AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – President Donald Trump has nominated for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas an ex-state district judge whose father is Texas’ tea party-backed lieutenant governor.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ryan Patrick’s territory would include Houston. He was a judge on the 177th District Court in America’s fourth-largest city from 2012 until losing a re-election bid last year.
Patrick’s father, Dan Patrick, oversees the Texas Senate and has been the state’s top advocate for many conservative priorities. Those included a failed “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people and a new anti-“sanctuary cities” law allowing police to enforce federal immigration policy.
Ryan Patrick also was assistant district attorney for Harris County from 2006 to 2012.
His was one of several U.S. attorney nominations announced Wednesday by the White House.