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

AUSTIN — Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin appeared at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday with the bipartisan leadership team that will run her transition, CBS News Texas reported — a team that includes two former Republican state senators, Tommy Williams of the Houston suburbs and Kel Seliger of Amarillo. “I am so honored to be the first woman Lt. Governor-elect of the State of Texas,” Goodwin said, according to the report. Outgoing Democratic state Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, the transition team's chairman, 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, a Democrat, takes office on January 19 and will become president of a Texas Senate where Republicans keep their majority — and the lieutenant governor's office she is inheriting is, as CBS News Texas noted, one of the most powerful legislative posts in the country, writing the budget, picking committee chairs and deciding which bills reach the Senate floor. Outgoing Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told conservative radio host Mark Davis this week that Senate Republicans should change the rules. “Vikki Goodwin won, but she doesn't have the majority of votes on the floor,” Patrick said. “So, I believe, and I support the Republicans standing up for their voters.” The report said there was no word yet on what rules Senate Republicans will try to change, and that Republican state senators contacted by CBS News Texas were unavailable or did not respond.

Asked about her new responsibilities, Goodwin signaled a different style from Patrick's: “It's not going to be one person's agenda,” she said. “It's going to be formed by all of the senators.” She named boosting public education funding and healthcare coverage as her top priorities, and on THC she parted with Patrick's push last year to ban the products: “I think that we need regulation of THC. I'm not interested in a full ban on THC.”

The House side moved the same day. The presumptive next speaker, Democratic state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, announced a transition leadership team that includes three former Republican speakers — Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen and Dade Phelan — CBS News Texas reported. House members vote for speaker on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, January 12; if Thompson is formally elected, the report noted, the top elected leaders at the Texas Capitol — Thompson, Goodwin and Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa — would all be women for the first time.