Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
323153078
label
Clayton Williams Fundraiser 10/15/90 [OA 6896]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
323153078
contentType
document
title
Clayton Williams Fundraiser 10/15/90 [OA 6896]
citationUrl
identifierLocal
13733-006
collections
Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Chronological Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
323153078
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
0232a4dbdcae20a6
ocrText
Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13733
Folder ID Number:
13733-006
Folder Title:
Clayton Williams Fundraiser 10/15/90 [OA 6896]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
20
7
7
Ritchel 684- 1818 ,7821 Homerach / w/drow? may?
5 Armilet yrs. bet flay office bldg. pelt ther. can't May 22
pollmd sister Hellin daddy 10 the you way get forsomiune
out who of cen.
SECRETARY ELIZABETH DOLE
REMARKS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
CLAYTON WILLIAMS FUNDRAISER
SEPTEMBER 26, 1990
HOUSTON, TEXAS
Thank you for that warm Texas welcome, and thank you,
Clayton, for those kind words of introduction. What a pleasure
it is to join a group who ashare a commitment to ensuring that
Clayton Williams will be the next Governor of the great state of
Texas. And hope pleased I am to return to a state and a city
where I don't need to bring along my interpreter!
I bring greetings today from a fellow who calls Houston his
home, and for whom I am very privileged to serve--President
George Bush. And aren't you proud of the outstanding leadership
he is providing to American and the entire world?
Successful businessman, oilman, farmer, rancher, high-tech
executive, award-winning teacher, husband, father, anti-drug
crusader, Texan. Clayton Williams has been all this and more in
his remarkable career.
It was a career that began at the age of 14, when Clayton
ran his own farm, and first learned the challenges of running his
own business, and first earned his reputation as a leader of
common sense and an uncommon ability to solve problems.
Clayton's amazing story has been told in Texas and across
the nation. How he took $2,000 he saved selling insurance and
waiting tables to form an oil and gas company. How he struggled
for two years before hitting his first successful oil well. How
that well would eventually lead to the largest individually-
owned gas company in Texas. How he would eventually lead 26
companies, providing jobs and payrolls to thousands of Texans.
Now, Clayton wants to put that experience to work for all
Texans
Experience that will serve him--and you--very well,
indeed.
Clayton knows that government, like you and I, must learn to
live within a budget. And he knows the pressures of meeting a
payroll, the dangers of excessive government mandates,
regulations, and red tape.
Clayton, I've always been inspired by the words of Winston
Churchill, who I suspect might have become a Texan had he been
born in the United States.
Churchill said, "Some see private enterprise as the
1
Then, as now, the stature of women everywhere would be
diminished if a candidate for major office were supported simply
because she's a woman. Those who think women will vote for
gender, underestimate the intelligence and insight of women
voters everywhere. The idea that the election could be won on
the basis of gender insults our electoral process. We are
thinking women. No platitudes will buy us. No party will
inherit us. No candidate will own us. We're too smart, too
savvy. Like all voters, we don't want promises. We want
results.
Both men and women want a governor who goes to bat for the
small businessmen and women of Texas.
Both men and women want a governor who will fight for
farmers and ranchers.
Both men and women want a governor who's not afraid to
tackle the tough issues.
Both men and women want a governor who will lead the fight
against crime and drugs.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is Clayton's record. And that's
why each and every day, more and more Texans are moving to
Clayton's corner. The press is reporting it. And you can feel
it. Clayton has the momentum, and come November, the men and
women of Texas will join forces to elect Clayton Williams as your
next Governor.
I believe that nothing is more important than helping George
Bush succeed, and the best way you can make that happen is to
redouble your efforts on behalf of Clayton Williams.
And I know that when Clayton needs a little help up on
Capitol Hill, he'll want to be able to put a call in to a newly-
reelected Senator Phil Gramm. We all know of the vision and
leadership that Phil has provided to our country as we work to
put our financial house in order. And we know that he deserves
an overwhelming victory so he can keep right on working.
I have to admit, however, that I do have a personal reason
in wanting to see Phil back in the United States Senate. You
see, I've been married to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and
I've been married to the Minority Leader of the Senate, and I can
-
tell you that the difference is like night and day!
The difference would also be like night and day if Houston's
Bill Archer was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, instead
of serving as the ranking Republican.
3
Seriously, I firmly believe that nothing is more important
to the future of America than helping George Bush succeed, and
the best way to do that is to give him a Republican majority in
the Senate and the House--And you can help by redoubling your
efforts from now until November to ensure Phil's victory and the
victory of the Houston area's outstanding trio of Republican
Congressmen--Bill Archer, Joe Barton, and Jack Fields.
You're here because you care. Please give generously of
your time and energy. Dig a little bit deeper for those
contributions. Give, as they say, "til it hurts." Share your
time and energy. Pull out all the stops for Clayton Williams.
By doing so, you'll help ensure that Texas' best days are yet to
come.
And as we prepare for Election Day 1990, and for the
challenges of the new century which lies ahead, let us take heart
from the words of a predecessor of President Bush, a man who,
like Clayton Williams, stood tall in the saddle. Almost a
hundred years ago, Teddy Roosevelt sized up the challenges of a
new century, and said,
"We are face to face with our destiny, and we must meet it
with a high and resolute courage. For ours is the life of
action, of vigorous performance of duty. Let us live in the
harness, striving mightily; Let us run the risk of wearing out,
rather than rusting out."
My friends, under Clayton's leadership, we will run that
risk. And in doing so, we will enure that the best days for
Texas and Texans are yet to come.
Thank you and God bless you.
4
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Clayton Williams
FOR
GOVERNOR
1101 Trinity Street
Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78701
512/477-1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS OUTLINES HANDS-ON APPROACH TO TEXAS' ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
-- WILL TRAVEL TO MEXICO CITY NEXT WEEK 10 DISCUSS TRADE OPPORTUNITIES
Dallas, Tx. -- Saying that he is "an entrepreneur, and not a professional politician,"
GOP Gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams today outlined several economic development
initiatives that will later be included in a comprehensive white paper on Texas' economic
future.
In an address before the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, Williams said he would
take a "hands-on" approach to expanding markets for Texas' businesses and noted he would
travel to Mexico City next week, "lo meet with key business leaders and government officials to
discuss economic opportunities" for Texas in the 1990s.
Specifically, Williams said:
"We need a completed free-trade agreement with Mexico as soon as possible, with the ultimate
goal being a North American Free Trade Zone."
*
He supports expanding direct air roules between Texas and international markets and said,
"expanded air cargo shipments working In conjunction with free-trade zones will provide an
efficient vehicle for expanding trade abroad."
He will personally lead trade missions to foreign countries, and advocates an expansion in the
number and frequency of foreign trips to promote Texas business.
That because of Texas' rich cultural background, he will encourage Hispanic and Asian-
American business leaders to open new avenues of communication with Latin-Amèrican and
Pacific rim nations.
He would promote a "healthy and attractive quality of life" in Texas to attract additional
foreign businesses to the State. Williams said he would seek lo create "drug free and crime free
communities" and seek to make Texas' education system "the envy of the nation."
He will work to overhaul the workers' compensation system and seek deregulation of the
trucking Industry. Williams said "unreasonable government regulation will be a prime target of
my Administration.
Williams said It's Important for the voters of Texas lo compare the business records of
the two candidates for Governor. He told the group:
"Your real test will come in evaluating the candidates on this issue," he said. "Who can
deliver? Who has the background, experience and expertise? When someone talks of the need for
Texas to expand its markets internationally and to diversify its economic base, I've done it."
Said Williams: "Ms. Richards' experience is rooted in government -- in the ivory
lowers of Austin, where political gossip and public posturing are the main Industries. I make
my proposals based on first-hand experience and what I know will work."
#####
Clayton Williams
FOR
GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin, Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS OUTLINES TEXAS ECONOMIC GOALS FOR 1990s
-- SAYS U.S./MEXICO FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WILL BOOST SAN ANTONIO ECONOMY --
SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Saying that "economic growth in Mexico stimulates economic health in San
Antonio and the rest of Texas," GOP gobernatorial nominee Clayton Williams today discussed his economic
priorities for the 1990s in an address to the members of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners.
Williams said the economic challenges facing Texas have been "created in part by the very successes of the
Reagan-Bush Administration's foreign policy achievements of the 1980s."
Said Williams: "With the destruction of the Berlin Wall, and with peace breaking out across the globe,
President Bush has indicated that we must no longer spend as much money on the military but while peace is
our objective, we must realize that much of Texas employment base is focused around Federal military
programs."
Williams outlined several goals he hopes to see achieved during his Administration designed to help
ompensate for a reduction in military contracts:
1)
CONTINUED ECONOMIC GROWTH
"To remain competitive with other states in attracting new businesses -- as well as keeping existing
businesses within Texas, my primary objective as Governor will be to keep our economy growing
Unlike
Ann Richards, I don't believe tax increases are the first answer to every problem. Tax increases are a disincentive
to economic growth and a drag on productivity."
2)
FIND NEW MARKETS FOR OLD PRODUCTS
"With the changes occurring in Eastern Europe and with the European Economic Community moving
towards a common market by 1992, tremendous opportunities exist to seek new markets for existing products."
Williams mentioned the V-22 Osprey, an aircraft built in Texas, as an example of a high-tech military
project that has many applications for civilian use.
3)
COMPLETE THE U.S./MEXICO FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
"Along with the Eastern Europe and Pacific rim nations, Mexico is fertile ground for Texas exports -- and
San Antonio clearly stands to gain substantially from the pending U.S./Mexico Free Trade Agreement," he said.
"Economic growth in Mexico stimulates economic health in San Antonio and the rest of Texas and, as
Governor, I will seek to work closely with President Salinas to ensure that the inevitable integration of the U.S.
and Mexican economies occurs as efficiently as possible."
4)
EXPAND THE SCOPE OF STATE OF TEXAS FOREIGN OFFICES
"State of Texas offices already exist in Mexico City, Tokyo and Taiwan. Korean and German offices are
in the process of being opened.
"To take advantage of additional potential markets for San Antonio and for Texas-based high-technology
products, I plan to investigate the cost-effectiveness of opening additional offices in countries like Brazil and
Czechoslovakia -- nations possessing the strong potential for becoming-major players in the world economy."
Williams concluded by saying that the next Governor of the State of Texas, "will be required to pursue
international opportunities for Texas, its businesses and its products
What I want to do, quite frankly, is to
become and international advocate for our State."
#####
Williams cites business role
GOP candidate says he's qualified to boost economy
By ALAN BERNSTEIN
Houston Chronicle
Political Writer
6/28/90
Gubernatorial candidate Clay-
ton Williams matched opponent
Ann Richards' economic develop-
ment proposals with some of his
own here Wednesday, saying he is
better qualified to boost the Texas
economy.
"I'm an entrepreneur." Williams
said at a Greater Houston Partner-
ship luncheon. "I'm not a politi-
cian."
Williams. the Republican nomi-
nee. told the business group his
decisions on economic issues
would be based on knowledge
gained in oil exploration. ranching,
telecommunications and banking.
GOP gubernatorial candidate
Democratic hopeful Ann
He charged that Richards would
Clayton Williams say he's an
Richards plans to promote
base her decisions on opinion poll
entrepreneur, "not a politi-
business with Pacific Rim na-
results and that her experience is
cian."
tions.
limited to public service in Austin.
"where political gossip and public
system and "drug-free and crime-
age the in-state processing of
posturing are the main industries."
free communities." he said.
Texas raw materials: and state-
Richards. a Democrat. is state
Williams told reporters after the
backed programs to expand the
treasurer.
speech that he disagrees with
availability of credit and help em-
Williams said he would work to
Richards' idea of considering ex-
ployers improve productivity.
erase trade restrictions between
pansion of the corporate franchise
Like Williams. Richards said she
the United States and Mexico and
tax to businesses currently ex-
would promote business with Pa-
would lead Texas trade missions to
empt.
cific Rim nations and visit coun-
foreign countries. He revealed
Such a tax would merely in-
tries where trade with Texas can
Wednesday he plans to conduct a
crease the financial burden of busi-
be promoted.
"fact-finding" trip next week to
ness. Williams said. adding, "We
In Austin Wednesday. a conser-
Mexico City and will meet with
can't kill the goose that laid the
vative group calling itself People
Mexican Cabinet members.
golden egg."
for the Texas Way said it will urge
Williams said he would attract
Richards. in a speech to the
delegates to this week's Republi-
business to Texas by working to
same group last week. outlined her
can state convention in Fort Worth
overhaul the workers' compensa-
economic development proposais.
to adopt a resolution blasting
tion system and deregulate truck-
They included a "Buy Texas" cam-
Richards and opposing repeal of
ing. Texas would also become
paign to link sellers of Texas prod-
the state's sodomy law.
more attractive to relocating busi-
ucts with potential buyers: a
Richards favors removing the
nesses with an improved education
"Build Texas" program to encour-
law from the books.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS 6/28/90
Williams plan for state
emphasizes foreign trade
By Enrique Rangel
Negotiating a free-trade
Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
agreement with Mexico.
Contending that expanding in-
Expanding direct air routes
ternational trade is vital for the
between Texas and international
Texas economy, GOP gubernato-
markets.
rial candidate Clayton Williams
Leading trade missions
on Thursday outlined a six-point
abroad to promote Texas busi-
plan for the state's future.
nesses.
If elected governor, he said, he
Taking advantage of the
would take a "hands-on" approach
state's "rich cultural background"
to expand markets for Texas busi-
to encourage Hispanic and Asian-
nesses. Mr. Williams, who faces
American business leaders to es-
Democrat Ann Richards in the
tablish communications with
governor's election Nov. 6, spoke
Latin American and Pacific Rim
before about 400 people at a gath-
countries.
ering of the Texas Society of Pro-
Promoting a "healthy and at-
fessional Engineers in North Dal-
tractive quality of life" in the
las.
state that includes a drug-free and
In his 22-minute speech. Mr.
crime-free Texas with a superior
Williams said he is not waiting
education system.
until after the election to start
Restoring the business cli-
working on what would be the
mate that made Texas a pros-
blueprint of his administration.
perous state. He said that if
Next week he is traveling to
elected he would overhaul the
Mexico City to meet with business
workers compensation system,
leaders and government officials
deregulate the trucking industry
to discuss economic opportunites
and propose a revision of the
for both sides.
state's liability laws.
"Expanding our international
Mr. Williams said his experi-
trade is a very important role," he
ence as a businessman would help
told his audience.
him implement such policies if he
The six-point plan:
is elected.
Williams outlines plan
for economic growth
By Selwyn Crawford 5/30/90
steps toward that goal. The first, he
Fort Worth Bureau of The Dallas Morning News
said. is continued economic growth
FORT WORTH - Republican g11-
in the state, which he said would be
bernatorial candidate Clayton Wil-
hampered if taxes were increased.
llams brought his campaign here
"Unlike some others. I don't be-
Tuesday, offering something old
lieve tax increases are the first an-
and something new.
swer to every problem." Mr. Wil-
Actually the old was something
liams said, to widespread applause.
borrowed. a well-known saying that
"Tax increases are a disincentive to
Mr. Williams turned into a cam-
economic growth and a drag on pro-
paign promise.
ductivity, and business people like
"If you elect me as your gover-
us know that."
nor, I'll give you a day's work for a
Second, Mr. Williams said, as
Clayton Williams
"The
day's pay," he told a luncheon audi-
governor he would find "new mar-
governor's office is very
ence of about 500 people at the Pe-
kets for old products." He men-
troleum Club.
weak. You must be a sales-
tioned the V-22 Osprey as an exam-
The new was Mr. Williams' ideas
pie of a high-tech military project
man and a marketer, and I
to expand what he called the "post-
with several civilian uses overseas.
am."
Cold War Texas economy" through-
The third step in his plan is to
in such countries as Czechosiovakia
out the world. He said that Texas
increase the number of Texas of-
and Brazil.
employment has been heavily de-
fices in other countries. Already,
"The governor's office is very
pendent on federal military pro-
the state has offices in Mexico, Ja-
weak." Mr. Williams said. "You
grams. With the changing global
pan. Taiwan, South Korea and West
must be a salesman and a marketer,
climate, he said, the state "must di-
Germany.
and I am. I want to become an inter-
versify by necessity."
Mr. Williams said would like to
national advocate. an international
Mr. Williams outlined three
see more Texas government offices
salesperson for Texas."
CRIME AND DRUGS
RE: Clayton Williams Drug Program (plan attached)
Synopsis of drug 25-Point Drug War Program:
The war on drugs, obviously, is a nationwide problem. William
Bennett has said Clayton Williams' drug plan may possibly become
the model program for all states.
*
Clayton Williams is the one candidate who has presented a detailed plan to
win the war on drugs in Texas. The plan attacks drugs on all fronts -- supply
with increased penalties for drug users; demand with increased law
enforcement to get the drug dealers off the streets and more prison space to
keep them behind bars; education with expanded programs beginning in
kindergarten and rehabilitaton.
*
The strongest selling point in Williams' drug plan: a 90-day boot camp for
first-time felony offenders. Model camp in Florida has a 65 percent success
rate. The boot camp is designed to "shock" offenders, they will be introduced
to early morning exercise, military drill and the "joys of busting rocks."
*
The boot camp will be followed by a work camp where these offenders will
do a days work for a days pay. When they are released, their record will be
cleared, they will have money in their pocket and they will have a job skill.
The idea -- get these people back into the mainstream of society, make them a
productive member of society.
*
In addition to outlining a specific plan to win the war on drugs in Texas,
Williams has also identified seven cuts in our state government to fund his
program. Over a four year period, the drug plan will cost our state $1.5
billion; Williams has outlined $1.6 billion in cuts. (See attached)
Liz: We have two very specific programs that our campaign has put together
-- the drug program and an education program. The education program is
designed to give two years free tuition to any deserving high school student at
any state-funded institution of higher educaton. In Claytie terms, if these kids
don't get an education, they have two roads -- crime or welfare and we will
pay for them in the end. He believes we should give them the chance to go to
college and become a productive member of society. However, in light of the
present controversy in Texas over school finance, we would rather not get
into this issue right now.
Clayton Williams
25
POINT
DRUG
WAR
As our next Governor, Clayton Williams
Hold Users Accountable
is going to win the war against drugs and
drug pushers - - here's how:
7
Increase minimum sentences and
fines for convicted drug users.
Strengthen Law Enforcement
8
Establish special courts and add more
judges and prosecutors to expedite
1
Double the number of state law
drug-related cases.
enforcement officers and federal
agents fighting drugs in Texas.
9
Provide incentives for drug-free
workplaces by requiring insurance
2
Provide more training for all peace,
companies to offer special discounts
parole and probation officers on how
to drug-free businesses.
to identify drug users.
10
Suspend driver's licenses of convicted
3
Strengthen forfeiture laws so the
drug users and require counseling and
assets of drug dealers can be seized
testing before licenses can be re-
to help pay court costs and fund law
stored.
enforcement.
II
Immediately suspend any student
4
Expand Narcotics Control Program
convicted using or selling drugs on a
statewide - from the current 175
state-funded college or university.
counties to all.254 counties.
Punish Drug Dealers and Users
5
Improve the state's anti-drug intelli-
gence network so anti-drug agencies
12
Impose the death penalty on any drug
can share and gather information
pusher who sells drugs to a child if the
more efficiently.
child dies as a result of using those
drugs.
6
Seek more federal resources for
Texas - - a higher percentage of drugs
13
Prioritize court schedules to keep
are smuggled across Texas borders
repeat violent drug criminals behind
into America, we need more federal
bars.
resources to stop it.
14
Tighten bail restrictions to keep violent
drug-related criminals locked up and
off the street.
Pd. Pol. Adv. Paid for by the Clayton Williams Campaign. 1122 Colorado. Suite 307. Austin. Texas 78701
15
Send first-time felony offenders ages
23
Provide more counseling for elemen-
16-24 to military-style boot camps for
tary school children who are likely to
anti-drug counseling and lessons in
become problem teenagers.
discipline, hard work and self-respect.
24
Appoint a Governor's Drug Liaison
Make drug criminals pay for their
who will work with community-based
16
crimes by allowing their victims to
programs designed to achieve drug-
collect civil damages.
free neighborhoods.
17
Implement random drug testing for
25
Include in state mailings literature
paroled drug offenders.
about the dangers of drugs and how
to seek help for drug abuse.
18
Double sentences for anyone con-
victed of a drug-related crime against
Fight Drugs Without New Taxes
a child.
To finance the war on drugs,
Clayton Williams will:
and Rehabilitation Programs
Cut state operational spending by 7
9
Expand treatment centers aimed at
percent - except for education, law
teenagers and locate centers in
enforcement and health care.
drug-use problem areas.
Impose an across-the-board hiring freeze
20
Encourage school districts to establish
in all areas except education and criminal
student support groups and provide
justice.
substance abuse counselors.
Repeal the state's prevailing wage law.
21
Target more federal funding for Drug-
Free Youth Centers in inner city
Sell the state's 61 airplanes and 75
areas.
printshops to the private sector where the
work can be done more efficiently - at
Save Our Children
substantial savings to taxpayers.
