Silver-tongued Devil." Patrick left his job at KHOU in the mid-1980s after failing to reach an agreement with Belo Corporation (which bought KHOU-TV in 1984) for a long-term contract. Sports bar chain In November 1983, Patrick and several investors opened one of the first sports bars in the U.S., which they named Dan and Nick's Sportsmarket. The bar did well for a time, due to "the strength of Patrick's personality" and an oil boom in Houston at the time, and they eventually took ownership of five sports bars in the city. Patrick's mother was the company bookkeeper. Questions later arose during the 2014 lieutenant governor's race about the immigration status of one of Patrick's employees, Miguel "Mike" Andrade. Patrick and Andrade offered different recollections about Andrade's employment. The matter was raised by one of Patrick's opponents, Jerry Patterson, who questioned Patrick's declared commitment to halt illegal immigration. When the oil boom of the mid-80s ended, Houston's economy fell and fiscally damaged Patrick's sports bar chain. In 1986, after the sports bars failed, Patrick filed for personal bankruptcy and in October 1992, discharged several hundred thousand dollars of debt obligation. Patrick, who stated it took him 10 years for him and his family "to regain financial equilibrium," has frequently and openly discussed the ordeal and stated how it shaped him as an individual and conservative. Conservative talk radio host Following bankruptcy, Patrick reinvented himself as a conservative talk radio host in the 1990s. He began by buying a four-hour timeslot at AM 700 KSEV (then called KTBT) in the summer of 1987. He originally was a sports radio host, operating out of his remaining sports bar. However, he was able to take over the radio station in 1988, and he switched to politics shortly afterward. He hosted a conservative radio talk show. The program, Dan Patrick & Friends, was broadcast in the Houston radio market on KSEV and in Dallas on AM 1160 KVCE. Initially he broadcast under the pseudonym Dan Scott as a radio host, later changing to the current name at the request of his employer to avoid confusion of Patrick with another anchor at a competing station with the last name of Scott. Patrick grew successful and influential through his talk radio career. He earned high name recognition. As a talk radio host, Patrick advocated for fiscal conservatism, evangelical Christian values on social issues, and he became a