League City hemp-product retailers are celebrating Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's ouster but warning that a federal ban set to take effect Dec. 11 could still shut them down.
Scott Stubbs, owner of Sublingwell Cannabinoids and Euphorics, and Kenneth Berner, co-owner of Burners Vape/Smoke/Herb, welcomed Patrick's defeat on Nov. 3, The Galveston County Daily News reported. Berner described Patrick's legislative push against hemp-derived THC products as a personal crusade.
Stubbs owns shops in League City, Kemah and Webster. Berner has stores in League City and Bacliff.
"I hope that this resonates with the party leadership that nothing is set in stone," Berner told the Daily News. "If you turn your back on the voters, this is what happens."
Patrick, first elected lieutenant governor in 2014, lost his fourth-term bid to Democratic challenger Vikki Goodwin. Goodwin received about 51.7% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Texas Secretary of State's office, as The Texan reported. Patrick conceded Nov. 4, calling the result "fair and square."
The lieutenant governor presides over the Texas Senate and controls which bills reach the floor. Patrick championed three measures to ban most intoxicating hemp-derived products during his last term: Senate Bill 3 in March 2025, Senate Bill 5 in July and Senate Bill 6 in August, the Daily News reported. All three failed to become law.
Julie Rice, a manager at Stubbs' League City shop, told the Daily News she was relieved by Patrick's defeat. Rice said she has interstitial cystitis, a chronic bladder condition, and that hemp-derived products eased her symptoms after other treatments fell short.
Relief is partial
New state officials won't take office until January, and several threats remain, the Daily News reported.
A state rule still prohibits selling THCA flower as a smokable hemp product. The Texas Hemp Business Council is challenging that rule in court and awaiting a Dec. 8 hearing, according to Cynthia Cabrera, whom the Daily News identified as a board member of the council.
Cabrera also said state retail registration fees jumped from $150 to $5,000 per location and called for them to be reduced.
The bigger deadline looms at the federal level. Congress approved restrictions banning hemp-derived products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, Weedmaps reported. Most of those restrictions take effect Dec. 11. Cabrera told the Daily News the council is working with lobbyists to secure an extension before that deadline.
In December 2025, Stubbs told the Daily News that roughly 80% of his products would become illegal under the federal ban, wiping out nearly $94,000 in monthly revenue. His three stores serve about 2,000 customers a month, and about one-third are veterans, he said at the time.
Berner and Rice told the Daily News they had previously supported Republican candidates but that Patrick's campaign against hemp products pushed them away from some party members. Stubbs said he believes voter support for THC products helped Democrats win statewide races.
Goodwin campaigned on legalizing and regulating cannabis like alcohol and proposed taxing legal sales to help fund a state health insurance program, the Daily News reported. The 90th Texas Legislative Session begins Jan. 12, 2027.
State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, has said he plans another consumable-hemp ban bill for that session, Weedmaps reported. Local retailers face the federal deadline first and another state fight behind it.