22
Expand drug education in local
schools to include all grades -
Clayton Williams
kindergarten through 12.
REPUBLICAN FOR GOVERNOR
Revenue to Pay for Clayton Williams War on Drugs
Estimated Revenue
Amount Saved
Proposal
per Biennium
1.
Freeze all hiring of new state employees with the exceptions of personnel
$320,548,704
needed to fight the war on drugs and public education.
In 1979 there were 167,635 employees (excluding employees in public edu-
cation) on the state payroll.
In 1988 there were 211,426 employees (excluding employees in public edu-
cation) on the payroll.
That is an increase of 43,791 in ten years. Excluding the 12,545 employees
hired for activities related to criminal justice, that is an increase of 6,249 em-
ployees per biennium.
The current average salary of a state employee is $21,374 per year³. Private
industry uses 20% to 33% override to determine cost of benefits. Using
20%, that adds $4,274 for vacation, sick leave, insurance and employee
benefits. That is an average of $320,548,704 per biennium for new em-
ployee costs.
2.
Reduce all operational (non-salary items) budgets for state agencies by at
$235,610,910⁴
least 7%, except for agencies involved in the war on drugs or education. Im-
plementation of the uniform state-wide accounting system will provide the
necessary tool to identify areas where cuts can be made.
3.
Repeal prevailing wage laws. Texas spent at least $4,071,072,651 on con-
$203,553,600⁶
struction projects last biennium. The state's prevailing wage law raises the
taxpayers' costs for these projects at least five percent. In the last decade
nine other states have repealed their prevailing wage laws and reduced the
burden on their taxpayers.
4.
Sell the state printing shops. The state owns and operates 75 separate
$30,000,000
printing shops. Further we should require the state to cover 50% of their
printing costs by charging a fee for the publications.
5.
Sell 10% of state-owned vehicles. The state owns over 21,000 automobiles.
$15,000,000
Force every agency (except criminal justice and school buses) to sell 10% of
their vehicles. 8
6.
Privatize the State Aircraft Pool. The state owns and operates an air force of
$5,000,000
over 40 planes to transport bureaucrats and politicians. An efficiency-minded
contractor, secured by competitive bids, should be able to operate a reduced
fleet at a lower cost. 9
7.
Privatize the state auditor's functions. Auditing is a task best performed by
$2,000,000
the private sector. A private firm, chosen by competitive bid, could provide
more reliable results. 10
Increased enforcement and prosecution will yield additional revenue from
fines and asset seizures. That revenue is not included.
TOTAL
$811,713,214
Page 7
Clayton Williams
FOR GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin. Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS BACKS STRENGTHENING DEATH PENALTY
-- ASKS RICHARDS TO JOIN HIM IN EFFORT - --
Austin, Tx. Saying that "Texans want firm and decisive steps taken to reduce
the crime rate and to exact fair and swift justice of those individuals convicted of
committing murder," GOP Gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams said in a speech
before the Texas Sheriff's Association that he supports efforts to streamline the method
of filing appeals.
Williams asked Richards to join him in helping to strengthen death penalty laws.
"Courts have repeatedly ruled Texas' death penalty is legal," said Williams.
"The problem is that our current system of multi-layered state and federal appeals
offers all forms of delays."
Noting that the average stay on death row following conviction is eight years,
Williams said that "these delays undermine public confidence in our judicial process and
lead some to think that all appeals are frivolous - which they are not."
Williams said he supports a reform measure encompassed in a recently passed
U.S. Senate crime bill that limits inmates to one federal court appeal of the
constitutionality of their sentence. "The reform," said Williams, "would prohibit the
federal appeal from raising any issue outside those considered by the state court."
Williams noted he would work in a bi-partisan manner with the Texas
congressional delegation to help strenghten the death penalty laws.
"One appeal, within a reasonable time frame, that focuses on the relevant issues
as addressed by the state court, will facilitate the process, ensure fairness for all, and
bring justice back into the system," Williams continued.
#####
Pd. Pol. Adv. Pd. for by the Clayton Williams for Governor Committee. P.O. Box 1491. Austin. Texas 78767-1491
Clayton Williams
FOR
GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin, Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS: VIOLENT CRIME AN "EQUAL OPPORTUNITY NIGHTMARE"
- TAKES RICHARDS TO TASK FOR DEATH ROW INMATE ENDORSEMENT - -
Austin, Tx. - Saying that "violent crime is an equal opportunity nightmare,"
GOP Gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams told a meeting of the Texas
Pharmaceutical Association that. as Governor, he would seek to ensure that "those
convicted of sexual assault receive the maximum punishment allowed by law."
Williams, who during the GOP primary, issued a comprehensive anti-crime and
drug plan, unveiled three new proposals aimed specifically at addressing sexual assault
and aid to sexual assault victims.
Williams noted that currently, convicted sexual assault offenders can expect to
serve only 3 1/2 months in prison.
In addition to calling for convicted sexual offenders to serve more time in prison,
Williams proposed changing the law to provide those -- who are victims of sexual
assault - access to funds in the state's victim assistance program. He also called for
expanded use of DNA "fingerprinting" technology to aid prosecutors in bringing sexual
offenders to justice.
"Those who commit violence against a fellow citizen - whether it's a thug
beating up an old man, or a thug sexually assaulting a young woman - are, in my mind,
public enemy number one... and I'm going to lock them up," Williams said.
The GOP candidate, who stated his intent to double the prison capacity, chided Ann
Richards for her statement during the Democrat primary saying: "I think it's an
oversimplification to say what we need to do is build more prisons."
Williams also blasted Richards for her endorsement from Texas death-row
inmates and said the endorsement, "gives the people of Texas reason to be concerned."
#####
Pd. Pol. Adv. Pd. for by the Clayton Williams for Governor Committee. P.O. Box 1491. Austin. Texas 78767-1491
Williams says he backs
tougher laws on rape
6-21-20
By Christy Hoppe
A1
Austin Bureau of The Dallas Morning News
TEXAS ELECTIONS '90
AUSTIN - Three months after
The race for governor
he joked about rape being like bad
als. His opponent. Democrat Ann
weather. Republican gubernatorial
Richards, answered the same ques-
nominee Clayton Williams said
tions in March. one day after they
Wednesday that he favors stricter
were submitted.
laws on violence against women.
In his answers. Mr. Williams
Mr. Williams' comments mark
agreed with the stance taken by Ms.
the first time he has detailed his
Richards on all six issues. He dis-
views on legislation concerning
tanced himself from Republican
Clayton Williams
his an-
sexual assault crimes since his rape
Gov. Bill Clements, who vetoed
remark unleashed a firestorm of
swers to questions on anti-
three of the bills that the candi-
protest.
crime proposals agree with
dates say they favor.
He responded to six questions
The questions were submitted to
those of his rival for gover-
posed by The Dailas Morning News
Mr. Williams and Ms. Richards after
nor, Ann Richards.
regarding recent anti-crime propos-
Please see WILLIAMS on Page 11A.
THE "I've had the opportunity these
Mr. Williams, a Midiand.com
Williams
last months to study violent crime
nessman, has apologized for
more intensely, and I've studied it
comment, which he said was lisenz
from a variety of different perspec-
sitive.
tives," Mr. Williams said. "Those
backs strict
Mr. Hensley said he does not be-
who commit violence against a fel-
lieve that the Republican nominee
low citizen, whether it is a thug
is in trouble with women voters. He
beating up an old man or a thug sex-
referred to recent independent
rape laws
ually assaulting a young woman,
polls showing that women support
these thugs are, in my mind, public
Mr. Williams and Ms. Richards al-
enemy Number 1."
most equally.
Mr. Williams said he wants to
"He's being consistent in his ef-
Continued from Page 1A.
double prison space in Texas to al-
fort to portray violent crime as a
low violent criminals to serve maxi-
the Republican candidate was de-
very serious crime, and in that
mum sentences.
nounced for a joke he made that lik-
manner, he is addressing" issues
ened foul weather to rape. If it's in-
"Today, under current law, a sex-
that concern women voters. Mr.
evitable, he said, "relax and enjoy
ual assault offender can expect to
Hensiey said.
it."
serve 3½ months for that violent
"If women perceive this to be an
Also on Wednesday, Mr. Wil-
crime." he said. "Why? Because our
issue that they support Clayton Wil-
liams told the Dallas chapter of
prisons are overcrowded and we
liams on. which I'm sure they will.
Commercial Real Estate Women
have no place to put them."
we're happy to have that support,"
that he has extended his 25-point
Gordon Hensley, a spokesman
he said. "Essentially he believes
anti-crime plan to include three
for Mr. Williams, said earlier
that violent crime is an equal oppor-
points specific to sexual assault
Wednesday that the candidate took
tunity nightmare and should be ad-
three months to answer The News'
dressed as such."
cases.
Speaking to about 500 people at
questions on anti-crime proposals
The six measures the candidates
because that is when the issue fit
the Hyatt Regency hotel in down-
were asked about are likely to be dê-
town Dailas, Mr. Williams said he
into the campaign's strategy.
bated again. according to the spon-
wants sexual offenders to serve the
"In the past several weeks, Mr.
sors of the measures.
Williams has outlined his views on
maximum sentence allowed by law.
He also said he wants to change
economic development and out-
state law to give sexual assault vic-
lined his views on education, and
tims access to funds in the state vic-
we are now in the process of outlin-
tims' assistance program.
ing anti-crime issues." Mr. Hensley
Finally. Mr. Williams said, he
said. "We have our game plan, and
wants to use DNA fingerprinting to
we plan to stick to it."
help prosecutors convict violent
Mr. Williams' joke - and his de-
criminals. DNA !ingerprinting al-
lay in responding to the question-
lows identification of a suspect by
naire - drew criticism. especially
comparing samples of body fluids
from women's and victims' rights
or tissues found at a crime scene
groups.
with those of the suspect.
SAlight 6-26-9-0
GOVERNOR'S RACE
B-G
Williams takes credible stance
on violence against women
Republican gubernatorial nominee
Clayton Williams ignited a firestorm of
controversy three months ago when he
VOTE
made a joke comparing rape to bad
weather. The comment angered women's
groups and organizations that work with
rane victims. and touched off a statewide-
debate about Williams' sensitivities.
Williams later apologized for the joke. saying it did not
reflect his views toward women. But some of his crities
remained unconvinced.
Now Williams has gone beyond an apology and says. he
supports stricter laws on violence against women. In
answering a list of questions posed by the Dallas Morning
News: Williams has gone on record as supporting
measures his Democratic gubernatorial opponent, Ann
Richards. has long backed.
Williams. like Richards. believes police and
prosecutors should be prohibited from requiring sexual
assault complainants to take a polygraph test. The two
candidates also agree that expert testimony about
battered women's syndrome should be allowed in riurder
cases: and that the use of deferred adjudication should be
pronibited in cases of felony assault on a family member.
Gov. Bill Clements last year vetoed proposals which
would have put these measures into place. Williams
stance has distanced him from Clements. a fellow
Republican. and shown he is serious about repairing his
image among some women's groups.
Beyond the measures mentioned above, Williams also
endorses the idea of allowing judges to deny bail to thosë
accused of sexual crimes. and backs the repeal of an
exception in: sexual assault cases that applies only to
spousal rape: Richards backs these proposals as well
Some may question Williams sincerity in taking these
viewpoints. since polls show something of a gender gap
berween him and Richards in wake of the rape comment
controversy. Bur after all the criticism he endured after
making his ill-advised joke. Williams does deserve some
credit and praise for taking positions that clearly would
provide women with a greater degree of protection from
violent crimes.
Clayton Williams
FOR
GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin, Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS PROPOSES BUDGET REFORMS
-- SAYS PROGRAM WILL "SHAKE THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT UP ONE
SIDE AND DOWN THE OTHER" --
HOUSTON -- GOP gubernatorial nominee Clayton Williams today proposed three
budget reforms designed to "force discipline in the budget-making process.
"For too long the budget process at the state capitol has been held hostage by
bureaucrats, professional politicians and special interests," Williams said today during a
speech to members of the Houston Rotary. "Texans want change. Today I am proposing
budget reforms which will shake the political establishment up one side and down the
other."
Williams pointed out that the people of Texas in 1978 passed a constitutional
amendment limiting the growth in state spending to the growth in the Texas economy. The
law defines economic growth as being equal to the increase in personal income so if
personal income in Texas grows by three percent during the course of a biennium, then the
budget could only increase by three percent.
"Let's put the teeth into this law -- a law that the people of Texas voted for,"
Williams said. "I will work to enforce that law."
Second, Williams proposed the state budget be fully itemized.
"Let's reveal what our tax dollars are actually spent on," Williams said.
"Nowadays, the bureaucrats craftily set a bill pattern in which whole categories of spending
items are lumped together so a Governor can not veto a specific line item without wiping
out a worthy program.
"The Clayton Williams administration will insist on a real budget -- one that spells
out each and every expenditure, line by line. I want the stroke of the Governor's pen to
mean real veto power."
Finally, Williams said "zero-sum" budget reform should be incorporated into the
process and proposed a system in which every agency is required to offer savings to offset
each spending increase.
"This will force discipline on the budget-making process, putting every bureaucrat
on notice that any scheme to spend more money must have a proposal to save some,"
Williams said.
#####
Pd. Pol. Adv. Pd. for by the Clayton Williams for Governor Committee. P.O. Box 1491. Austin. Texas 78767-1491
McGroarty/Dooley
October 12, 1990
7:00 pm
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WILLIAMS FOR GOVERNOR FUNDRAISER
DALLAS, TEXAS
OCTOBER 15, 1990
12:00 NOON
Thank you, Claytie, for those kind words. And my thanks for
this warm welcome. // Let me say to all of you: It's great to
be back home again. // [[ It's always a pleasure for me to set
my silver foot back on Texas soil. ]]
It's an honor to share the stage with so many of Texas'
leading lights. [Introductory acknowledgements.] Senator Gramm.
Senator Tower. Governor Bill Clements and his wife Rita: Texas
will long remember your leadership, courage and commitment. //
Today, it's friends and family: my son George, and my daughter-
in-law Laura. //
And, of course, I'm delighted to be here to show my support
for my friend from Midland -- my old stomping grounds -- the next
Governor of the great state of Texas: // Clayton Williams. ///
And when we wind up here, I'll be going on to a reception
for Texas' next Lieutenant Governor -- Rob Mosbacher. Together
with this man, Clayton Williams, that's a great Texas team. ///
[[ Claytie's wife Modesta is here -- and so is his mother,
Chic. She shared with me a story about Clayton and his father:
the time little Claytie went out to break his first bronco. The
horse broke free and began to buck. Clayton's father rushed in
to separate the horse and his son -- and did all he could to keep
the wild horse in front of him and Claytie right behind him.
2
That's when Claytie said: "Daddy, if you won't run, get out of
the way for someone who will." ]]
Well, Clayton's always run hard -- and today, he's running
to win. // His victory will be a triumph for the old-fashioned
virtues that made Texas what it is -- and the new spirit of
enterprise that will take this state forward into the 90s. ///
Clayton Williams is Texas born and bred: Steady. Strong.
Straight-forward. A tireless advocate for every hard-working
Texan. ///
Clayton Williams is tough on crime. He knows the handcuffs
belong on criminals -- not on the cops and the courts committed
to uphold the law. // His position meshes perfectly with the
no-nonsense anti-crime package I sent to Congress -- almost a
year and a half ago. // So let me put a little heat on Congress
to act now -- and make life a little bit tougher on criminals. //
Clayton Williams is ready to wage a state-wide war on drugs.
Once again, his position meshes perfectly with mine -- with our
National Drug Strategy that has resulted in significant progress
in the nation-wide war on drugs. // He knows the best way to
win this war is to stop drug use before it begins. That means
education and drug awareness. // Clayton knows from painful
personal experience when it's time for compassion -- time to help
drug users battle back, break free from addiction and rejoin
society. And he knows when it's time to draw the line: For drug
kingpins -- who deal death right on our streetcorners -- Clayton
supports the ultimate penalty: the death penalty. //
3
Clayton Williams is a friend to the Texas taxpayer. As
Governor, he'll be a champion for fiscal sanity, for government
that's lean and limited. [[There's still only one 'L' word in
the National Democrats' vocabulary -- and that's liberal. ]] //
With Clayton in the Governor's Mansion, Texas businessmen
and women will have a Governor who knows what it means to meet a
payroll. He knows what it means to start with nothing more than
a dream -- and build a business from the ground up. The secret
to Clayton's success as a businessman is hard work. I can
guarantee that, as Governor, no one will work harder for Texas.
I agree with Clayton that what the states need is not more
programs mandated from Washington -- but more confidence and
trust in people and in the power of local communities. After
all, Texas doesn't just have problems. Texas has // solutions.
The single most important factor for what the future will
hold -- here in Texas, and across the country -- is economic
growth. That's why I want to speak for a moment about the work
that remains to be done back in Washington to reach final
agreement on the federal budget. ///
For eight long months we've wrestled with this problem. For
eight long months, I've negotiated in good faith -- because I
knew the American people didn't send me to Washington to play
politics: they sent me there to govern. // I put it all on the
table -- and I took the heat. // I pushed hard for the
bipartisan budget agreement -- not because it was the best plan
ever -- but because it was the best plan possible.
4
I am grateful to Phil Gramm -- and to Steve Bartlett, too -
- for their strong leadership and support. And I will continue
to press hard for a budget that fulfills the spirit of that
bipartisan plan -- and proves to the American people once and for
all that we can deal with this deficit.
Let me speak from my own experience. I'm 66 years old.
That's a time in life when you spend as much time thinking of the
next generation as your own. Our children deserve to inherit
more than an avalanche of unpaid bills. //
Let me share with you a letter sent to me at the White House
-- from a little girl named Courtney. No last name, and no
return address -- it's short and simple. She says: "Dear Mr.
President: I don't want to owe when I grow up." ///
Courtney, this is the only way I know to let you know: I
got your letter -- and I'm going to make sure Congress gets the
message. ///
Time is short. Four days from now -- on October 19 -- the
clock runs out. As the Congress works to meet the deadline, let
me make clear that the budget they produce must meet these
criteria:
It must be consistent with the Bipartisan Budget Summit
Agreement. // It must create new jobs and keep this economy
moving. // It must deliver real, fully enforceable spending
cuts -- with real savings. We can't trick the deficit into
disappearing. Congress must now rise to the occasion -- and make
the hard choices that bring real reductions. // And finally,
5
the budget I sign must include the significant budget process
reforms hammered out in the bipartisan budget agreement. //
The American people have every right to expect more from
their elected representatives. Congress has a responsibility:
If this is the best "the system" can do -- then it's time to
build a better budget system. //
I've taken some hits. Any time you have to make tough calls
you can expect that. But the American people are smart: they
know that the Congress is to blame for all this fiscal insanity.
Congress approves every dime -- and tells us how to spend every
dime. The liberals that control Congress can try to blame the
White House -- but all of us know the blame belongs with the
liberal Democrats who control both Houses of Congress. ///
I've seen the Democratic plans out there -- same old
approach we've seen for years: tax and spend -- shovel more
money into the same old system. You'd think it was open season
on the American taxpayer. Let me send a message to the Democrats
back on Capitol Hill: Tax-and-spend is how we got into this mess
-- and we can't tax and spend our way out of it. // I will hold
the line against higher income tax rates. ///
Let me make clear to Congress just how serious I am about
meeting that Friday deadline. 37 times in the past ten years,
Congress has missed its budget deadline. Twice now this year,
I've signed emergency legislation to add more time to the clock.
Well, this Friday, time's up. The American people deserve more
than stop-gap government. //
6
Let me make it matter of fact: This Friday, don't send me
another excuse -- send me a budget that's good for America. / /
I'm confident Congress can meet this deadline, complete its vital
work -- and pass a sound budget that puts this nation on the path
to long-term economic growth. //
Getting that deficit under control is essential -- not just
from the standpoint of the American economy, but especially now:
with the challenge we face in the Persian Gulf. ///
We all know the grave economic consequences of Iraq's
occupation of Kuwait. But as serious as these consequences may
be, what is ultimately at stake is far more than a matter of
economics or oil. ///
What is at stake is whether the nations of the world can
take a common stand against aggression -- or whether Iraq's
aggression will go unanswered. Whether we will live in a world
governed by the rule of law -- or the law of the jungle. ///
That is why America and the world cannot allow this outlaw
act to stand. // That is why Saddam Hussein will fail. ///
Every day, new word filters out about the atrocities
perpetrated by Saddam's forces. // Eye-witness accounts of the
cruel and senseless suffering endured by the people of Kuwait --
of a systematic assault on the soul of a nation. // Summary
executions. Routine torture. Under the forces of Iraqi
occupation, we are told that mere possession of the Kuwaiti flag
or a photograph of Kuwait's Amir are crimes punishable by death.
7
Late last month, I met at the White House with the Amir of
Kuwait. I heard horrible tales: newborn babies thrown out of
incubators -- and the incubators shipped off to Baghdad.
