He ran in the Democratic primary that constituted the competitive contest in Alabama at the time on a platform that ardently supported President Roosevelt's New Deal.

He successfully defeated incumbent Congressman George Huddleston on this platform in 1936 in a hard-fought campaign that saw Congressman Huddleston strike Patrick with a sauce bottle in a restaurant after a heated argument.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1946 and resumed law practice in Birmingham, Alabama.

According to Variety: "Patrick, running as a radio wit and debunker, astonished seasoned politicians when he ran without a platform, without professing to know anything about complex economic problems and without promising anybody anything.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress