Patrick was friendly with both Rockefeller and Faubus, who were opposing major party candidates in the gubernatorial general election held on November 3, 1964, at the same time that Republican U.S.
Patrick frequently attended meetings in the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock and at the wealthy Rockefeller's exclusive estate, WinRock Farms, in nearby Morrilton in Conway County.
[2] In 1981, Patrick was among those who supported Republican Governor Frank D. White's decision to appoint Faubus to head the Arkansas Veterans Affairs Department.
Numerous Moderate Republicans, who had formerly identified with Rockefeller, including Leona Troxell of White County, opposed the Faubus selection.
The previous incumbent for Carroll County, Teague, who formerly called himself a "Faubus Republican", was sixty-two years old in the 1966 race against the 25-year-old Patrick.
Before he switched to Democrat affiliation, Teague had been an Arkansas delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention, which met in Chicago, Illinois, to nominate the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket.
[4] The first Republican representative elected in Madison and Carroll counties,[5] Patrick defeated Teague by thirty-three votes in 1966 and by some three hundred ballots in 1968.
In the campaign, Smith had questioned Patrick for having been "absent or not voting" on 263 recorded roll calls during the past legislative session.
On leaving the superintendency, Patrick for two years directed truck driving instruction at Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale, Arkansas.