Dialysis patients ripped from their machines -- those machines,
too, sent on to Baghdad. The story of two young children passing
out leaflets: Iragi troops rounded up their parents and made
them watch while their kids were shot to death -- executed,
before their very eyes. ///
Hitler revisited. // But remember -- when Hitler's war
ended, there were the Nuremburg Trials. //
No -- America will not stand aside. The world will not
allow the strong to swallow up the weak. ///
Not a day goes by that we don't think of the young men and
women of our Armed Forces -- on duty now, half a world away.
Today, with those young men and women in mind -- I want to add
one thing more. // Right now, in the sands of Saudi Arabia, our
servicemen and women are teaching all of us a lesson about what
it means to love liberty -- as they prove once more to all the
world that America means freedom. / So as November 6th draws
near, I urge every Texan: get out and vote. Don't take
democracy for granted. ///
Once again, my thanks for this warm-hearted Texas welcome.
// It's my pleasure to come down home to show my support for
your next Governor: Clayton Williams. /// Thank you, and may
God bless the great state of Texas.
# # #
Here me me mundro nn M
Speciales newd contres incorpoide
Lodan W / you
new 1 mg document
W DD
Have not seen
The Tanhi speech
Dan
Peg- please give this
a good Thanks, review.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
- An
October 11, 1990
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH: CHRISS WINSTON cw
FROM:
DANIEL McGROARTY
SUBJECT: REMARKS AT FUNDRAISER FOR CLAYTON WILLIAMS
I. SUMMARY
On Monday, October 15, you will travel to Dallas, Texas to
attend a fundraiser for Clayton Williams. You will speak at
approximately 12:00 noon to an audience of 1500. This luncheon
is the first leg of the 2-day campaign trip that takes you from
Texas to Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois.
II. DISCUSSION
The remarks focus on Clayton Williams' positions on drugs,
crime and economic growth, and also include sections on the
budget and the Persian Gulf crisis.
In the drug policy section (p.2), Clayton's Williams'
"painful personal experience" is a reference to Clayton Wade
Williams, the candidate's son, who has been in treatment for a
drug problem. Clayton Williams frequently refers to the way his
son's experience has influenced his approach to drug abuse.
SPEICAL NOTE: The budget language in this speech is
essentially the same language we have been using for the past two
days. You may want to "freshen" this language to comport with
the changing state of play in the budget process. We will then
use your comments to update all the remaining speeches for the
upcoming trip. Thank you.
McGroarty/Dooley
October 11, 1990
5:30 pm
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WILLIAMS FOR GOVERNOR FUNDRAISER
DALLAS, TEXAS
OCTOBER 15, 1990
12:00 NOON
Thank you, Claytie, for those kind words. And my thanks for
this warm welcome. //
Let me say to all of you: It's great to be back home again.
// [[ And let me say to someone who probably isn't on the guest
list today: It's always a pleasure for me to set my silver foot
on Texas soil. ]]
It's an honor to share the stage with so many of Texas'
leading lights. [Introductory acknowledgements.] Senator Gramm.
Senator Tower. Governor Bill Clements and his wife Rita: Texas
will long remember your leadership, courage and commitment. //
Today, it's friends and family: my son George, and my daughter-
in-law Laura. //
And, of course, I'm delighted to be here to show my support
for my friend from Midland -- my old stomping grounds -- the next
Governor of the great state of Texas: // Clayton Williams. ///
And when we wind up here, I'll be going on to a reception
for Texas' next Lieutenant Governor -- Rob Mosbacher. Together
with this man, Clayton Williams, that's a great Texas team. ///
[[ Claytie's wife Modesta is here -- and so is his mother.
I have to tell you that Chic Williams deserves a lot of credit
for courage. You'd know why if you ever gave birth to a baby who
was wearing cowboy boots. ]]
2
[[ Let me share a story about Clayton and his father: the
time little Claytie went out to break his first bronco. The
horse broke free and began to buck. Clayton's father rushed in
to separate the horse and his son -- and did all he could to keep
the wild horse in front of him and Claytie right behind him.
That's when Claytie said: "Daddy, if you won't run, get out of
the way for someone who will." ]]
Well, Clayton's always run hard -- and today, he's running
to win. // His victory will be a triumph for the old-fashioned
virtues that made Texas what it is -- and the new spirit of
enterprise that will take this state forward into the 90s. ///
Clayton Williams is Texas born and bred: Steady. Strong.
straight-forward. A tireless advocate for every hard-working
Texan. //////
Clayton Williams is tough on crime. He knows the handcuffs
belong on criminals -- not on the cops and the courts committed
to uphold the law. ///
Clayton Williams is ready to wage a state-wide war on drugs.
He knows the best way to win this war is to stop drug use before
it begins. That means education and drug awareness. // Clayton
knows from painful personal experience when it's time for
compassion -- time to help drug users battle back, break free
from addiction and rejoin society. And he knows when it's time
to draw the line: For drug kingpins -- who deal death right on
our streetcorners -- Clayton supports the ultimate penalty: the
death penalty. 11
3
Finally, Clayton Williams is a friend to the Texas taxpayer.
/// As Governor, he'll be a champion for fiscal sanity, for
government that's lean and limited. [[There's still only one 'L'
word in the Democrats' vocabulary -- and that's liberal.]] //
With Clayton in the Governor's Mansion, Texas businessmen
and women will have a Governor who knows what it means to meet a
payroll. He knows what it means to start with nothing more than
a dream -- and build a business from the ground up. The secret
to Clayton's success as a businessman is hard work. I can
guarantee that, as Governor, no one will work harder for Texas.
Whatever the issue, Clayton Williams is the kind of Governor
Texans can count on -- the kind of Governor I know I can work
with to do what's right for our country. ///
The single most important factor for what the future will
hold -- here in Texas, and across the country -- is economic
growth. That's why I want to speak for a moment about the work
that remains to be done back in Washington to reach final
agreement on the federal budget. ///
{{
Pressures caused by the deficit problem have been building
for years. This year, they reached the boiling point. For eight
long months we've wrestled with this problem. For eight long
months, I've negotiated in good faith -- because I knew the
American people didn't send me to Washington to play politics:
they sent me there to govern. // I put it all on the table --
even taxes -- and I took the heat. // I pushed hard for the
bipartisan budget agreement -- not because it was the best plan
4
ever -- but because it was the best plan possible. And I will
continue now to press hard for a budget that fulfills the spirit
of that bipartisan plan -- and proves to the American people once
and for all that we can deal with this deficit. Our children
deserve to inherit more than an avalanche of unpaid bills. 11
Time is short. Four days from now -- on October 19 -- the
clock runs out. As the Congress works to meet the deadline, let
me make clear that the budget they produce must meet these
criteria:
** It must be consistent with the Bipartisan Budget Summit
Agreement -- and it must be produced on a bipartisan basis, with
full and fair opportunities for all voices to be heard,
Republican and Democrat alike. //
** The budget must include pro-growth incentives, to create new
jobs and keep this economy moving. //
** It must deliver real spending cuts -- with real savings. We
can't trick the deficit into disappearing. The American people
are sick and tired of smoke and mirrors. Congress must now rise
to the occasion -- and make the hard choices that bring real
reductions. ///
**
The spending cuts we agree on must be fully enforceable --
and the budget I sign must include the significant budget process
reforms hammered out in the bipartisan budget agreement. //
This year, the American people have watched with growing
frustration as this process drags on and on. It hasn't been
pretty. The American people have every right to expect more from
5
their elected representatives. Congress has a responsibility:
If this is the best "the system" can do -- then it's time to
build a better budget system. //
Let me make clear to Congress just how serious I am about
meeting that Friday deadline. Twice now, I've signed CRs --
Continuing Resolutions -- to add more time to the clock. No
more. This Friday, time's up. // Let me make it matter of
fact: No budget -- no CR. // I'm confident Congress can meet
this deadline, complete its vital work -- and pass a sound budget
that puts this nation on the path to long-term economic growth.
Getting that deficit under control is essential -- not just
from the standpoint of the American economy, but especially now:
with the challenge we face in the Persian Gulf. ///
We all know the grave economic consequences of Iraq's
occupation of Kuwait. But as serious as these consequences may
be, what is ultimately at stake is far more than a matter of
economics or oil. ///
What is at stake is whether the nations of the world can
take a common stand against aggression -- or whether aggression
will go unpunished. Whether we will live in a world governed by
the rule of law -- or the law of the jungle. ///
That is why America and the world cannot allow this outlaw
act to stand. // That is why Saddam Hussein will fail. 111
Every day, new word filters out about the atrocities
perpetrated by Saddam's forces. 11 Eye-witness accounts of the
cruel and senseless suffering endured by the people of Kuwait --
6
of a systematic assault on the soul of a nation. // Summary
executions. Routine torture. Under the forces of Iraqi
occupation, mere possession of the Kuwaiti flag or a photograph
of Kuwait's Amir are now crimes punishable by death. ///
Late last month, I met at the White House with the exiled
Amir of Kuwait. I assured him then -- and I assure you now --
that America will not stand aside -- that the world will not
allow the strong to swallow up the weak. //
And make no mistake: When this ordeal is over -- when
Kuwait is once again a sovereign and free member of the family of
nations -- Saddam Hussein must pay for the pain and hardship he
has caused. // The world will hold him accountable. //
Not a day goes by that we don't think of the young men and
women of our Armed Forces -- on duty now, half a world away.
Today, with those young men and women in mind -- I want to add
one thing more. // Right now, in the sands of Saudi Arabia, our
servicemen and women are teaching all of us a lesson about what
it means to love liberty -- as they prove once more to all the
world that America means freedom. / So as November 6th draws
near, I urge every Texan: get out and vote. Don't take
democracy for granted. ///
Once again, my thanks for this warm-hearted Texas welcome.
// It's my pleasure to come down home to show my support for
your next Governor: Clayton Williams. /// Thank you, and may
God bless the great state of Texas.
# # #
McGroarty/Dooley
October 10, 1990
5:30 pm
[CLAYTON]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WILLIAMS FOR GOVERNOR FUNDRAISER
DALLAS, TEXAS
OCTOBER 15, 1990
12:00 NOON
Thank you, Phil {Sen. Gramm}, for those kind words. And my
thanks for this warm welcome. //
Let me say to all of you: It's great to be back home again.
// [[ And let me say to someone who isn't on the guest list
today -- Clayton's opponent: It's always a pleasure for me to
set my silver foot on Texas soil. ]]
It's an honor to share the stage with so many of Texas'
leading lights. [Introductory acknowledgements.] Senator Gramm.
Senator Tower. Governor Tom Clements and his wife Rita: Texas
will long remember your leadership, courage and commitment. //
Today, it's friends and family: my son George, and my daughter-
in-law Laura. //
And, of course, I'm delighted to be here to show my support
for the man from Midland -- my old stomping grounds- the next
Governor of the great state of Texas: // Clayton Williams. ///
[[ Claytie's wife Modesta is here --- and so is his mother.
I have to tell you that Chic Williams deserves a lot of credit
for courage. You'd know why if you ever gave birth to a baby who
was wearing cowboy boots. ]]
[[ Let me share a story about Clayton and his father: the
time little Claytie went out to break his first bronco. The
2
horse broke free and began to buck. Clayton's father rushed in
to separate the horse and his son -- and did all he could to keep
the wild horse in front of him and Claytie right behind him.
That's when Claytie said: "Daddy, if you won't run, get out of
the way for someone who will." ]]
Well, Clayton's always run hard -- and today, he's running
to win. // His victory will be a triumph for the old-fashioned
virtues that made Texas what it is -- and the new spirit of
enterprise that will take this state forward into the 90s. ///
Clayton Williams is Texas born and bred: Steady. Strong.
Straight-forward. A tireless advocate for every hard-working
Texan. ///
Clayton Williams is tough on crime. He knows the handcuffs
belong on criminals -- not on the cops and the courts committed
to uphold the law. ///
Clayton Williams is ready to wage a state-wide war on drugs.
He knows the best way to win this war is to stop drug use before
it begins. That means education and drug awareness. // Clayton
knows when it's time for compassion -- time to help drug users
battle back, break free from addiction and rejoin society. And
he knows when it's time to draw the line: For drug kingpins --
who deal death right on our streetcorners -- Clayton supports the
ultimate penalty: the death penalty. //
Finally, Clayton Williams is a friend to the Texas taxpayer.
/// As Governor, he'll be a champion for fiscal sanity, for lean
3
and limited government. [[Those are two 'L' words that aren't in
the other candidate's vocabulary. ]] //
With Clayton in the State House, Texas businessmen and women
will have a Governor who knows what it means to meet a payroll.
Who knows what it means to start with nothing more than a dream -
- and build a business from the ground up. The secret to
Clayton's success as a businessman is hard work. I can guarantee
that, as Governor, no one will work harder for Texas. ///
Whatever the issue, Clayton Williams is the kind of Governor
Texans can count on -- the kind of Governor I know I can work
with to do what's right for our country. ///
The single most important factor for what the future will
hold -- here in Texas, and across the country -- is economic
growth. That's why I want to speak for a moment about the work
that remains to be done back in Washington to reach final
agreement on the federal budget. ///
{{ Pressures caused by the deficit problem have been building
for years. This year, they reached the boiling point. For eight
long months we've wrestled with this problem. For eight long
months, I've negotiated in good faith -- because I knew the
American people didn't send me to Washington to play politics:
they sent me there to govern. // I put it all on the table --
even taxes -- and I took the heat. // I pushed hard for the
bipartisan budget agreement -- not because it was the best plan
ever -- but because it was the best plan possible. And I will
continue now to press hard for a budget that fulfills the spirit
4
of that bipartisan plan -- and proves to the American people once
and for all that we can deal with this deficit. Our children
deserve to inherit more than an avalanche of unpaid bills. //
Time is short. Four days from now -- on October 19 -- the
clock runs out. As the Congress works to meet the deadline, let
me make clear that the budget they produce must meet these
criteria:
**
It must be consistent with the Bipartisan Budget Summit
Agreement -- and it must be produced on a bipartisan basis, with
full and fair opportunities for all voices to be heard,
Republican and Democrat alike. //
**
The budget must include pro-growth incentives, to create new
jobs and keep this economy moving. //
It must deliver real spending cuts -- with real savings. We
can't trick the deficit into disappearing. The American people
are sick and tired of smoke and mirrors. Congress must now rise
to the occasion -- and make the hard choices that bring real
reductions. ///
**
The spending cuts we agree on must be fully enforceable --
and the budget I sign must include the significant budget process
reforms hammered out in the bipartisan budget agreement. //
This year, the American people have watched with growing
frustration as this process drags on and on. It hasn't been
pretty. The American people have every right to expect more from
their elected representatives. Let's not let them down: If this
5
is the best "the system" can do -- then it's time to build a
better budget system. //
Let me make clear to Congress just how serious I am about
meeting that Friday deadline. Twice now, I've signed CRs --
Continuing Resolutions -- to add more time to the clock. No
more. This Friday, time's up. // Let me make it matter of
fact: No budget -- no CR. // I'm confident Congress can meet
this deadline, complete its vital work -- and pass a sound budget
that puts this nation on the path to long-term economic growth.
}} ///
Getting that deficit under control is essential -- not just
from the standpoint of the American economy, but especially now:
with the challenge we face in the Persian Gulf. ///
We all know the grave economic consequences of Iraq's
occupation of Kuwait. But as serious as these consequences may
be, what is ultimately at stake is far more than a matter of
economics or oil. ///
What is at stake is whether the nations of the world can
take a common stand against aggression -- or whether aggression
will go unpunished. Whether we will live in a world governed by
the rule of law -- or the law of the jungle. ///
That is why America and the world cannot allow this outlaw
act to stand. // That is why Saddam Hussein will fail. ///
Every day, new word filters out about the atrocities
perpetrated by Saddam's forces. // Eye-witness accounts of the
cruel and senseless suffering endured by the people of Kuwait --
6
of a systematic assault on the soul of a nation. // Summary
executions. Routine torture. Under the forces of Iraqi
occupation, mere possession of the Kuwaiti flag or a photograph
of Kuwait's Amir are now crimes punishable by death. ///
Late last month, I met at the White House with the exiled
Amir of Kuwait. I assured him then -- and I assure you now ---
that America will not stand aside -- that the world will not
allow the strong to swallow up the weak. //
And make no mistake: When this ordeal is over -- when
Kuwait is once again a sovereign and free member of the family of
nations -- Saddam Hussein must pay for the pain and hardship he
has caused. // The world will hold him accountable. //
Not a day goes by that we don't think of the young men and
women of our Armed Forces -- on duty now, half a world away.
Today, with those young men and women in mind -- I want to add
one thing more. // Right now, in the sands of Saudi Arabia, our
servicemen and women are teaching all of us a lesson about what
it means to love liberty -- as they prove once more to all the
world that America means freedom. / So as November 6th draws
near, I urge every Texan: get out and vote. Don't take
democracy for granted. ///
Once again, my thanks for this warm-hearted Texas welcome.
// It's my pleasure to come down home to show my support for
your next Governor: Clayton Williams. /// Thank you, and may
God bless the great state of Texas.
# # #
IUN WILLIAMS FUR GOVERNOR
P.02
526-5916
MEMORANDUM
TO: BEVERLY
FR: ELIZABETH
RE: PRESIDENTIAL LUNCHEON HEAD TABLE
DA: SEPTEMBER 25, 1990
These are the people approved for the head table. Beverly, please
handle.
yes CWWJ
clayton's Midland home
yes
Modesta
Governor Clements - Introduction of Clayton
yes Mrs. Clements (Rita)
5
President Bush
*Mrs. Bush (Barbara)
yes Chic Williams - Pledge of Allegiance mother
call Bele well
Reverend Russ Ritchel - Invocation, Pastor of First Presbyterian
(Clayton & Modesta's Pastor)
the church's # is 915-684-7812
Mrs. Russ Ritchel (Meredith)
684 7821
yes Senator Gramm - Introduction of President
Mrs Gramm (Wendy)
yes Fred & Barbara Meyer state 214/1754-1800 please intro state- wide candidates,
Repub. Chair
yes
Senator John Tower - Master of Ceremonies 214/526-5997
yes
George W. & Laura Bush
*
May not be able attend
1500 people
$1000 per!
DOUG GAMBLE
424-36th Place
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Oct. 8/90
(213) 546-6409
TO: STEPHANIE LAUDNER
2 Pages
CLAYTON WILLIAMS FUNDRAISER, DALLAS - (Dan McGroarty)
MAYBE THIS EVENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HELD IN SAN ANTONIO. WHILE WE WERE MANNING
THE BARRICADES FOR THE BUDGET BATTLE, THE WORDS "REMEMBER THE ALAMO" KEPT
GOING THROUGH MY MIND.
1 WANT CLAYTON'S OPPONENT TO KNOW THAT IT'S ALWAYS A PLEASURE FOR ME TO SET
MY SILVER FOOT ON TEXAS SOIL.
(ALTERNATIVE: I UNDERSTAND WE'RE RAISING ABOUT A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS
TONIGHT. SOMETHING TELLS ME I DON'T HAVE THE ONLY SHOE IN THE ROOM WITH A
SILVER FOOT IN IT.)
IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE MY FRIEND PHIL GRAMM -- BUT THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME
PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON WHO WISH THAT "GRAMM-RUDMAN-HOLLINGS" WAS A TRIPLE-PLAY
COMBINATION.
I KNOW IT'S DIFFICULT TO RUN AGAINST A SILVER-HAIRED GRANDMOTHER, KNOWN FOR HER
RESILIENCE, HER PERSONALITY AND HER WIT. FORTUNATELY FOR ANY OPPONENT, BARBARA
DOESN'T WANT TO RUN FOR OFFICE.
MORE
- 2 -
DOUG GAMBLE
TO: STEPHANIE LAUDNER - DALLAS (CONT'D)
CLAYTON WILLIAMS EMBODIES THE SPIRIT AND RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM OF TEXAS. IF
JOHN WAYNE WERE STILL ALIVE TODAY, HE MIGHT SUE CLAYTON FOR UNFAIR COMPETITION.
CLAYTON'S MOTHER IS HERE, AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT CHIC DESERVES A LOT OF
CREDIT FOR COURAGE. YOU'D KNOW WHY IF YOU EVER GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY WHO WAS
WEARING COWBOY BOOTS.
LEGEND HAS IT THAT WHEN CLAYTON WAS BORN, AND THE DOCTOR SLAPPED HIM, LITTLE
CLAYTIE SLAPPED BACK.
THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO PUT ONE OVER ON THE VOTERS OF TEXAS, BUT IT ISN'T
GOING TO WORK. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE GEORGE W. BUSH TO KNOW A RACEBREK CURVE BALL
WHEN YOU SEE ONE.
THE DEMOCRATS ARE GOING TO DO IN NOVEMBER WHAT so MANY OF NOLAN RYAN'S OPPONENTS
DID THIS SEASON : -- STRIKE OUT.
Milh Cowt- Arparers.
open season.
