Early political career

He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1912, attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin, was admitted to the bar in 1918, and began his law practice in Crockett.

During the First World War, Patton enlisted in the United States Army but was never sworn in because the armistice was signed.

Patton was elected in 1918 as county judge of Houston County and served until 1922.

He served in the Texas State Senate from 1929 to 1934. He was also a delegate to the Texas Democratic state conventions in 1924 and 1935.

Congress

In 1934, Patton was elected to the Seventy-fourth and then to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1945). Patton was defeated for renomination in 1944 by Tom Pickett.