retail sale of commercially raised dogs and cats in Texas; although supported by animal welfare groups, the measure did not pass. In 2023, Patterson co-sponsored, with Democratic representative Donna Howard, a bill to exempt infant and adult diapers from sales tax.

In 2021, amid many Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election, Patterson introduced legislation to prohibit a 24-hour voting initiative in Harris County (which includes Houston). In 2021, Patterson introduced a bill to allow poll workers and election judges to carry handguns at polling places, it passed the state House, but died in the Senate. Patterson reintroduced the bill in 2023. The Texas League of Women Voters opposed the proposal.

Although Patterson is from a district in North Texas, in 2022 he filed a bill and corresponding proposed state constitutional amendment to dissolve the city of Austin and create a "District of Austin" under the control of the state lieutenant governor and speaker of the House of Representatives. The bill to remove Austin's local control failed.

In 2023, Patterson opposed proposals to grant school tax breaks for renewable-energy projects (wind energy and solar energy in Texas).

In 2023, Patterson voted to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an issue that split Texas Republicans. In 2023, Patterson voted in favor of the school voucher program that was a key priority of Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott; the proposed program had divided Texas Republicans.

In 2023, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Patterson introduced legislation to block companies that helped pay for employees' out-of-state abortions from receiving Texas tax incentives.

In 2022, Patterson and other Texas Republicans launched a campaign to remove books they deemed "obscene" from school libraries; the National Coalition Against Censorship denounced Patterson's legislation. In 2023, amid the book-banning movement, Patterson sponsored House Bill 900, a measure that passed the Legislature and was signed into law by Abbott. HB 900 restricted books available in school libraries, and also required private booksellers to assign ratings to books based on sexual references within them. During debates on the legislation, Patterson suggested that under his bill, school libraries might be required to ban Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove, but acknowledged that he had never read the book. The American Booksellers Association, Association of American Publishers, and Authors Guild, as well as two Texas book vendors, sued the state over GB 900, citing First Amendment. The federal courts blocking the law from taking effect, agreeing that the law is unconstitutional.

Personal life

Patterson lives in Frisco, Texas.