1148
TENNESSEE/TEXAS
TEXAS
1149
whose "hot oil" act forbade the sale of interstate oil at prices below that determined by
Key Votes
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
9) SDI Research
production levels set by the Texas Railroad Commission. Texas's most influential money man at
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
the time, Jesse Jones, was not an oil man at all, but a Houston cotton broker and newspaper
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
publisher who was Franklin Roosevelt's Secretary of Commerce and who, as head of the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, controlled a pool of government capital that was one of the
nation's major sources of financing for business in the 1930s and war industries in the 1940s.
Election Results
Texas's economic power was based on politics; and political power, in turn, was closely held in a
1988 general
Harold E. Ford (D)
126,280
(82%)
($364.330)
system with only one functioning political party, with primaries closed to blacks, with voter
Isaac Richmond (I)
28,522
(18%)
turnout held down by a poll tax, and with local bankers, courthouse lawyers and big landowners
1988 primary
Harold E. Ford (D)
35,589
(80%)
who held sway through informal influence and, in some counties, ballot-box stuffing.
Mark Flanagan (D)
8,720
(20%)
More than 50 years separate this Texas from the overly air-conditioned Texas of today, with
Harold E. Ford (D)
83,006
(83%)
($320,227)
1986 general
its glittering gallerias and its smooth sophistication. This empire state of nearly 17 million still
Isaac Richmond (R)
16,221
(16%)
depends on oil and gas-which gave it a roller coaster economy in the 1980s-and is not averse
to accepting government largesse, like the huge defense contracts of the Dallas-Fort Worth
metroplex and the super collider to be built at its south edge. But this Texas also has an economy
that generates, rather than begs for capital, and a private sector that is technologically and
economically innovative, rather than slavishly envious of others back east. The state has a
TEXAS
rigorous two-party system which has more in common with the rest of the nation than the one-
party system of pre-air-conditioned Texas; and if its dependence on the clout of its politicians is
far less than it once was, it has succeeded in producing a set of officeholders at least as talented
On the inaugural platform in front of the Capitol in the cold sunlight of January 1989 was 3
and enterprising as those from any other state.
scene that would have been unthinkable 50 years before: a Texan was about to be sworn in as
Yet for all its successes, economic and political, Texas still sometimes seems to be tottering on
President of the United States and standing in his inaugural party were Texans who had been
the edge of disaster. The collapse of oil prices in the early 1980s not only hurt the oil and gas
nominated to be Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, a concentration of power in
business but, because it resulted in an implosion of real estate values, has resulted in a crash of
politicians who were all from a state unheard of even in the early 1800s in the days of the House
the high-flying Texas savings and loan business-one that may end up costing federal taxpayers
of Virginia. Standing also on that platform were important Texans in Congress: the Speaker of
billions of dollars. And for all the victories of Texas politicians, their hold on power is not utterly
the House, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and three House committee
secure. John Tower, who in that golden moment in January 1989 expected to be Defense
Secretary, was denied confirmation two months later by the same Senate of which he had been a
chairmen. To the Americans of half a century ago, powerful congressional Democrats were a familier
member for 23 years. And Speaker Jim Wright, for all his large Democratic House majority was
sight: Sam Rayburn was about to begin his long tenure as Speaker, and Texans had recently CIT
soon spending all his time fighting the Ethics Committee's charges that he violated House
would soon chair Foreign Relations and Armed Services in the Senate and Appropriations
rules-and finally in June 1989 had to resign as speaker and leave the House. For all of Texas's
Judiciary and Agriculture in the House. But in the America on the brink of World War II in
advances, it still sits on the only land border between the First and Third Worlds, and its income
seemed quite unlikely that a politician from Texas could be elected President-no candidate
levels, despite all the millionaires and the growth during the years of high oil prices, topped out
from a Confederate state had been elected to the presidency since before the Civil War-and is
It the national average and then fell back in the 1980s. Texans do not need to be reminded of the
was utterly unthinkable that a Republican from Texas could be elected to anything of
possibility of defeat; it is an integral part of their history: the Alamo was not a victory, the
implausible that Texans would be entrusted with high executive offices with control over foreign
Republic did not last, the Confederacy was extinguished, and Texas's only President before
George Bush, Lyndon Johnson, left office a defeated and bitter man.
and military policy.
But the sun-parched, wind-blown, dirt-poor Texas of 1940 in which Lyndon Johnson was 1
But just as integral a part of Texas history is the confidence that defeats are never final, and
young scrambling politician was very different from the air-conditioned, sleek, stylish Texas of
that it is always worth making a fight. The Alamo is remembered as the beginning of a war that
1988 which chose between a ticket headed by incumbent Vice President George Bush and cent
resulted in victory, Johnson's defeat did not prevent other Democrats of similar politics-Lloyd
that included incumbent Senator Lloyd Bentsen. In the days before air-conditioning. there were
Bentsen and Jim Wright-from rising, even as Texas trended Republican in most elections, and
some six million Texans, with incomes well below the national average, three-quarters of them
George Bush carried Texas three times on national tickets after having lost the state twice in
living outside the metropolitan orbit of the state's medium-sized cities, most of them still poor
nees for the U.S. Senate.
The bridge between the Texas to which George Bush moved as a young man in 1948 and the
dirt farmers.
Texas had a proud history, remembering always the Alamo and its nine years as un
Texas which gave him a solid majority for President in 1988 is what Texans still call the "awl
independent Republic, assertive still in its commemoration of Confederate veterans (mention of
tudness". For oil is not just a windfall: finding it and getting it out of the ground is high-skill
whom could still bring a tear to Sam Rayburn's usually piercing eyes), resentful of the well
work. Oil made instant millionaires out of some lucky Texas farmers, but more importantly, it
Street bankers and financiers who, it believed, kept Texas as a colonial economy. To be NUTC.
created a business which rewarded sophistication and placed a premium on knowledge. The men
Texas was a major oil-producing state beginning with the Spindletop well of 1901; but oil prices
poull see over scotch and steaks at the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth or Tyler or Midland may
had plummeted in the 1930s and were propped up only by the efforts of Democratic politicians.
M look sophisticated to habitues of Ivy League faculty clubs, but beneath their bravado are
1150
TEXAS
TEXAS
1151
hapless Republicans. But in 1978, a more liberal Democrat won the gubernatorial primary and
TEXAS - Congressional Districts, Counties, and Selected Places - (27 Districts)
then lost the general election by a hair to Republican Bill Clements, while John Tower was
108*
107*
2 106' 3
4 105
6
104*
103*
10
102*
"
12
13
14 100'15
16
99"
17
18
98*
10
20 97* 21
22
96'
23
24
95"
25
26
94'
27
26
29
getting reelected over the winner of a turbulent Democratic contest by a similarly thin margin.
B
Just as oil prices were about to peak, Texas had developed a genuine two-party politics.
C
LEGEND
/
2
Congressional district number
I
The years since have been something of a roller coaster for Texas's economy-and for its
D
Congressional district boundary
35'
Place of 100.000 or more inhabitants
-
politicians. Clements was beaten by Democrat Mark White in 1982, a year when Lloyd Bentsen,
E
Place of 50.000 to 100,000 inhabitants
Place of 25.000 to 50,000 inhabitants
13
up for reelection, organized a Democratic registration and turnout drive that, together with the
F
Largest place congressional district
CHE'RO
-
without a place of at least 25,000 inhabitants
downturn in the economy, helped to produce an across-the-board statewide victory for the ticket,
34*
State capital underlmed
care
G
-
including liberals like Attorney General Jim Mattox and Treasurer Ann Richards. Then, in
Note
Places of less than 100,000 inhabitants are
19
-
1984, Ronald Reagan swept the state overwhelmingly, and party-switcher and free market
H
notshown in Daties and Tarrant counties
26
33'
-
****
aficionado Phil Gramm beat, by nearly as much, the liberal the Democrats nominated for the
I
12
-
-
-
-
17
-
Senate. In 1986, Clements came back and beat White, but Republican Judge Roy Barrera Jr.,
J
==
-
-
24
-
unaccountably underfinanced, failed to win the attorney general job. In 1988, Michael
32"
K
that
-
Dukakis's choice of Lloyd Bentsen helped to make Texas closer in the presidential race, but it
L
16
=
still remained out of reach: Bush-Quayle beat Dukakis-Bentsen 56%-43%. Bentsen was
6
31'
2
M
RECOR
21
reelected to the Senate easily against weak opposition (Democrats in 1984 passed a law saying
-
that if a nominee resigned his nomination, the slot went unfilled; hence Bentsen had to run for
N
-
-
8
30°
10
Senate or his party would have forfeited the seat), but Republican Kent Hance won a statewide
o
19
25
race for railroad commissioner-the first time a Republican has won a down-the-ballot race-by
14
22
P
20
a 55%-45% margin that looks something like a straight ticket victory.
29"
-
-
o
23
In these seemingly contradictory or at least fluctuating results, you can see Texas torn
R
"
between faith in the free market and a desire for government safety nets, between the traditional
15
28"
culture of the rural South and the self-consciously modern culture of the rapidly growing cities,
S
between Texas's traditional image of ethnic uniformity and suspicion of outsiders and its
T
27*
27
increasingly heterogeneous population and its natural friendliness. Some of the contradictions
SCALE
U
0
50
100
150
200
Kilamaters
may be resolved in 1990, when Gramm comes up for reelection and when, with Clements's
0
50
100
150
200 Miles
N
V
retirement, the governorship will be up for grabs.
26"
W
In Texas's growing cities-in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, in greater Houston, in San
X
U.S. Department of Commerce
22
96*
23
24
95°
25
20
M
r
Antonio and the once tiny capital, Austin, now spreading out into the hill country-politics tends
107*
2 106" 3
4 105* 5
5
104*
7
8
103'
9
10 102" 11
12 101* 13
14 100" 15
15
99°
17
16
98*
19
20
97*
21
to divide people along income lines. The divisions can be stark: you can drive just a few minutes
Congressional districts established June 19. 1983; all other boundaries are 00 of January 1, 1980.
on the freeway from the west side of Houston or north Dallas, where house sales of $750,000 are
routine, and find neighborhoods of tiny, drafty frame houses which are little better than tarpaper
plenty of brains. By the 1970s, Texas was not so much the place where oil was found as the place
shacks. Texas, for all its millionaires, has a substantial low-wage economy and, as the largest
where you found people who could find, drill, store and refine oil and natural gas. These skills led
state with a right-to-work law, almost no union members; most of its blacks (12% of the
Texas naturally into technology. And starting in the 1960s, Texas was building the critical mass
population) and Hispanics (21%) are part of this low-wage economy, as are many whites of rural
of knowledge and financing to produce firms like Texas Instruments and H. Ross Perot's EDS
origin. All tend to vote Democratic, but they are not a homogeneous proletariat, and are seldom
At the same time, the University of Texas and, as time went on, Texas A&M-both helped to
found together: there are few Mexicans in Dallas and almost no blacks in San Antonio or west of
the huge income from their oil lands-were providing a superb university infrastructure to go
Fort Worth. Hispanics are sliding away from the Democrats in some elections, while blacks cast
with the highway system that this huge state built to tie itself together.
almost no Republican votes at all. The affluent neighborhoods, by contrast, are politically
The benefits of a developing economy are never evenly distributed, and much of the tension in
bomogeneous, as heavily Republican as any in the United States. There is no apology or guilt
Texas politics comes from the wide disparities in wealth and the vast cultural variety in this huge
about wealth; people here, like the rich in developing countries, do not feel defensive because
state. Conservative Democrats led rebellions against their national ticket as early as 1944. and
others are still poor; they have grown up in a society in which most people are poor, and they
Texas voted Republican as Governor Allan Shivers endorsed Dwight Eisenhower in 1952
realize that not everyone can get rich all at once.
Republican professor John Tower surprised everyone when he got 41% against Lyndon Johnson
All this leaves the metropolitan areas more divided than tradition would have it. The biggest
in the 1960 Senate race (when Johnson was also on the Democratic ticket as Vice President). and
cities have mayors who are Democrats and women: Houston's Kathy Whitmire, Dallas's
even more when he won the 1961 special election to take Johnson's place (some liberals voted for
Annette Strauss, San Antonio's Lila Cockrell and in 1989 El Paso's Suzie Azar. Dallas is well
Tower because his opponent was a conservative Democrat and they thought he'd be easier to get
known as one of America's most Republican cities, and Fort Worth has been trending
rid of). But Tory Democrats remained Texas's most successful politicians through the 1960s and
Republican too; yet in the closest recent major race, the 1986 governor's contest, Bill Clements
1970s, winning Democratic primaries (there is no party registration, so conservatives can vote in
carried the Metroplex by the solid but not overwhelming margin of 56%-42%. Greater Houston,
the Democratic primary and then for Republicans in November) and then overwhelming
always a little more Democratic, voted 51%-48% for Mark White, as did the combined San
TEXAS
TEXAS
1153
1152
Antonio-Austin areas (50%-48%). The heavily Mexican-American Border counties were a shade
Texas, at times when unemployment in much of the state was rising. The Oil Patch in the 1980s
seems to have developed political reflexes the opposite of those the industrial belt developed in
less Democratic than usual, 59%-40%.
The balance politically is in the rest of Texas, the smaller counties away from the Border
the 1930s. In those days, industrial voters supported theory-minded Democrats to stimulate the
where, after decades of metropolitan growth, more than one-third of the state's votes are still
economy in hard times, but otherwise were pleased to let experienced and practical-minded
cast. Parts of this nonmetropolitan Texas are still exporting young people to the cities: around
Republicans deal with the nuts and bolts of everyday government. In Texas in the 1980s, the
Lubbock, where the aquifers are giving out and irrigated cotton fields are going back to desert.
voters have tended to call the Republicans in to deal with a weak economy; they see the free
in the wheat-growing country of the High Plains, and in cattle-ranching counties in the west.
market, not government intervention, as more likely to produce economic growth. In other times,
people are still moving out. But in central, east, and south Texas there has been growth through and
or when they are looking for practical men of action to run the everyday business of government.
most of the 1980s, some seeping out of the big metropolitan areas, some as factories are built
they may still indulge their historic preference and call in the Democrats. These tendencies were
jobs created off freeway interchanges in piney woods or cotton fields. And just as Texas has not.
apparent in the metropolitan half of the state by the 1970s and in the 1980s in rural Texas.
as many easterners predicted, moved to the heavy-industry-big-unions economy of the Great
The bulwark of the Texas Democrats now is Lloyd Bentsen. As Senate Finance chairman, he
Lakes (the movement has been the other way around), so the small town values and cultural
is a national power who is in a marvelous position to do things for the state. As a Texas politician,
conservatism of the countryside has not withered away any more than the towns have died. Some
he is the leader of his own organization with workers on the ground in all 254 counties and
things have changed: county option liquor by the drink came in 1970, divorce has grown more
topnotch organizers in all the big and medium-sized counties. Bentsen's career, since his first
common. But there is still a vivid contrast between the big metropolitan areas, where the
election to the Congress in 1948 and his defeat of George Bush in the 1970 Senate race, has been
percentage of women working out of the home is among the highest in the country, and the
based on his ties with two different segments of the electorate: Hispanics who are the majority in
smaller counties, where it is among the lowest.
his home area in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and rural whites who provided key votes for him
Rural Texas, though decreasing as a percentage of the state, remains politically pivotal. A
in 1970 and have stayed with him in every election since, despite their trend otherwise to the
Democrat cannot carry Texas without carrying rural Texas. Mark White got 55% in rural Texas
Republicans. Bentsen has made it his business to strengthen the state's Democratic Party,
in 1982 and.won, and got 41% in 1986 and lost-even though his percentage declined only 3% in
especially when he is running, and the fact is that the Democrats' only robust statewide victories
the metropolitan and Border areas. Lloyd Bentsen got 59% in rural counties in 1982 and 58% in
in the last 12 years have been in 1982 and 1988, when he was on the ballot. He has responded
1988, on his way to 59% statewide victories. In presidential contests, Jimmy Carter carried
sharply to Republicans' appeals to his two key groups of the electorate. He has cultivated
Texas in 1976 when he won the rural counties with 53% and lost it in 1980 when he won 42%
Hispanic voters, and the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket-the first American presidential ticket with
there. In 1984, Walter Mondale, having conspicuously rejected Lloyd Bentsen for Geraldine
both members fluent in Spanish-carried solid margins on the Border and in Hispanic
Ferraro, got only 34% in rural Texas; in 1988, Michael Dukakis, having even more conspicuously
neighborhoods in San Antonio and Houston. And when Phil Gramm engineered a vacancy in the
embraced Bentsen, got 42% in the rural counties-as much as Carter-but still lost the state
1st District and ran a former Texas A&M quarterback for the seat in 1985, Bentsen quietly and
All of which may sound like arcana, except for one little fact: no Democrat since James K. Polk
behind the scenes set about raising money for the eventual Democratic nominee and bringing
has been elected President without carrying Texas. Unless Democrats can win electoral votes on
forward into public view the trade issue which became the deciding factor in the Democrat's
the Pacific Coast or in the Great Plains, which have not been reliably theirs in the past, rural
51%-49% victory.
Texas remains the key to winning the presidency. James Farley and William Randolph Hearst.
Even as Texans like Bush, Bentsen, and Baker wield great authority in Washington, the
who brokered the Roosevelt-Garner ticket in 1932, and Joseph Kennedy and Washington Post
underpinnings of power of their political allies in Texas are not entirely firm, and Texans on all
publisher Philip Graham, who cobbled together the Kennedy-Johnson ticket in 1960. under-
sides are uneasily aware that the economic and political roller coaster rides of the 1980s may not
stood that; so too perhaps did Michael Dukakis, except that by 1988 it was not enough to put a
yet be over.
Governor. For most of the past dozen years Bill Clements has been governor of Texas. Yet the
Texan in second place.
Republicans have made slogging progress at making Texas bipartisan at other levels. In 1984.
legacy he leaves behind is not what you would have predicted when he came to office in 1978-
even as rural Texas was voting more Republican than the state as a whole, Republicans were
and indeed its most distinctive features are more the product of the one-term hiatus of Mark
electing countywide officials in Tarrant and Bexar Counties (Fort Worth and San Antonio): in
White's governorship than of the two terms Clements has been in office. Clements is a gruff,
1988, they elected Hance and three Supreme Court justices (in races that were really contests
tactless man with the angry streak apparent for years in many Dallas Republicans; he had to
between trial lawyers and insurance companies; the court now has three Republicans. four pro-
leave college to support his family when his father went broke in the 1930s, and in the half a
plaintiff Democrats and two swing Democrats). Another index of Republican strength is the
century since he has made hundreds of millions building an offshore drilling service company.
increasing number of Texans who choose, in a state without party registration, to vote in its
Clements wanted to keep taxes and spending down, he wanted to appoint procedural reformers
primary. In 1978, when Clements first ran, 1.8 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary
rather than political hacks to high state jobs and judgeships, and he has had some success on
and only 158,000 in the Republican contest. In 1982, some 1.3 million Democratic votes were
both counts. But as oil prices plummeted and the high-tech economy boomed, it became
cast and 265,000 Republican. In 1986, the Democratic vote was down to 1.1 million and the
apparent that Texas needed to do more to provide a high-skill work force and high-tech
Republican vote up to 544,000. In the 1988 presidential primary, Democratic turnout was I
infrastructure in the 1980s and 1990s, just as it had had to provide roads, geological engineering
million and Republican turnout one million: George Bush won more votes than the total even
education and tight regulation of production and prices to enable the oil business to grow in the
cast in a Republican primary before. The Republican primary electorate is still tilted tow and the
1940s and 1950s.
affluent, but it is much broader and more diverse than it used to be; the Democratic turned is
To those problems, the solution offered by Ross Perot, appointed by White to head a
becoming more heavily Hispanic and black in the metropolitan areas and sparser in rural Texas
commission, was an education reform plan which included a no-pass-no-play rule, requiring high
Yet this trend toward the Republicans occurred in a decade of economic turmoil in much of
school students to make passing grades in all their courses before they could play football and
1154
TEXAS
TEXAS
1155
other sports. In a state where towns charter 727s to fly fans to see state playoff football games,
two pages of the speech text which Texas Republican he was nominating) and Bentsen was
this was audacious stuff, but White stuck by it and-while saying little in the 1986 campaign-
chosen for Vice President by Dukakis. These are tough politicians, betting big stakes and playing
so did Clements. What Clements also had to do, once he took office again, was to raise taxes
for keeps.
substantially. That, plus revelations that, as chairman of the SMU board of trustees, he
Lloyd Bentsen is one of two or three American politicians who is plainly of presidential
approved payments to football players, left him with low job ratings in most of 1987 and 1988.
stature. In breadth of experience, in depth of knowledge, in traits of character-a steely self-
and seemingly weakened enough to prevent his exerting much influence on the choice of his
discipline and the capacity to rebound after setbacks-he is far and away the superior of most of
successor. Yet he was successful in the affecting the outcome of the railroad commissioner race
the candidates who ran for the office in 1984 and 1988 and of some who have held it in the past.
and several of the Supreme Court races.
