Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick leads Texas Senate vote letting GOP bring bills to floor without Dem support Posted By Sanford Nowlin on Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 10:11 AM Twiiter / DanPatrick Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick led a vote to lower the supermajority threshold in the Texas Senate. As he s threatened to do, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick led Republicans in the Texas Senate to alter its procedural rules, derailing Democrats’ ability to block legislation in the GOP-controlled upper chamber. In a 18-13 vote Wednesday that split along party lines, state senators lowered the threshold needed to move legislation to a floor vote. Previously, the body required a three-fifths supermajority or 19 votes to bring bills to the floor. However, the election of Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, in November dropped the n