The conventional wisdom in Washington has long been that he is a dull politician. Certainly he is
In early 1989, two Democrats seemed to be running for governor, while the Republican field
not a spellbinder, but he is operating in an era when voters are not looking for oratory; and he is
was unclear. State Treasurer Ann Richards, famed nationally and in Texas for her ripping
anything but self-revealing in the manner of the Hollywood starlets or minor politicos who
keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, was eager to run; she is in many
babble on about how they have finally gotten in touch with themselves. But on the campaign
ways an attractive candidate, though her jibes against Bush did not sound as convincing as he
trail in 1988 he came up with the single best one-line response any Democrat has had to the
was inaugurated in January 1989 as they had in Atlanta in July 1988, and her hard-line criticism
Republican claim to have produced a strong economy ("If you let me write $200 billion dollars
of Ronald Reagan goes against the grain in a state that gave him 64% of its votes. The other
worth of hot checks every year, I'd give you an illusion of prosperity too" and he delivered the
Democrat is Attorney General Jim Mattox; he starts off better financed, but he showed
single most devastating putdown (of vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle) of the entire 1987-
weakness at the polls in 1986, he is identified as at least as liberal as Richards and, although be
88 campaign ("Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy"). He emerged in some polls the strongest of
was acquitted in a criminal trial many retain doubts about his integrity.
the four men on the two national tickets, and there are many who think that if the Democrats
Among Republicans, the best known name to be making the rounds in early 1989 was George
had had the wisdom to nominate their ticket in alphabetical order it would have won.
W. Bush, the son of the President, often (and inaccurately) referred to as Junior; of all the Bush
Bentsen lacks the spontaneous charm that political reporters like in their politicians, and his
children he is the one who did most of his growing up in west Texas and has the strongest Texas
careful preparation and calm discipline for every political task he takes on is difficult to
accent. He is an oil man from Midland who ran for Congress in 1978 and lost to Kent Hance: his
dramatize or simply to appreciate. Yet he comes from a background that can only be called
efforts in his father's 1988 campaign were more successful. Another possibility is Kent Hance
romantic and has shown aggressiveness to the point of daring in his career. His father-who was
himself, who won only 20% against Clements in the 1986 primary but was appointed by him to
on the podium when his son was nominated in Atlanta and died in a car crash in 1989 at age 95-
the Railroad Commission and then won that office with 55% in 1988. Hance was once a
moved from the Dakotas to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in 1921 with five dollars in his pocket
Democrat and, as a Boll Weevil, was a lead sponsor of the 1981 Reagan tax cut package, and in
and became one of the great Texas landowners. Back in those days, the border was not patrolled,
1984 won 49% in the runoff for Senate. Absent from the field by their own decisions are two men
most of the people spoke Spanish, and business was done with people who toted guns. Bentsen
who might have made stronger candidates than any of those running: Lieutenant Governor Bill
grew up in a bungalow on a dirt road, speaking Spanish as fluently as English; he went off to war,
Hobby, a moderate Democrat with nearly 20 years' experience running the state senate, and
came back and was elected to Congress in 1948 at age 27. After six years, he left to start an
Democratic former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, Hispanic and intellectual, a graduate
insurance business in Houston and make his millions; then in 1970 he ran for the Senate. In the
of Harvard and Texas A&M, a reformer and an ethnic hero, who in 1987 said he was leaving
primary, against liberal incumbent Ralph Yarborough, he raised Tory Democratic money and
politics because of his infant son's illness and in 1988 revealed that he had a long-standing affair
ran ads featuring footage of the riots outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in
with a rich Anglo San Antonio woman.
1968; in the general election he ran with labor and black endorsements and many white rural
The Texas governorship race will be watched in media markets far beyond Austin because of
votes and beat a Houston congressman named George Bush.
redistricting. Texas stands to gain three or four House seats after the 1990 Census-the exact
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he is one of the most powerful Democrats in
number depends on the count-and how the district lines are drawn can determine which party
Washington, and beautifully placed to help Texas's oil industry. He already has, in the 1986 tax
holds not only those seats but some others as well. If the Republicans hold the governorship in
reform battle. As the leader of the oil state bloc on Finance, he insisted on retaining the
1990 and continue to hold enough state legislative seats to keep the Democrats from overriding 8
intangible drilling allowance and other favorable tax treatments in the bill as his price for
veto (when Clements was first elected Democrats had a 130-20 edge in the House-for the 1989
supporting chairman Bob Packwood's reform package; Packwood and reform author Bill
session it was 91-59), Republicans will have at least a say in the bargaining. But a Democratic
Bradley had to go along. But Bentsen also has broader-gauged interests. In his first 18 months as
governor able to amass a majority in the legislature can redraw the lines pretty much at will. So
Finance chairman, he steered to passage the 1988 trade legislation, the catastrophic health care
not only the governor's office, but three or four U.S. House seats may be at stake in the 1990
bill, and two tax bills-detailed, difficult legislation, plus the Democrats' plant closing bill as
gubernatorial race.
well. It was this record of superb legislating which evidently influenced Michael Dukakis more
Senators. Texas has two of the most powerful and effective Senators in Washington. But they
than anything else in his choice of Bentsen, and it has also commended him to members of both
are powerful and effective in entirely different ways and are certainly not friends; in fact Phil
houses and both parties. Cool and businesslike in his demeanor, he is willing to listen to
Gramm ran in the Democratic primary against Lloyd Bentsen in 1976. Gramm won 28% of the
colleagues and work with them on their projects; he is not a dictatorial chairman and spends time
vote to Bentsen's 64%, but don't think that either of them has forgotten. Another struggle
and effort coming up with solutions that can win majorities.
between them was the 1985 1st District special election, which Gramm hoped to make 1
In the 101st Congress, he is one of two senators who, by their position and because of the
precedent for Republican gains in the rural South and Bentsen hoped would protect his base
respect in which they are held, can determine the outcome of an issue by his say-so alone. An
among rural white Texans (Democrat Jim Chapman won that seat). A third struggle was the
example is the catastrophic health insurance plan, passed by Congress in 1988 after long debate;
1988 presidential race, in which Gramm nominated Bush (though it was not apparent in the first
after the election, many Members started hearing complaints from the social security recipients
TEXAS
TEXAS
1156
1157
who have to pay the tax the act imposed, and agitated for some kind of relief. To this attempt to
the flow of events and his health make a candidacy possible.
welsh on a deal and play cheap shot politics, Bentsen in December 1988 just said no: Finance
Phil Gramm, first elected to Congress in 1978, has made himself a major national politician
would not consider any such measure, he said, and it was promptly killed. Bentsen will, however.
and has changed the American fiscal firmament not once but twice. He started off as a
guide proceedings on any technical changes needed in the tax law, though he doesn't medicaid want to
Democrat in College Station, Texas, an economics professor at Texas A&M, which was founded
monkey with the 1986 reform; and he will have much to say about any medicare or
as a military school and has Aggie jokes told about its students, but which can claim academic
achievements to rival those of the vastly rich and much more famous University of Texas. He
repairs. Bentsen is almost sure to be the Senate's major legislator on what could be the foremost issue
was politically unknown, unconnected to the great wealth and power brokers of Texas (he is a
of the 101st Congress, trade. In 1985, he came forward with a tough retaliatory trade bill. co-
native of Georgia), armed with little but his belief in free market economics, a gift for making
sponsored by Dan Rostenkowski and Richard Gephardt, which became the cornerstone of the
his political case pithily, and plenty of nerve. These have taken him a long way. He ran against
Democrats' political thrust on the issue. The 1988 bill he sponsored and pushed to passage was
Lloyd Bentsen in 1976 at age 34 and avoided humiliation. He was elected to Congress two years
considerably more moderate. On trade bills Bentsen seems to be playing several complicated but
later after squeaking into second place in the primary by 115 votes out of 81,000 votes cast (just
games. On policy, he is keenly aware of the dangers of protectionism and wants to forestall it. the
ahead of Chet Edwards, now one of the smartest Texas state senators) and winning the runoff
he also seems to believe that he sometimes has a responsibility to act as bad cop while
53%-47%.
Administration acts as good cop in negotiations with Japan and other trading partners. On party
In his second term, after Jim Wright helped him onto the House Budget Committee, he was
politics, he. sees trade as one issue on which the Democrats can take an assertive, even 1st
the Democratic co-sponsor of the 1981 Reagan budget cuts, attending Democrats' strategy
chauvinistic posture-this was how he framed the issue for the politically pivotal 1985 Texas
meetings and then reporting the results to Republican strategists; and so made the biggest dents
District race-but he probably also sees the dangers of splitting the party geographically
in the domestic budget since the 1940s. Expelled from the Democratic Caucus after the 1982
between a protectionist bloc anchored in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and a free trade bloc
election, he resigned, switched parties, and ran as a Republican in a special election quickly
anchored on the West Coast. On presidential politics, trade is an issue on which Bentsen can
called by outgoing Governor Clements. It was both an honorable move (voters should be able to
show leadership but on which he may be accused of demagoguery-where he may make some
say whether they want a congressman of a different party) and a shrewd one (his district ran
Democratic friends but risk losing others. On all three dimensions, Bentsen has incentives to
from the Houston to the Fort Worth suburbs, allowing him to campaign heavily in media
oscillate between policies and shift ground: watching him do so, and maintaining, as he almost
markets covering almost half the state). His gift for aphorism did not fail him ("I had to choose
invariably does, not just an intellectually defensible position but usually an intellectually elegant
between Tip O'Neill and y'all, and I decided to stand with y'all") and he won with 55% against
one, is surely as fascinating a spectacle as American politics offers.
nine Democrats and a Libertarian.
Bentsen was embarrassed in early 1987 by one of his campaign tactics, a breakfast-with-
That set the stage for his 1984 Senate race. When John Tower surprised everyone by
Bentsen program for $10,000 a head-"Eggs McBentsen," it was called-and the furor helped
announcing his retirement in 1983, just after a big fundraiser, Gramm immediately jumped in.
demands for campaign finance reform. But it was just Bentsen operating with typical the
His Republican rivals had little chance. The Democrats were caught in an epic three-way race
spur efficiency, admitting "a doozy" of a mistake, disbanding the breakfast group, and returning his
and the winner was Lloyd Doggett, a highly competent and liberal state senator from Austin.
money (much of which was contributed right back). Despite that setback, his fundraising for the
But Doggett was too close on the issues to Walter Mondale and it didn't help that Gramm kept
1988 Senate campaign was so efficient you could set a clock by it, and his organization for
attacking Doggett for receiving some $500 raised at a gay male strip joint in San Antonio.
general election left nothing significant undone. With his strong and deep support from Texas
Then, in his first year in the Senate, Gramm came forth with two bold initiatives: contriving
business interests-why on earth would you want to defeat a Texan who was chairman of Senate
the 1st District special election and, the week after that came up short, Gramm-Rudman. This
Finance?-he deterred any strong opponent from entering the race. The congressman who ran.
idea-an orderly ratcheting down of the federal deficit-had appeal on all sides: conservatives
Beau Boulter from the panhandle, was so weak that he had to face a runoff before winning:
thought it would force down domestic spending, liberals hoped it would squeeze defense, deficit-
Bentsen, in his telegram to contributors just after his selection for the VP slot asking for their
cutters of both parties figured it might force Ronald Reagan to allow a tax increase. Gramm
support in his Senate race regardless of their position on the national ticket, noted contempto- the
surely hoped it would forestall any new spending initiatives, as it mostly has. It passed, it should
ously, "My opponent is simply not qualified." Bentsen won the election 59%-40%, precisely in
be added, despite and not because of Phil Gramm's personal appeal. He is among the least
same as his margin in 1982; he ran slightly stronger in the metropolitan areas and 1% weakes
pepular of Senators. Colleagues will admit that he is true to his principles, but add that he is
rural Texas, carrying even the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex comfortably.
ready to be untrue to his colleagues or his word. Some think he has his eye on the presidency, and
Will Bentsen run for President in 1992? He will be 71 then, but his father was entirely active
be does not deny that he might some day be interested. In the meantime, he has been the subject
until his death at age 95, he is in fine health, and he is only three years older than George Bush-
of some grumbling in Texas for his willingness to let the market drive down oil prices, his
whom he has beaten before. The Democratic selection process remains unfriendly to candidates
epposition to pork barrel projects, and his lack of interest in local issues: principle over politics
of his moderate stripe, but less so perhaps than it used to be; the Democratic convention of 1985
again.
accepted him much more meekly than the convention of 1984 would have, and by the strength of
But, for this breathtakingly bold politician, principle seems to be paying off. Hc is the
his campaigning and the steadfastness of his support of Dukakis-never once did his major
prohibitive favorite approaching the 1990 Senate election. Henry Cisneros took himself out of
differences with the presidential nominee cause either of them any problem-he made main
the race in September 1987. Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, a populist with a
friends and created new admirers among Democrats who used to think of him, if they thought of
marvelous wit, started to run and then left the race in January 1989. Congressman John Bryant
him at all, as a dull, gray, middle-aged white male. Now many of them are thinking of him as B
of Dallas, a possible entrant, is also eyeing the race for attorney general; Congressman Mickey
nominee, or a President. In early 1989, Bentsen was not making any obvious preparations to SUIL
Leland may run. Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby seems to have little interest in running.
but he was doing nothing ostentatious to disclaim interest either. Perhaps he is waiting to see if
Gramm, despite his occasionally impolitic stands on economic issues, is expected to raise $20
TEXAS
TEXAS
1158
1159
million and will be running in a state that seems comfortable with the positions he has long held
slowdown in the Texas economy in the later 1980s suggests that the state may gain only 2 or 3
and with the party he recently joined and of which he is now a national leader. Nor do Gramm's
new seats, and demography suggests that all or most of them will be Republican. But if
ambitions stop there. He sees himself as a man who has a mission to change the role of
Democrats win the governorship in 1990, they will have the votes to redistrict, while if the
government in American life and, as a party-switcher and a Texan, the logical successor to party-
Republicans win it they will still be in a strong position to protect their incumbents and pick up
switcher Ronald Reagan and Texan George Bush. It is a long way from the economics
at least one new seat.
department at A&M to the White House, but Gramm has already traveled a good part of the
distance. Incidentally his wife, Wendy Lee Gramm, also a free market economist, became
chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in 1988.
Presidential politics. Texas is now the nation's third biggest prize in presidential elections.
The People: Est. Pop. 1988: 16,780,000; Pop. 1980: 14,229,191, up 17.9% 1980-88 and 27.1% 1970-
with 29 electoral votes. It is also a major source of funds and at least has been a major source of
80; 6.92% of U.S. total, 3d largest. 17% with 1-3 yrs. col., 16% with 4+ yrs. col.; 14.7% below poverty
candidates, from Lyndon and John Connally to Lloyd Bentsen and George Bush, though all have
level. Single ancestry: 12% English, 5% German, 4% Irish, 1% French, Italian. Households (1980): 75%
been embarrassed on their home turf from time to time (Bush lost two Senate races, in 1964 and
family, 43% with children, 63% married couples; 35.7% housing units rented; median monthly rent:
1970, and narrowly lost the 1980 presidential primary to Ronald Reagan). It was part, the
$213; median house value: $39,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 9,923,085; 18% Spanish origin, 11% Black,
biggest single part, of the Super Tuesday southern regional primary March 8; 1988, but the
1% Asian origin. Registered voters (1988): 8,201,856; no party registration.
southern regional candidate it promoted turned out not to be the Democrat contemplated by
Super Tuesday enthusiasts, but Republican George Bush. Michael Dukakis won the Demo-
cratic primary with heavy support from Hispanics: he had 43% in San Antonio-Austin and 46%
in the Border. But it's worth noting that his television advertising netted him 29% in the rest of
1988 Share of Federal Tax Burden: $54,847,000,000; 6.20% of U.S. total, 3d largest.
the state-more than Jesse Jackson (25%, mainly from urban blacks), Albert Gore (22%) and
Richard Gephardt (15%, despite running his trade ads in some media markets).
But Texas isn't up for grabs in presidential general elections, unless a southerner or a
candidate with appeal to southern whites is on the top of the Democratic ticket. The 1988
1988 Share of Federal Expenditures
election proved that about as conclusively as anything can be proved in politics. When Lloyd
Total
Non-Defense
Defense
Bentsen was chosen by Michael Dukakis to be his running mate, the Democrats had hopes of
Total Expend
$49,485m
(5.60%)
$33,753m
(5.15%)
$17,320m
(7.58%)
carrying Texas and, buoyed by polls showing their ticket competitive (though never ahead), they
St/Lcl Grants
5,168m
(4.51%)
5,163m
(4.51%)
5m
(4.08%)
poured money and time into the state. It was futile. Bentsen raised Dukakis's percentage from
Salary/Wages
8,600m
(6.40%)
3,729m
(5.57%)
4,871m
(5.57%)
the 38% or so he would have won without him, but only to 43%, and the evidence suggests that
Pymnts to Indiv
23,118m
(5.65%)
21,257m
(5.44%)
1,860m
(9.98%)
for a Dukakis-like candidate that represents something close to a ceiling. It's hard to conceive of
Procurement
10,564m
(5.60%)
1,588m
(3.42%)
10,564m
(5.60%)
a liberal Democrat carrying rural Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, or greater Houston.
Research/Other
2,035m
(5.45%)
2,015m
(5.44%)
20m
(5.44%)
and those three areas account for 78% of Texas's votes; even the San Antonio-Austin corridor.
with its increasing high-tech population, is trending Republican. That leaves a liberal Democrat
with the Border counties, which cast 8% of the state's votes.
Congressional districting. In the 1980s Texas has had the largest-and the most bipartisan-
Political Lineup: Governor, William (Bill) Clements (R); Lt. Gov., William P. Hobby (D); Secy. of
House delegation in its history. Its population gains have raised it to 27 members. But gone are
State, Jack Rains (R); Atty. Gen., Jim Mattox (D); Treasurer, Ann Richards (D); Comptroller of Public
the days when a solidly Democratic delegation met regularly under the superintendency of
Accounts, Robert Bullock (D). State Senate, 31 (23 D and 8 R); State House of Representatives, 150
Speaker John Nance Garner or Speaker Sam Rayburn and worked together on national issues
(91 D and 59 R). Senators, Lloyd Bentsen (D) and Phil Gramm (R). Representatives, 27 (19 D and 8 R).
and local projects. There is still cohesion among Texas Democrats-they rallied early and in
some cases vociferously around Jim Wright when the Ethics Committee decided there was
reason to believe he violated House rules-but there is also a wide range of views on the
Democratic side, from Ralph Hall who seems temperamentally very close to a Republican to
1988 Presidential Vote
1984 Presidential Vote
Mickey Leland who has one of the most liberal voting records in the House. Texas continues to
Bush (R)
3,036,829 (56%)
Reagan (R)
3,433,428 (64%)
have its powerful Democrats: Chairmen Jack Brooks of Judiciary and Kika de la Garza of
Dukakis (D).
2,352,748 (43%)
Mondale (D)
1,949,276
(36%)
Agriculture, Charles Wilson on Appropriations and Martin Frost on Rules and others as well.
But some Texas Democrats have to fight hard for their seats, and some win fortuitously. The
1988 Democratic Presidential Primary
1988 Republican Presidential Primary
Dukakis
579,533
(33%)
Bush
Democrats won a 19-8 edge on the delegation in the 1988 elections. But that is only because a
648,178 (64%)
Jackson
433,259 (25%)
Robertson
155,449
(15%)
locally popular Democrat won an open Republican seat in the High Plains and another
Gore
356,772 (20%)
Dole
140,795
(14%)
Democrat beat a pathetically weak Republican incumbent.
Gephardt
240,033
(14%)
Kemp
50,546
(5%)
For the 1990s the outlook is not entirely clear. If Texas gains 4 seats, there might be pressure
Hart
82,202
(5%)
to use state Senate seats, fixed in number at 31, for House elections; but that surely would be
Simon
34,690
(2%)
resisted by incumbents in both bodies; who would want to fashion districts for themselves. The
Babbitt
11,568
(1%)
1160
TEXAS
TEXAS
1161
National Journal Ratings
GOVERNOR
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
55% - 44%
57%
-
Gov. William (Bill) Clements (R)
42%
Social
46%
-
53%
45%
-
52%
Elected 1986, term expries Jan. 1991; b. Apr. 13, 1917, Dallas:
Foreign
44%
-
54%
51%
--
45%
home, Dallas; Southern Methodist U., B.A. 1939; Episcopalian:
married (Rita).
Key Votes
Career: Founder and Chmn., Southeastern Drilling Co.; Dpty.
1) Cut Aged Housing $
AGN
5) Bork Nomination
AGN
9) SDI Funding
FOR
Secy., U.S. Dept. of Defense, 1973-77; Gov. of TX, 1979-83.
2) Override Hwy Veto
FOR
6) Ban Plastic Guns
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
Office: State Capitol, P.O. Box 12428, Austin 78711, 512-463-
3) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
7) Deny Abortions
FOR
11) Aid To Contras
FOR
2000.
4) Min Wage Increase
-
8) Japanese Reparations
FOR
12) Reagan Defense $ AGN
Election Results
Election Results
1988 general
Lloyd Bentsen (D)
3,149,806
(59%)
($8,829,361)
1986 gen.
William (Bill) Clements (R)
1,813,779
(53%)
Beau Boulter (R)
2,129,228
(40%)
($1,353,345)
Mark W. White (D)
1,584,515
(46%)
1988 primary
Lloyd Bentsen (D)
1,365,736
(85%)
1986 prim.
William (Bill) Clements (R)
318,938
(58%)
Joe Sullivan (D)
244,805
(15%)
Tom Loeffier (R)
118,224
(22%)
1982 general
Lloyd Bentsen (D)
1,818,223
(59%)
($5,097,445)
Kent Hance (R)
108,583
(20%)
James M. Collins (R)
1,256,759
(40%)
($4,285,377)
1982 gen.
Mark W. White, Jr. (D)
1,697,527
(53%)
William (Bill) Clements (R)
1,465,952
(46%)
Sen. Phil Gramm (R)
Elected 1984, seat up 1990; b. July 8, 1942, Ft. Benning, GA;
home, College Station; U. of GA, B.A. 1964, Ph.D. 1967; Episco-
SENATORS
palian; married (Wendy).
Career: Prof., TX A&M U., 1967-78; U.S. House of Reps.,
1978-84.
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D)
Elected 1970, seat up 1994; b. Feb. 11, 1921, Mission; home, Starr
Offices: 370 RSOB 20510, 202-224-2934. Also 900 Jackson, Ste.
Cnty.; U. of TX, LL.B. 1942; Presbyterian; married (Beryl Ann).
570, Dallas 75202, 214-767-3000; 222 E. Van Buren., Ste. 404,
Harlingen 78550, 512-423-6118; 515 Rusk, Houston 77.002, 713-
Career: Army Air Corps, WWII; Practicing atty., 1945-46.
229-2766; 113 Fed. Bldg., 1205 Texas Ave., Lubbock 79401, 806-
Judge, Hidalgo Cnty., 1946-48; U.S. House of Reps., 1948-54:
Pres., Lincoln Consolidated, Inc., 1955-71; Dem. Nominee for
743-7533; 123 Pioneer Plaza, 6th Fl., Rm. 665, El Paso 79901, 915-
534-6896; and InterFirst Plaza, 102 N. College St., Rm. 201, Tyler
Vice Pres., 1988.
75701, 214-593-0902.
Offices: 703 HSOB 20510, 202-224-5922. Also 961 Fed. Ofc.
Committees: Appropriations (13th of 13 R). Subcommittees:
Bldg., Austin 78701, 512-482-5834; 515 Rusk, Ste. 4026, Houston
77002, 713-229-2595; and Earle Cabell Bldg., Rm. 7C14, Dallas
Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary; District of Columbia
(Ranking Member); Labor, Health and Human Services, Educa-
75242, 214-767-0577.
tion; VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies. Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (4th of 9 R).
Committees: Commerce, Science and Transportation (7th of II
Subcommittees: Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; Housing and Urban Affairs; International Finance
D). Subcommittees: Aviation; Communications; Merchant Marine:
and Monetary Policy (Ranking Member); Securities. Budget (9th of 10 R).
Science, Technology, and Space. Finance (Chairman of 11 D)
Subcommittees: Medicare and Long-Term Care; Taxation and
Group Ratings
Debt Management; International Trade. Joint Economic Commit-
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
tee (2d of 10 D). Subcommittees: Economic Goals and Intergovernmental Policy; Economic Growth.
1988
0
4
2
8
20
95
98
100
92
87
Trade and Taxes (Chairman); Education and Health. Joint Committee on Taxation (Vice Chairman).
1987
5
-
2
8
-
100
-
-
89
91
National Journal Ratings
Group Ratings
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Economic
0%
-
95%
0%
-
94%
1988
40
53
53
83
40
42
27
70
25
19
Social
0%
-
89%
6%
-
89%
1987
60
-
51
75
-
31
-
-
44
33
Foreign
11%
-
88%
0%
-
76%
1162
TEXAS
TEXAS
1163
Rey Votes
sional Campaign Committee chairman Tony Coelho was raising money, much of it from Texas
1) Cut Aged Housing $
AGN
5) Bork Nomination
FOR
9) SDI Funding
FOR
savings and loan operators, to oppose Hargett. He fell short of the 50% needed to win without a
2) Override Hwy Veto
AGN
6) Ban Plastic Guns
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
runoff, and Democrat Jim Chapman, a former district attorney, proved to be an adept
3) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice
FOR
7) Deny Abortions
FOR
11) Aid To Contras
FOR
candidate. Hargett stumbled on the trade issue-being raised simultaneously, and surely not
4) Min Wage Increase
-
8) Japanese Reparations
AGN
12) Reagan Defense $
FOR
coincidentally, in Washington by Senator Lloyd Bentsen-saying "I don't know what trade
policies have to do with bringing jobs to east Texas," despite the recent closing of the Lone Star
Election Results
Steel plant in Morris County. That and a relentless emphasis on social security helped Chapman
1984 general
Phil Gramm (R)
3,111,348
(59%)
($9,452,360)
to a 51%-49% win. Gramm's gambit lost, and Republicans actually lost southern House seats in
Lloyd Doggett (D)
2,202,557
(41%)
($5,887,858)
1988 while George Bush was sweeping the region. Yet the Democrats paid a price. It was only
1984 primary
Phil Gramm (R)
246,716
(73%)
after the S&L operators made their crucial contributions here that Jim Wright began
Ron Paul (R)
55,431
(16%)
Rob Mosbacher (R)
(8%)
intervening with federal regulatory agencies and bottling up reform bills on their behalf, at an
26,279
1978 general
John G. Tower (R)
1,151,376
(50%)
($4,359,365)
ultimate cost to the taxpayer that may total tens of billions of dollars.
Robert Krueger (D)
1,139,149
(49%)
($2,428,666)
In the House, Chapman proved, over time, to be the most slavish of followers of Jim Wright
and was been duly rewarded: with a seat on Steering and Policy in 1987 and a seat on
Appropriations in 1989. His greatest moment in the spotlight came in October 1987, when
Wright was about to be beaten on a $12 billion tax vote, former Wright aide John Mack
FIRST DISTRICT
physically carried Chapman to the floor, where Chapman changed his vote and gave Wright a
Fifty years ago a traveler in the northeast corner of Texas would see "a rolling, forested region
206-205 victory. This was in line with Chapman's general practice of compiling a moderate
where shortleaf pine clothes the uplands, with white, red and burr oak, sweet gum, and wild
voting record but giving the leadership votes when they are really needed-it was the second
magnolia trees along the streams. Sawmills dot timber areas. Dogwood blooms profusely in the
time that day and the sixth time that session Chapman had switched his vote-and it enraged
spring, and the wild rose, shame vine, Virginia creeper and swamp pink are among the plants
Republicans, who went out looking for a candidate. But Hargett did not want to run, and neither
that ornament the roadside. Ponds have white and yellow lilies. In dense woods along creeks.
did former state Senator Ed Howard; broadcaster Horace McQueen raised very little money,
small animals are hunted and trapped for their fur; mink and muskrat pelts are most valued." To
and Chapman, in a district yellow-doggedly Democratic enough to have nearly voted for
the careless eye today, this scene described by the WPA writer has not changed much. People in
Michael Dukakis, won 62%-38%. For Chapman this looks like a safe seat.
east Texas-said in tones that make you think it is a separate state-are tradition-minded, and
the great metropolitan areas have not grown out to these counties. But living standards have
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 571,900, up 8.5% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,016, up 20.4% 1970-80.
risen even as traditional values have mostly remained intact. If you still find sawmills and ponds,
Households (1980): 76% family, 39% with children, 65% married couples; 24.9% housing units rented;
you also find Wal-Marts and Holiday Inns and new churches-signs of prosperity and
median monthly rent: $123; median house value: $26,300. Voting age pop. (1980): 376,964; 17% Black,
widespread affluence which would have astonished the east Texans of two generations ago.
1% Spanish origin.
About half of east Texas-the northeastern corner of the state, but with jagged boundaries to
exclude the oil towns of Tyler and Longview-forms the 1st Congressional District. The largest
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
107,949
(52%)
city here is Texarkana, with its city hall so squarely on the Texas-Arkansas line that different
Dukakis (D)
97,014
(47%)
wings serve Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas. This is part of the historic Democratic
heartland: Bonham, the home of former Speaker Sam Rayburn, is just one county west of the
district; the district that elected former Speaker Carl Albert is just across the Red River in
Rep. Jim Chapman, Jr. (D)
Oklahoma. The 1st District was represented for nearly 50 years by Wright Patman, an old-
Elected 1985; b. Mar. 8, 1945, Washington, D.C.; home, Sulphur
fashioned populist, who began his career by moving the impeachment of Treasury Secretary
Springs; U. of TX, B.A. 1968, Southern Methodist U., J.D. 1970;
Ändrew Mellon (forcing him to resign to become Ambassador to Britain) and who ultimately
United Methodist; married (Betty).
became chairman of the Banking Committee; a gentle and good-humored man, he was voted out
Career: Practicing atty.; D.A., 8th Judicial Dist. of TX, 1976-84.
of his chairmanship at 81 in 1974, died in 1976, and was replaced by a much more conservative
Democrat, Sam Hall.
Offices: 429 CHOB, 202-225-3035. Also P.O. Box 538, Sulphur
In the summer of 1985, the 1st District was the scene of one the pivotal political battles of the
Springs 75482, 214-885-8682; Fed. Bldg., G-15, 100 E. Houston,
1980s. To shake the Democrats' hold on rural southern districts and encourage challengers to
Marshall 75670, 214-938-8386; 210 U.S.P.O. & Fed. Bldg., Paris
75460, 214-785-0723; and 401 U.S.P.O. & Fed. Bldg., Texarkana
run in 1986 and 1988, Phil Gramm contrived a special election in the Texas 1st by getting Hall
75504, 214-793-6728,
appointed to a federal judgeship and recruiting former Texas A&M and pro quarterback Edd
Hargett, an authentic resident of the 1st, to run as the Republican candidate. Money and
Committees: Appropriations (35th of 35 D). Subcommittees:
topflight consultants poured in, while the Democrats were handicapped because they had more
Energy and Water Development; VA, HUD and Independent
Agencies.
than one serious candidate. Gramm claimed, plausibly, that if a Republican could win in the 1st
in a nonpresidential year, Republicans could win in any southern district.
But this particular Republican didn't win. Even before the primary, Democratic Congres-
1164
TEXAS
TEXAS
1165
Group Ratings
and served four years in the Navy. He got himself elected to the legislature the year he returned
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
to east Texas. He won the House seat of a scandal-plagued conservative in the 1972 Democratic
1988
50
43
58
73
31
52
29
80
64
28
primary; a term later he shoved aside a fellow Texan for a seat on Appropriations. Always a
1987
48
-
54
57
-
9
-
-
47
22
feisty liberal on economic issues, he is a hawk on matters military. He now sits on the Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee, the small and mostly hawkish panel that gives the defense
National Journal Ratings
budget as close a combing as it usually gets on Capitol Hill; he also sits on the subcommittee that
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
handles foreign aid, which gives him a potentially broad view of the whole range of foreign
Economic
49%
-
50%
52%
-
48%
policy. As might be expected, he aggressively promotes the interests of Texas defense
Social
40%
-
58%
39%
-
61%
contractors.
Foreign
47%
-
53%
47%
-
52%
Wilson's number one cause in the 1980s has been aiding the Afghan rebels, and probably
Key Votes
more than any other member of the House, he is responsible for the American aid to the
1) Homeless $
-
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
mujaheddin which enabled them to force the Soviets out of their country. He traveled 14 times
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
to Afghanistan, Pakistan or South Asia in the 1980s, and in 1982 began working in secret
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
Appropriations hearings to put lots of money into the Afghan cause. In 1987, he also got a seat
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
on the Intelligence Committee, where he was able to further the Afghan cause. In 1988, Wilson
Election Results
got in a bit of a flap when it was learned that he put into an appropriation bill a cut in the Defense
1988 general
Jim Chapman (D)
122,566
(62%)
($505,611)
Intelligence Agency's budget apparently because a local DIA official had not allowed a woman
Horace McQueen (R)
74,357
(38%)
($94,477)
accompanying Wilson, a former Miss World, to fly in a plane over Afghanistan; that would have
1988 primary
Jim Chapman (D), unopposed
violated the rules, but the local DIA official might have been wise to overlook that for the man
1986 general
Jim Chapman (D)
84,445
(100%)
($894,772)
who was, more than anyone else, the patron of the Afghan rebel movement the United States
was trying to aid.
Wilson's voting record has never been a great problem for him in his district-though he has
been criticized for his favorable attitude toward increasing the size of the Big Thicket Preserve.
SECOND DISTRICT
Rumors about drug use caused him problems in 1984, when he was held to 55% of the vote by
In east Texas, you can see many landmarks of Lone Star history. There's still an Indian
four primary opponents (though the strongest got only 29%) and 59% in the general election; but
reservation in Polk County, and the Big Thicket National Preserve, to remind you of what this
he was cleared in all investigations and has not had serious opposition since.
land looked like when the first Texans came through. Over near Beaumont is the site of
Spindletop, the world's first gusher that was also the first major oil find in the state in 1901; not
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 590,500, up 12.1% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,772, up 35.4% 1970-80.
far away is the huge oil field that wildcatter H. L. Hunt found in 1931 and made the foundation
Households (1980): 78% family, 43% with children, 67% married couples; 25.3% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $155; median house value: $31,300. Voting age pop. (1980): 372,792; 14% Black,
of his billion dollar fortune. To the uneducated eye, east Texas looks little different from the
3% Spanish origin.
wildcat days of 50 years ago: the town squares with courthouses and churches, the stands of
cheap, quick-growing pine are still there, plus the strip highway culture of the 1950s. Yet in
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
99,074
(50%)
many ways, things have changed. Real incomes have tripled over 50 years, endemic diseases
Bush (R)
98,720
(50%)
have been wiped out, racial segregation has been abolished, and the isolation of the small town
has been ended by television and the interstate highway.
Rep. Charles Wilson (D)
The 2d Congressional District of Texas includes all or part of 16 counties in east Texas, most
Elected 1972; b. June 1, 1933, Trinity; home, Lufkin; U.S. Naval
of them still seemingly rural, all of them more imbued with traditional values than most parts of
Acad., B.S. 1956; United Methodist; divorced.
America these days. It includes the oil port of Orange (but not nearby Beaumont or Port
Arthur), the Big Thicket and the Alabama Coushatta Indian reservation, and goes past Lufkin
Career: Navy; 1956-60; Mgr., retail lumber store, 1961-72; TX
House of Reps., 1960-66; TX Senate, 1966-72.
and Nacogodoches to Palestine. Politically, it remains one of the most Democratic parts of rural
Texas; it cast more votes for Michael Dukakis than George Bush in 1988.
Offices: 2256 RHOB 20515, 202-225-2401. Also 701 N. 1st St.,
Charles Wilson, the 2d District's congressman, is one of the most distinctive figures in the
Rm. 201, Lufkin 75901, 409-637-1770.
House-tall, almost spectrally thin, flamboyant, pleasure-loving-yet he is also serious-minded
Committees: Appropriations (13th of 35 D). Subcommittees:
when he wants to be, and even idealistic. He is always ready with a wisecrack or quip; after
Defense; Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Pro-
President Carter fired HEW Secretary Joseph Califano and others in 1979 he said, "Good grief!
grams. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (7th of 12 D).
He's cut down the tall trees and left the monkeys." He has represented east Texas in Austin and
Subcommittee: Program and Budget Authorization.
Washington since 1960, and with a voting record that got him classified with the liberals in the
Texas Senate and a record in the House that on economics and cultural issues is often liberal
today. In early 1989 he was one of the most articulate and determined defenders of Jim Wright.
The common thread in all this is aggressiveness. Wilson is a graduate of the Naval Academy
TEXAS
TEXAS
1167
1166
emphasis on high-tech and defense industries.
Group Ratings
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
As to its Republicanism, affluent Dallas had soured on national Democrats by the 1940s, and
1988
35
72
68
55
25
55
13
100
46
19
by the 1950s there was a bitter, angry tone to its conservative politics seldom heard elsewhere. It
1987
-
67
57
43
-
-
8
13
was a tone that reverberated across the nation in the 1960 campaign when Republican
52
-
Representative Bruce Alger led a group that shoved Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson in the
National Journal Ratings
Adolphus Hotel lobby and was echoed sickeningly three years later when John Kennedy was
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
murdered in Dallas, even though the killer was a left-wing fanatic. Dallas has sobered up since
64%
36%
62%
-
35%
Economic
-
1963, but the faith of affluent Dallas in free enterprise has grown, if anything, stronger. Unlike
66%
34%
50%
-
50%
Social
-
many rich people back East, they don't feel that they have done something evil by getting rich:
Foreign
33%
66%
30%
-
69%
-
they have the 1950s optimism that technology and free enterprise can produce a better life for
Key Votes
all, and they have transformed the small provincial Dallas of the 1950s into a world capital of
-
1) Homeless $
AGN
9) SDI Research
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
industry and finance of the 1980s. The role government has played in this-by providing
5
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
education, infrastructure, defense contracts, a secure world market, and a very large consumer
FOR
class-is largely invisible from their perspective; what they have seen instead is entrepreneurs
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
4) Kill Pint Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
going out and fighting against the forces of inertia, mishap, regulation and bureaucracy which
keep most enterprises from succeeding.
Election Results
The 3d District is represented in the House by one of its smarter and harder-working young
1988 general
Charles Wilson (D)
145,614
(88%)
($309,355)
Republicans, Steve Bartlett. He will take second place to no one as a champion of conservative
Gary W. Nelson (Lib.)
20,475
(12%)
principles and, as a former head of a company building custom knobs and molded plastic gears,
1988 primary
Charles Wilson (D), unopposed
1986 general
Charles Wilson (D)
78,529
(57%)
($339,873)
he personifies the entrepreneurial ethic strong in Dallas. But unlike many other young
Julian Gordon (R)
55,986
(40%)
($47,660)
conservatives, he is a busy and successful legislator. Operating from the unlikely precincts of the
Banking Committee, he got the House to shift public housing programs from new construction
to repair of existing units. He has cooperated with Democrats in making changes in the medicaid
law and repealing a law interpreted by the Supreme Court as requiring overtime for state and
THIRD DISTRICT
local employees, and he played key roles on the "equal access" bill allowing religious groups in
All over the world it is one of the fabled parts of America, the locus of a novel about football
public schools and in creating bigger secondary mortgage markets. He worked on rewriting
players and one of the most popular TV shows of the 1980s, the place where J. R. Ewing lives on
disability law so that disabled people could take jobs without losing government medical benefits
Southfork and H. L. Hunt lived in a replica of Mount Vernon and where insurance heir John
and is working on a bill so that they would not lose benefits because their parents left money for
Post bought a new $3 million, 19,000-square foot mansion and then tore it down because he
their care. He worked on a $15 billion recapitalization of FSLIC, opposed by Jim Wright and
didn't like it: north Dallas. Here in humid, heat-choked summers affluent people live in huge
many high-flying Texas savings and loans. He has something unusual for a free market
shuttered houses, and the 3d Congressional District, which is basically coincident with north
conservative: an interest in how government actually works.
Dallas, is one of the nation's richest, best educated, and most Republican congressional districts
Bartlett won the seat in the 1982 Republican primary, when he was a 35-year-old Dallas
in the nation. The 3d begins, as affluent Dallas does, in the old suburbs of University Park and
councilman, beating former state legislator Kay Hutchinson by emphasizing gun control and
Highland Park, where most of the houses date back to the 1950s and where many of the elite.
abortion. There is no conceivable threat to his tenure in the House except an ambition to run for
like Governor Bill Clements, still live, north through dozens of different half-a-million dollar
statewide office, but so far he seems to enjoy legislating too much to give that any thought.
neighborhoods, north through rich suburbs like Farmers Branch, Addison, Carrollton and
Richardson-which together call themselves the Metrocrest-into the Collin County suburb of
Plano. Four decades ago you would have found here little but mildly rolling hillsides with
occasional trees and a little scrub; today you see huge office buildings and glittering shopping
malls, high-walled condominiums and sprawling singles apartment complexes, neighborhoods
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 648,400, up 23.0% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,023, up 66.5% 1970-80.
full of schoolchildren farther out, neighborhoods for affluent empty nesters closer in.
Households (1980): 66% family, 36% with children, 57% married couples; 40.4% housing units rented;
Where does all of Dallas's wealth come from? And why is this city so especially strongly
median monthly rent: $296; median house value: $82,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 389,627; 3% Black,
Republican? To the first question, the answer is that the wealth comes from a variety of things:
3% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
that is why, when dropping oil prices choked off growth in Houston, Dallas still grew. Dallas was
where the first railroad in Texas stopped at the three forks of the Trinity River. "Its wealth."
wrote John Gunther in the 1940s, "originally came from cotton, and until recently it was the
largest internal cotton market in the country; but primarily it is a banking and jobbing and
distributing center, the headquarters of railroads and utilities; it is the second city in the United
1988 Presidential Vote:
States in Railway Express business, the fourth in insurance, the fifth in number of telegrams." It
Bush (R)
215,204
(74%)
Dukakis (D).
72,929
has built, steadily and sometimes spectacularly, on that base for five decades, with special
(25%)
1170
TEXAS
TEXAS
1171
Group Ratings
Republican Dallas. The 5th District went for Michael Dukakis over George Bush, though only
ADA-
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
barely, and it almost always votes Democratic in Texas elections; its boundaries were drawn by
1988
15
17
39
45
31
92
55
100
86
50
Democratic legislature determined to put as many Republican precincts as possible into the
-
38
36
70
-
73
51
-
north Dallas 3d District and to leave just enough Democrats to keep the 5th and the 24th safely
1987
28
-
Democratic. There is enough resentment of north Dallas here for Bryant to denounce
National Journal Ratings
"Republican moneybags in north Dallas who want to have two congressmen and to control this
1988 LIB- 1988 CONS
1987 LIB- 1987 CONS
district also." But it should be added that most east Dallas residents are currently upwardly
Economic
27%
-
72%
42%
-
56%
mobile and hope to keep moving.
Social
5%
-
91%
10%
-
85%
Bryant is one of the most politically talented of the young Democratic congressmen. He won
-
Foreign
16%
78%
0%
80%
-
this district in 1982; after the district lines were set, Republican Steve Bartlett left the race here
Key|Votes
and ran in the 3d-a gain for the republic since both these young men, born the same year but of
1) Homeless
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
very different views, have proved to be skilled legislators. Bryant, a minister's son and a
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
rebellious liberal in high school, was elected to the Texas legislature in 1974, a year after
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
finishing SMU Law School; he performed skillfully in Austin and won the endorsement of his
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
predecessor, Jim Mattox (now Texas's attorney general) and 65% of the vote against a well-
known opponent in the Democratic primary; he won the general election by a 2 to 1 margin. In
Election Results
Ralph H. Hall (D)
($316,846)
his first term, he won the plum of a seat on the most coveted legislative committee, Energy and
1988 general
139,379
(66%)
Randy Sutton (R)
67,337
(32%)
($65,068)
Commerce. There he has worked ably to represent oil interests, but he has been busy on other
matters as well: a measure allowing utilities to produce energy through cogeneration, a
1988 primary
Ralph M. Hall (D), unopposed
1986 general
Ralph M. Hall (D)
97,540
(72%)
($269,235)
children's television bill, a bill to revive the fairness doctrine in broadcasting. Bryant is a believer
Thomas Blow (R)
38,578
(28%)
($20,000)
in regulation, and when he sees a problem his first impulse seems to be to write a law about it. He
is proud of sponsoring a Texas wilderness bill that passed in his first term. He is proud also of his
bill that would require foreign owners of American companies to make disclosure of assets-a
bill attacked as a know-nothing attempt to discourage foreign investment but which has passed
FIFTH DISTRICT
the House twice. He has a fairly solid liberal voting record, and is something of a workhorse.
Dallas, wrote the WPA Guide 50 years ago, "has no tradition of invasions or battles, or of wild
serving on Judiciary and Veterans' Affairs in the 100th Congress and Judiciary and Budget in
days when cattlemen, gamblers, and outlaws participated in lurid scenes of violence. It came
the 101st, as well as Energy and Commerce, where he is one of John Dingell's aggressive
into existence as a serious community with citizens of a peaceable and cultured type." Or so
interrogators on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.
Dallas would have you believe: the city that is the home of the oldest Neiman-Marcus and the
But Bryant may not remain in the House where he has done so well. He had raised prodigious
nation's newest major art museum has long been proud of its gentility and culture, and does not
sums of money with the help of his Energy and Commerce seat, and he has won handily against
mind it at all if you mistake it for some sophisticated metropolis back east. The corollary of this
the challengers Republicans have touted. But redistricting could easily wipe the 5th District out
is that Dallas, like eastern cities, has its funky and slummy sides as well. As the affluent north
by splitting it between a black-majority and a Republican district, neither of which Bryant could
side of Dallas grows farther north through Plano, past the Dallas city and county lines, the nearly
win. So in early 1989 he was considering running for lieutenant governor or attorney general in
one million people within the Dallas city limits include numbers of poor people and blacks.
1990; he would have liked to run for Lloyd Bentsen's Senate seat if Bentsen had been elected
singles and gays and Hispanics that you would expect in an eastern city.
Vice President in 1988.
This has political consequences: Dallas, long known as a Republican city, and still a very
Republican metropolitan area, nonetheless has a lot of Democratic territory-enough to make
up two Democratic congressional districts, the 5th and 24th. The 5th takes in Dallas's booming
downtown, the singles and apartment neighborhood of Oak Lawn just to the north, and the
Trinity River bottomlands to the northwest, which developer Trammell Crow has converted
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 608,600, up 15.6% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,633, up 0.8% 1970-80.
from marshland to prime commercial property, with not only warehouses and factories, but
Households (1980): 68% family, 39% with children, 53% married couples; 46.8% housing units rented:
Dallas's huge furniture and apparel marts and the cathedral-like Anatole Hotel. It takes in the
median monthly rent: $222; median house value: $35,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 374,926; 18% Black.
south Dallas black ghetto around the State Fair grounds. And it includes most of east Dallas,
10% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
with its renovated prairie houses near downtown and the middle-class neighborhoods farther out
and in the modest suburbs of Garland and Mesquite. Here people live in small frame houses,
commute to unexciting office and factory jobs, try to make ends meet and keep their
neighborhoods up. About one-fifth of the people here are black and one-eighth Mexican-
American; but, as Representative John Bryant puts it, "Generally speaking, what you have in
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D).
80,731
(50%)
the 5th District are regular, red-blooded working Americans."
Bush (R)
80,275
"Working" is the clue that this is an old-fashioned Democratic District in newly glitzy
(49%)
1172
TEXAS
TEXAS
1173
Rep. John Bryant (D)
superconducting super collider being built by the Energy Department-"the greatest basis
Elected 1982; b. Feb. 22, 1947, Lake Jackson; home, Dallas:
science facility," in one booster's words, "of the latter 20th century." The accelerator, designed
Southern Methodist U., B.A. 1969, J.D. 1972; United Methodist:
to probe the material origins of the universe, is being built like a race track more than 10 mile:
married (Janet).
across, centered on Waxahachie; it will cost $4 to $6 billion to build and $270 million a year to
Career: Practicing atty., 1972-82; Chief counsel, TX Sen.
run. More than 30 states competed for the SSC; Texas won, in an announcement made shortly
Scmtee. on Consumer Affairs, 1973; TX House of Reps., 1974-83.
after the 1988 election; and if politics played a role in giving Texas a major high-tech facility.
Offices: 208 CHOB 20515, 202-225-2231. Also 8035 East R. L.
this was not the first time: remember the Johnson Space Center south of Houston.
Thornton Freeway, Ste. 518, Dallas 75228, 214-767-6554.
Perhaps the most enthusiastic political booster of the Texas site was Congressman Joe Barton.
Committees: Budget (21st of 21 D). Task Forces: Defense, For-
whose 6th District includes Waxahachie and has a history that reflects the changes in this town
eign Policy and Space; Urgent Fiscal Issues. Energy and Commerce
and in Texas that have transformed a low-income, low-skill state into one of the nation's
(20th of of 26 D). Subcommittees: Energy and Power; Oversight
technological leaders over the last 50 years. Two decades ago the 6th District was mostly a rural
and Investigations; Telecommunications and Finance. Judiciary
and small town seat, running almost from Houston to Dallas and Fort Worth; its largest town
(19th of 21 D). Subcommittees: Courts, Intellectual Property and
was College Station, the home of Texas A&M University. Politically, it was ancestrally
the Administration of Justice; Criminal Justice; Immigration. Ref.
Democratic, and for 32 years elected Olin (Tiger) Teague, who ended up as chairman of the
ugees, and International Law.
Veterans Committee. But as Texas's metropolitan areas grew, the 6th District's boundaries were
expanded to include what was overspill from Fort Worth, Houston and Dallas. These were not
Group Ratings
elite areas, but they were affluent; they contained not ancient farmers, but young families
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
interested in honoring traditional values; they wanted not to preserve a pristine environment, but
1988
85
71
94
82
56
9
8
30
27
12
to build a high-tech economy in what had been pretty grubby areas.
1987
80
-
93
71
-
4
-
-
14
4
Politically, this once Democratic district became Republican. So did its congressman. Phil
National Journal Ratings
Gramm, elected as a conservative Democrat in 1978, switched parties, resigned and won
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
reelection as a Republican in early 1983, then he went on to win a Senate seat in 1984. He was
Economic
85%
-
15%
73%
-
0%
succeeded by Republican Joe Barton who, like Gramm, won one of his early contests by a
Social
60%
39%
73%
-
22%
-
narrow margin-in Barton's case, the 1984 Republican runoff, which he won by 10 votes. In the
Foreign
84%
-
0%
62%
-
37%
general that year, he beat a Democratic legislator from College Station with 57%; two years
later, against a protégé of Senator Lloyd Bentsen, he won with 56%. These were both million
Key Votes
dollar contests. In 1988, he won with 68%. The race was still pretty marginal in the still rural
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
counties in the center of the district. But the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (including now
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
AGN
Waxahachie) casts 41% of the vote and greater Houston 20%; with 18% more in Texas A&M's
11) Aid to Contras
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
home county, there isn't much rural vote left.
Barton spent his first term as a sort of bomb thrower, organizing a picketing of a Jim Wright
Election Results
press conference in Fort Worth. In his second term he got a seat on Energy and Commerce and
1988 general
John Bryant (D)
95,376
(61%)
($646,218)
spent much of his time promoting the super collider, and pursuing other causes such as removing
Lon Williams (R)
59,877
(38%)
($179,201)
restrictions of offshore natural gas contracts and requiring manufacturers to give refunds to
1988 primary
John Bryant (D), unopposed
anyone whose children are injured while using three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles.
1986 general
John Bryant (D)
57,410
(59%)
($994.285)
Tom Carter (R)
39,945
(41%)
($349,937)
SIXTH DISTRICT
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 659,200, up 25.1% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,765, up 48.1% 1970-80.
Fifty years ago Waxahachie, Texas was, according to the WPA Guide, "densely wooded. with
Households (1980): 75% family, 40% with children, 65% married couples; 28.4% housing units rented:
sycamores predominating. It is one of the largest primary cotton markets in Texas, in the heart
median monthly rent: $192; median house value: $42,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 379,330; 10% Black,
5% Spanish origin.
of an agricultural region noted for its heavy production of the crop. A textile mill utilizes the
lower grades of locally produced cotton in the manufacture of duck and other heavy materials.
The town's industries also include two large cottonseed oil mills and a cotton compress."
Waxahachie in the 1940s, was at the low end of the national economy, with most of the people in
the countryside working in back-breaking drudgery under the broiling Texas sun and people in
town concentrated in low-tech, low-skill operations. Waxahachie in the 1990s, will be at the
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush
(R)
158,954
(62%)
other end of the national economy, for it is slated to be literally at the center of the
Dukakis (D).
95,403
(37%)
1174
TEXAS
TEXAS
1175
Rep. Joe L. Barton (R)
shopping malls full of Swiss chocolates and French furs and restaurants where you can ge'
Elected 1984; b. Sept. 15, 1949, Waco; home, Ennis; Texas A&M
saltimbocca and sushi. Postmodern skyscrapers tower over clogged freeways and at odd
U., B.S. 1972, Purdue U., M.S. 1973; United Methodist; married
intersections are side-by-side with a tiny gas station or U-Tote-M. Houston is America's only
(Janet).
large city without zoning.
Career: Asst. to Vice Pres., Ennis Business Forms, 1973-81:
For much of the 1980s, Houston's economy has been sagging: home prices were down sharply
White House Fellow, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 1981-82; Consultant.
a lot of office space was going vacant, onetime high rollers were counting nickels and dimes. But
Atlantic Richfield Co., 1982-84.
the west side of Houston remained, by any national standard, affluent and prosperous. 11
Offices: 1225 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2002. Also InterFirst
remains the nation's center of expertise in the oil business. Its huge petrochemical complexes
Tower, Ste. 507, Conroe 77301, 409-760-2291; 809 University
create ever higher technology. It has the Johnson Space Center (saved from cuts by the area's
Ave., Rm. 222, Creekwide Plaza, Bryan 77840, 409-846-9791;
congressional delegation). It has a highly skilled, ambitious, resourceful work force. And the
InterFirst Bank Bldg., Ste. 101, Ennis 75119, 214-875-8488; and
traffic congestion, probably the worst in the country, about which Houstonians complain
3509 Hulen, Ste. 110, Ft. Worth 76107, 817-737-7737.
bitterly, may be a harbinger of better times.
Committees: Energy and Commerce (15th of 17 R). Subcommit-
The key question is whether Houston, with a metropolitan population over three million, can
tees: Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness; En-
diversify its economy, as Los Angeles did in the 1950s and Chicago in the 1880s, or whether it
ergy and Power.
will stay tied to oil as Detroit was to the automobile or Pittsburgh to steel, remaining vulnerable
to the declines that will come sooner or later. One good sign: bad times have spurred tens of
Group Ratings
thousands of Houstonians, who were once happy to rise upward on oil prices and regular
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
corporate paychecks and bonuses, to go out and start their own businesses.
1988
5
4
3
9
6
96
87
100
100
83
The 7th District remains also one of the most Republican districts in the United States in
1987
4
-
4
14
-
100
-
-
93
82
election after election-and number one in particular in 1988, when it cast 77% of its votes for
National Journal Ratings
its former congressman George Bush. The conservatism here is more economic than cultural:
1987 LIB 1987 CONS
many of these people, after all, have moved far from their original roots and they are not much
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
Economic
13%
-
85%
0%
-
89%
interested in changing other people's lifestyles. But few voters here are aggressive liberals on
Social
19%
81%
18%
-
81%
cultural issues, and very few dissent from the hawkish consensus on foreign policy.
-
Foreign
30%
-
70%
0%
-
80%
The district's current congressman is Bill Archer, Bush's successor and one of the senior
Republicans in the House. Born and brought up in Texas, Archer was elected to the legislature
Key Votes
as a Democrat and then became a Republican. He is now the ranking Republican on the House
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
Ways and Means Committee-a position which, as Dan Rostenkowski has pointed out, Bush
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
could have had if he had stayed in the House. Unsurprisingly, he has been a vigorous advocate
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
for positions on tax issues backed by the oil industry, especially independent producers. He has
been a staunch opponent over the years of increases in social security benefits and coverage, and
Election Results
he opposed as well the 1983 social security refinancing. He has favored lower tax rates for years.
1988 general
Joe L. Barton (R)
164,692
(68%)
($654,260)
but is proud of having opposed the 1986 tax reform and was one of the House Republicans who
Pat Kendrick (D)
78,786
(32%)
($17,414)
came close to scuttling it in December 1985. Up until 1989, anyway, Archer seemed almost
1988 primary
Joe L. Barton (R), unopposed
entirely negative in his approach to legislation.
1986 general
Joe L. Barton (R)
86,190
(56%)
($1,034,515)
But on becoming the committee's ranking Republican after the death of John Duncan in
Preston Geren (D)
68,270
(44%)
($895,746)
1988, and with his 7th District predecessor in the White House in January 1989, Archer started
sounding much more disposed toward positive legislation and bipartisan compromise-and even
possibly, if it comes to that, tax increases, though his first priorities are to cut capital gains and
SEVENTH DISTRICT
oil drilling taxes. He worked with Rostenkowski on a technical changes bill and has a better
relationship with him than any previous ranking Republican had. With an utterly safe district.
To the short list of congressional districts once represented in the House by a President of the
Archer is sure to be around; the interesting question is what impact he will have.
United States you can add the 7th District of Texas. This is especially notable since the district
in anything like its present form did not exist until the 1966 redistricting: this was a brand new
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 651,000, up 23.5% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,083, up 103.6% 1970. 80.
part of America when it elected George Bush as its first congressman. Fifty years ago the WPA
Households (1980): 72% family, 42% with children, 62% married couples; 37.9% housing units rented:
Guide described the rich subdivision of River Oaks as the "outlying" part of Houston; River
median monthly rent: $302; median house value: $79,200. Voting age pop. (1980): 375,483; 6% Spanish
Oaks is now about as close to downtown as you get in the 7th District whose 650,000 people live
origin, 3% Black, 2% Asian origin.
west and northwest in affluent and air-conditioned comfort on land that a half century ago
housed perhaps 20,000, mostly in leaky-frame shotgun houses propped up to keep the swamp
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
194,529
(77%)
water out. The gas stations where you could buy food and bait have been replaced by gallery/
Dukakis (D).
56,781
(22%)
1176
TEXAS
TEXAS
1177
Rep. Bill Archer (R)
sailors, and a maritime supply company offers merchandise dear to the hearts of seafaring men."
Elected 1970; b. Mar. 22, 1928, Houston; home, Houston; Rice U.,
On the west side of Houston, you might be forgiven for thinking this is entirely a white-collar,
1945-46, U. of TX, B.B.A. 1949, LL.B. 1951; Roman Catholic;
office-bound city; but on the east and north, around the turning basin in the port and through the
married (Sharon).
maze of refinery towers and tubing, you can see clearly that Houston is also a blue-collar town.
Career: Air Force, 1951-53; Pres., Uncle Johnny Mills, Inc.,
with blacks and Mexican-Americans and large numbers also of whites from the rural South and
1953-61; Hunters Creek Village Cncl. and Mayor Pro Tem, 1955-
even Michigan and California who came here to move up in the world.
62; TX House of Reps., 1966-70; Dir., Heights St. Bank, Houston,
Politically, Houston is as polarized as a steel town in the 1930s. In 1988, the west side 7th
1967-70; Practicing atty., 1968-71.
District voted 77% for George Bush, while the inner city 18th District, with its large black
Offices: 1135 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2571. Also 7501 Fed. Bldg.,
population, went 75% for Michael Dukakis. They were watching the same TV ads and news
515 Rusk St., Houston 77002, 713-229-2763.
from the same city, they depend on the same economy-but they vote as if they lived in different
Committees: Ways and Means (Ranking Member of 13 R). Joint
countries. In between politically, and off to the north and east geographically, is the 8th
Committee on Taxation.
Congressional District of Texas, which gave 54% of its votes to Bush and 45% to Dukakis-two
points off the national average. About one-third of the people in the 8th live in Houston, about a
third are black; there are modest working-class precincts on the city's east side. To the north, the
district includes what was once countryside, dotted by roadside stores and jerry-built houses, and
what is now the home of Houston's Intercontinental Airport, and the glass high-rise office
Group Ratings
buildings and glittery subdivisions that were built nearby. At the far eastern end of the district is
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Baytown, an industrial refinery town where the Ship Channel empties out into the bay. People
1988
0
9
4
18
25
100
87
100
100
90
here believe in traditional cultural values, perhaps a little more fervently than their neighbors on
1987
0
-
5
21
-
95
-
-
100
85
the west side; they believe also in free enterprise, though their faith has been tested as the 1980s
National Journal Ratings
have gone on, and they are not averse to some government intervention here and there and a little
tighter mesh in the safety net.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
0%
-
93%
0%
-
89%
In the 1970s, this was a Democratic congressional constituency; in the 1980s, it was
Social
0%
95%
0%
90%
Republican, thanks largely to the talents and vote-getting abilities of Congressman Jack Fields.
-
-
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
I
80%
In Washington, Fields was at first seen as a blow-dried Reagan robot swept into office in 1980
and swept to reelection on billows of PAC money. The reality seems a little different. Fields won
Key Votes
in 1980 in a district closer to the central city and more Democratic, and he beat a veteran and
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
accomplished liberal, incumbent Bob Eckhardt-even while Jimmy Carter was beating Ronald
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
Reagan in the district. Fields was helped by redistricting, but not overwhelmingly: the 8th is not
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
much more Republican than the 5th District in Dallas that elects Democrat John Bryant or the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
12th in Fort Worth that used to elect Jim Wright. Fields won with 57% in 1982 against a weak
Election Results
opponent; he got well over 60% in 1984 and 1986 and was unopposed in 1988.
($180,255)
His political assets seem to be these. He has genuine roots in the district, in the old Exxon
1988 general
Bill Archer (R)
185,203
(79%)
Diane Richards (D)
48,824
(21%)
($11,090)
company town of Humble out near Intercontinental Airport. He won a seat on the Energy and
1988 primary
Bill Archer (R), unopposed
Commerce Committee in his second term-a valuable political asset in energy-dependent
1986 general
Bill Archer (R)
129,673
(87%)
($152,779)
Houston. He is not enough of a free market ideologue to pass up chances to help the district,
Harry Kniffen (D)
17,635
(12%)
fighting efforts to move space station work away from the nearby Johnson Space Center; getting
$38 million for flood control on White Oak Bayou and $3.3 million to clean up toxic wastes in the
Highlands Acid Pit, and trying to block the sales of USX's Texas Works at Baytown to the
EIGHTH DISTRICT
government of Iraq. On the powerful Energy committee, he supports oil industry positions on
various issues and is an adversary of Health Subcommittee Chairman Henry Waxman on issues
"What built Houston," wrote John Gunther in the 1940s, "was a combination of cotton, oil, and
like clean air and AIDS policy. All these have helped Fields gain a solid hold on what might
the ship canal." The cotton and oil were the gifts of nature, though they require much human
otherwise be a Democratic district-a formidable political achievement for someone the
effort and ingenuity to produce in commercial quantities; the ship canal was almost totally man's
Democrats have tried to dismiss as just another pretty face.
creation. After the sand-spit port of Galveston was destroyed by a hurricane and tidal wave in
1900; Houston's town fathers decided to dredge out Buffalo Bayou and make their inland city a
seaport, and they succeeded. By 1940, Houston had a "port district, a teeming, noisy place
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 685,500, up 29.9% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,531, up 65.7% 1970-80.
where the Neptune Shore, the Port Cafe, and the Seven Seas Store are part of a salty
Households (1980): 81% family, 52% with children, 69% married couples; 30.4% housing units rented;
atmosphere that is authentic even though inland from the coast so many miles. Here a beer sign
median monthly rent: $256; median house value: $46,700. Voting age pop. (1980): 347,798; 15% Black,
announces that a certain brand 'steadies your nerves'; a seamen's institute beckons passing
11% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
1178
TEXAS
TEXAS
1179
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
89,941
(54%)
devastating hurricane of 1900 (at which point even venturesome Texans decided it was better to
Dukakis (D)
74,588
(45%)
build the big city which became Houston on swamps inland rather than on sand scarcely above
sea level) and Texas City, just inland where more than 500 perished in a huge liquefied natural
Rep. Jack Fields (R)
gas tanker explosion in 1947. This is not gentle country. Nonetheless, the Space Center was
Elected 1980; b. Feb. 3, 1952, Humble; home, Humble; Baylor U.,
located here, under pressure from Vice President Johnson and longtime Houston Congressman
B.A. 1974, J.D. 1977; Baptist; married (Lynn).
Albert Thomas; and when NASA threatened to move space station operations out, they were
Career: Practicing atty.; Vice Pres., Rosewood Mem. Funeral
stymied by the area delegation led by 9th District Representative Jack Brooks.
Home and Cemetery. 1977-80.
The delegation could hardly have picked a more aggressive or astute champion. Brooks
worked his way through school as a reporter, was a Marine in the South Pacific in World War II.
Offices: 108 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4901. Also 12605 E. Free-
was elected to the legislature from the Beaumont area at age 23, politicked astutely enough to
way, Ste. 320, Houston 77015, 713-451-6334.
chair the Banks and Banking Committee in his mid-20s, and was elected to Congress in 1952.
Committees: Energy and Commerce (10th of 17 R). Subcommit-
just before turning 30. He is undeniably brainy and even more undeniably forceful; an old-
tees: Energy and Power; Health and the Environment; Telecom-
fashioned man's man who likes to hunt and fish with no evident interest in introspection but an
munications and Finance. Merchant Marine and Fisheries (5th of
impressive ability to figure out how to get things done and then the temperament to see that they
17 R). Subcommittees: Merchant Marine; Panama Canal and
Outer Continental Shelf (Ranking Member).
are done his way. He is probably the current Member of Congress who most closely resembles
Lyndon Johnson, in both his virtues and his faults, in his accent and even a bit in his craggy
appearance. Brooks is extremely partisan, profane, knowledgeable, witty, effective. A story that
may be apocryphal has it that he was charged with being pro-Communist in his 1952 House
campaign. "I fought the fascists for five years in World War II," he is supposed to have told a
Group Ratings
political meeting; "I own an eight-inch revolver back at home and I'll shoot any man who calls
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
me a Communist."
1988
0
9
6
18
19
100
87
100
100
87
Whether that happened or not, it is clear that Brooks is fearless. Representing a district that
1987
0
-
7
29
-
86
-
-
93
75
reached far into rural east Texas in the 1950s and early 1960s, he compiled (and has now) a
liberal record on economic issues and on many non-economic issues as well. While most southern
National Journal Ratings
congressmen postured in opposition to civil rights legislation, Brooks voted for the Civil Rights
1988 LIB 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Act of 1964, something that took real guts-and he didn't show a tremor of hesitation. More
Economic
0%
-
93%
11%
-
83%
recently, he was an ally and adviser and the strongest and most vocal defender of Jim Wright
Social
0%
-
95%
15%
-
84%
Foreign
0%
-
84%
80%
during the investigation that led to Wright's resignation. Brooks's position has been that Wright
0%
-
violated no rules, that charges were brought against him as they have been brought against
Key Votes
liberal leaders in the past for political reasons only, and that the Ethics Committee has
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
misunderstood the facts and the law. Only four days apart from Wright in age, a friend since
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
they were both combat veterans elected to the Texas legislature in 1946 at age 23, Brooks made
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
a point of renominating Wright for speaker in the Democratic Caucus, declaring "Jim Wright
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice
FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
and I have worked together for two-thirds of our lives, and I know him as well as my brother,"
Election Results
and defending his as faithfully as a brother could.
After 14 years of chairing Government Operations, Brooks became Chairman of Judiciary in
1988 general
Jack Fields (R), unopposed
($226,581)
1989. At Gov Ops he was known as an aggressive investigator of agencies and a stickler on some
1988 primary
Jack Fields (R), unopposed
1986 general
Jack Fields (R)
66,280
(68%)
($574,657)
big government procurement issues-the telephone contract, for example. On Judiciary, where
Blaine Mann (D)
30,617
(32%)
($19,666)
he had been less active, he is expected to be a more aggressive and partisan chairman than Peter
Rodino, and some think he will try to expand the committee's jurisdiction as John Dingell has
with Energy and Commerce. But his differences with Rodino are limited: Brooks favors capital
punishment, for example (but not for agency heads who displease him), and he is not a believer
NINTH DISTRICT
in Rodino's old-fashioned trust-buster approach to antitrust.
From Spindletop park in Beaumont, where Texas's oil industry began, to the Lyndon B. Johnson
Brooks served on the special committee investigating the Iran-contra scandal, just as he served
Space Center south of Houston, where America's probes into space are planned, stretches the
on Judiciary's impeachment hearings a dozen years ago. On both he was a prosecutorial-minded
9th Congressional District of Texas. It has two concentrations of population. One is around
critic of Republican administration personnel; Nixon called him "the executioner" after Brooks
Beaumont and Port Arthur, near the border with Cajun Louisiana, an area of refineries,
tracked down all the public money spent on Nixon's San Clemente house. Brooks himself says,
petrochemical plants, and other big processing operations. Heavily blue-collar and dependent on
"I never thought being a congressman was supposed to be an easy job, and it doesn't bother me a
oil, this area had one of the highest levels of unemployment in Texas in the middle 1980s. The
bit to be in a good fight."
öther populated area is around Galveston, built on a sand spit and rebuilt after 6,000 died in the
Brooks had some electoral problems in the early 1980s, in 1980 edging a primary challenger
TEXAS
TEXAS
118!
1180
by an uncomfortably narrow 50%-43% margin and beating him two years later, after spending
Election Results
over $700,000, with just 53%. He has not had primary opposition since, but has won general his
1988 general
Jack Brooks (D), unopposed
($226,58)
elections with 59% in 1984 and 62% in 1986-a little lower than most congressmen with
1988 primary
Jack Brooks (D), unopposed
seniority usually get, but not in the danger zone. The 9th District, with its blacks and Cajuns. for
1986 general
Jack Brooks (D)
73,285
(62%)
($400,038)
union members and unemployed oil workers, is in any case pretty solidly Democratic; it went
Lisa D. Duperier (R)
45,834
(38%)
($237,179)
Michael Dukakis over Texas's George Bush in 1988. Brooks seems likely to be an even more
important congressman as the 1980s turn into 1990s.
TENTH DISTRICT
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 560,200, up 6.4% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,443, up 17.5% 1970-80. rented:
Households (1980): 76% family, 43% with children, 63% married couples; 32.0% housing units 20% Black.
In the 1940s, world traveler John Gunther found Austin "one of the pleasantest small cities I've
median monthly rent: $209; median house value: $39,300. Voting age pop. (1980): 370,362;
ever seen. The street signs are colored orange, and the lamps, uniquely in the world I imagine
7% Spanish,origin, 1% Asian origin.
shine from towers 165 feet high, thus softly floodlighting the whole town. And Austin i'
fantastically full of fantastically pretty girls." Austin remains pleasant and the women are still
Dukakis (D)
105,562
(53%)
attractive, but this southernmost state capital in the continental 48 states is scarcely small any
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
94,083
(47%)
more: it is one of the boom towns of America and one of its major centers of high-tech innovation
and economic growth.
There is an irony here, for Austin was not established for economic reasons. It has been
Rep. Jack Brooks (D)
through most of its history a city with only a limited interest in commerce, its skies almost totally
Elected 1952; b. Dec. 18, 1922, Crowley, LA; home, Beaumont:
untainted with the smoke of industry, its ground not pocked with pumping oil rigs. Nor has stat
Lamar Col., 1939-41, U. of TX, B.J. 1943, J.D. 1949: United
government been a major employer during most of Austin's history: the dome on the pink granite
your
Methodist; married (Charlotte).
Capitol is just a tad higher than its counterpart in Washington, but Texas has always believed in
Career: USMC, WWII; TX House of Reps., 1946-50; Practicing
minimalist government. The real secret behind Austin's growth and vitality, the public sector
atty., 1949-52.
sparkplug that has produced the private sector combustion, is the University of Texas. Endowed
Offices: 2449 RHOB 20515, 202-225-6565. Also 230 Jack Brooks
with thousands of west Texas acres that turned out to sit on top of oil, it has the nation's largest
Fed. Bldg., Beaumont 77701, 409-839-2508; and 601 25th St.
single university campus here in Austin and has become one of the great institutions of higher
Galveston 77550, 409-766-3608.
learning in America.
Committees: Judiciary (Chairman of 21 D) Subcommittee: Eco-
But since the middle 1970s Austin has changed, almost doubling in size, bursting with
nomic and Commercial Law (Chairman). Select Committee or
outsiders, spreading shopping centers and condominiums willy-nilly into the surrounding hills.
Narcotics Abuse and Control (2d of 18 D).
The catalyst again is the University, plus Austin's selection in 1983 as the site of the
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation research consortium headed by
Admiral Bobby Inman. Austin in the 1980s has become not exactly yuppified, but more
affluent, less of a college town and more a place where families with technical-minded
breadwinners live ordered and disciplined lives. Its attitudes are now closer to those of the Texas
Monthly, probably the most successful-editorially and financially-of the nation's regional
Group Ratings
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
magazines, which eyes Texas critically but usually affectionately; less the adolescent eager to
ADA
ACLU
COPE
77
82
25
9
6
13
23
9
overthrow all the older generation's pieties and more the adult interested in understanding and
1988
75
81
-
64
0
13
8
appreciating the society around him.
-
-
1987
88
76
-
Politically, Austin has become more Republican. Austin and the surrounding 10th Congres-
sional District voted for Ronald Reagan twice, and the high-tech and UT ticket of Michael
National Journal Ratings
Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen won just 53% in the district once represented in the House by
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Lyndon Johnson. The city's blacks remain unanimously Democratic, and Democrats' percent-
87%
8%
73%
-
0%
Economic
-
Social
75%
-
24%
59%
40%
ages among Mexican-Americans and students have not fallen too much (conservative young
-
Foreign
60%
-
37%
68%
-
30%
people in Texas today tend to choose A&M, SMU or Baylor over UT). But the new affluent
neighborhoods spreading all over the countryside are Republican, though not quite so heavily so
15 affluent neighborhoods in Dallas or Houston, of course (no place else in America is that
Key Votes
Republican), but Republican enough to give a different tilt to Austin politics.
1) Homeless $
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
-
But congressional politics here remains in the LBJ mode, thanks to Congressman Jake Pickle.
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
AGN
There is an old tradition here, going back to Lyndon Johnson's victory in the 1937 special
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
11) Aid to Contras
-
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
election, of fairly liberal Democratic congressmen, who are fairly generous with public funds
-
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
(especially for central Texas), tolerant on civil rights, hawkish on military affairs, and politically
1182
TEXAS
TEXAS
1183
able-a tradition upheld by LBJ ("the best congressman ever," in the words of his unadmiring
Group Ratings
biographer Robert Caro), his successor Homer Thornberry, and the man who succeeded
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Thornberry when Johnson made him a federal judge in 1963, the current congressman, Jake
1988
80
70
54
64
63
16
14
40
38
19
Pickle. All three were contemporaries, born between 1908 and 1913; the 10th has been
1987
60
-
52
50
-
22
-
-
43
14
represented by politicians of the same generation for more than 50 years.
National Journal Ratings
Pickle gives the impression of being a kindly man; he is conscientious about his work; on the
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Ways and Means Committee on which he ranks third and on the Social Security Subcommittee
Economic
67%
-
33%
54%
-
45%
he used to chair, he has taken seriously his responsibilities for programs which affect all
Social
70%
-
28%
42%
-
57%
Americans and cut to the heart of the lives of a great many. He is not one to promise what be
Foreign
50%
-
49%
50%
-
48%
believes cannot be delivered, and while other Democrats go out and demagogue the social
security issue on the campaign trail, Pickle has worked hard in the committee room and on the
Key Votes
floor to make sure the system does not go bankrupt. He was the architect of the social security
I) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
rescue of 1983, when benefits were in effect cut by raising the normal retirement age over the
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
years to 67 in the next century; he now chairs the Oversight Subcommittee. He was a serious
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
player on tax reform and on trade; he has come forward with well thought out amendments to
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
help rural hospitals, to strengthen the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and to let owners of rental real
Election Results
estate deduct cash expenses. He is not the kind to challenge Chairman Dan Rostenkowski idly.
1988 general
J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D)
232,213
(93%)
($172,921)
but he knows how to get what he wants.
Vincent J. May (Lib.)
16,281
(7%)
He knows how to win elections, too. It struck some Republicans that changes in Austin were
1988 primary
J.J. (Jake) Pickle (D), unopposed
making the old-fashioned Pickle vulnerable and in 1986 Carole Keeton Rylander. mayor of
1986 general
J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D)
135,863
(72%)
($1,369,912)
Austin in the 1970s and daughter of a dean of UT Law School, a family friend of Pickle's and B
Carole Rylander (R)
52,000
(28%)
($316,175)
longtime Democrat, switched to the Republican Party and ran against him. Pickle showed
energy, aggressiveness, tenacity and won 72% of the vote. For the 1990s, the outlook for Pickle is
even better. The 10th was, according to the Census's 1986 estimate, the second most populous in
ELEVENTH DISTRICT
the country (after the Texas 26th) and stands to be split up after the 1990 Census; one possibility
is that Republican north Austin will become the nucleus of a new Republican district, leaving
The heart of Texas, just off the geographic center of the state but the center of its traditional
the 10th more Democratic and more pro-Pickle.
rural culture, is not in greater Houston or the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, or even in the state
capital of Austin. It is betwixt and between, a part of Texas whose farm fields and small towns
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 702,400, up 33.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,181, up 41.0% 1970-80
Households (1980): 65% family, 35% with children, 53% married couples; 45.4% housing units rented
recall the state as it was half a century ago, before the growth of the oil industry transformed
median monthly rent: $222; median house value: $47,800. Voting age pop. (1980): 390,909: 153
Texas, once a rural backwater, into one of the centers of western capitalism. This is the Texas
Spanish origin, 9% Black, 1% Asian origin.
around Waco, which since its founding, wrote the WPA Guide in 1940, "has grown steadily and
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
without spectacular boom periods. Negroes still sing and sweat in broad outlying cotton fields.
156,015
(53%)
Bush (R)
132,984
(46%)
and cowmen frequent Waco's elm-shaded streets, but false-fronted saloons have been replaced
by tall hotels; old cattle trails are boulevards. River-bank slums, locally called Rat Row, have
Rep. J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D)
grown into an industrial zone." Waco has continued its steady growth since, fortified by the
growth of the Army's huge Fort Hood, which occupies most of one of the counties next door, by
Elected Dec. 17, 1963; b. Oct. 11, 1913, Roscoe; home, Austin: U
of TX, B.A. 1938; United Methodist; married (Beryl).
the 1970s surge in the "awl bidness," and perhaps in the 1990s, by the high-tech influence
radiating out of Dallas-Fort Worth on one side and Austin on the other.
Career: Area Dir., Natl. Youth Admin., 1938-41; Navy. WWIL
Waco and the still mostly rural counties around it make up Texas's 11th Congressional
Co-organizer, KVET Radio, Austin; Adv. and pub. rel. business
District. Politically, this was long one of the most Democratic parts of what was the very
Dir., TX St. Dem. Exec. Cmtee., 1957-60; Mbr., TX Employment
Comm., 1961-63.
Democratic state of Texas, not so much because of blacks and Hispanics (their numbers are not
high here) as because of the ancestral loyalties of rural and small city whites. As late as 1968.
Offices: 242 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4865. Also 763 Fed Bldg.
while Hubert Humphrey was carrying almost nothing but black precincts in the South, he won
Austin 78701, 512-482-5921.
in absolute majority here against Richard Nixon and George Wallace. But in the two decades
Committees: Ways and Means (3d of 23 D). Subcommittees
since, national Democratic loyalties have, if not evaporated, at least diminished: George Bush
Health; Oversight (Chairman). Joint Committee on Taxation
carried this district with 58% of the vote.
The congressman from the 11th District, Marvin Leath, in his first decade in the House
became one of the leaders of the Democrats-and not just of the conservative Democrats: he has
been one of the Members who has held the Democratic majority together. He came to the House
with experience in business as a small Texas banker and after working two years for his
1184
TEXAS
TEXAS
1185
predecessor, Bob Poage, a conservative and farm policy expert first elected in 1936 who chaired
Rep. J. Marvin Leath (D)
the Agriculture Committee until he was ousted by the Democratic Caucus after the election of
Elected 1978; b. May 6, 1931, Henderson; home, Waco; U. of TX,
1974. Leath ran for the seat in 1978 and won after two tough struggles, against liberal Lane
B.B.A. 1954; Presbyterian; married (Alta).
Denton in the primary and against a well-financed Republican in the general; in his first three
Career: Army, 1954-56; High sch. teacher and coach, 1957-59;
years he compiled a conservative voting record. He even looked the part of a rural conservative:
Salesman, 1959-62; Banker, 1962-68; Spec. Asst. to U.S. Rep. W.
with his deep drawl, his tanned weatherbeaten look, his guitar and country music, he looks like
R. Poage, 1972-74.
the kind of Texan who keeps a shotgun mounted on his pickup truck.
But from the 1970s, he also gained an understanding that the road upward for a Democrat-
Offices: 336 CHOB 20515, 202-225-6105. Also 206 Fed. Bldg.,
Waco 76701, 817-752-9600.
unless he was to switch altogether to the Republicans, as the 6th District's Phil Gramm did in
1983-was to get along with the Democratic Caucus. He worked on the veterans' training and
Committees: Armed Services (10th of 31 D). Subcommittees:
G.I. bills in 1983 and 1984-which have turned out to be one of the unsung public policy
Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems; Readiness. Budget
successes of the 1980s. He championed military spending and protected Fort Hood from his seat
(5th of 21 D). Task Force: Defense, Foreign Policy and Space
(Chairman).
on Armed Sefvices. In 1985, he got a seat on the Budget Committee, where he found his forum,
advanced his own budget alternatives, saw them rejected by other Democrats (though they have
gotten more votes than you might think), and then went on to support his fellow Democrats'
alternative with force and vigor as the best available solution. He proved himself over and over
again a good team player.
Group Ratings
So when liberals were casting around for someone to run against Armed Services Chairman
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Les Aspin after he voted for the MX missile in 1985 and contra aid in 1986, they went down the
1988
15
22
30
45
38
71
44
90
77
41
committee list to number 14 in seniority and came to Leath. He was more hawkish than Aspin by
1987
28
-
28
29
-
41
-
-
50
47
any measure, but also they thought more candid and more of a team player, and he ran for the
National Journal Ratings
job in the Democratic Caucus, with support ranging from Ron Dellums to Sonny Montgomery.
Eventually the move failed: Aspin was rejected in Caucus in January 1987, but the Leath forces
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
came up short after leading liberals passed a letter backing Aspin and pointing to Leath's
40%
-
58%
42%
-
58%
Social
32%
-
68%
defense record. This is not the only setback Leath has suffered. He wanted to become chairman
35%
-
65%
Foreign
38%
-
62%
40%
-
60%
of the Budget Committee. But in July 1987, it became apparent that Leon Panetta of California
had the votes, and Leath took himself out of the race.
Key Votes
Leath has taken these setbacks with characteristic good humor and found other worthwhile
I) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
FOR
work to do. After the death of Dan Daniel in 1988, he became Chairman of the Armed Services
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
Panel on Morale, Welfare, and Recreation; this handles over $16. billion worth of non-
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
appropriated funds that may not have a direct bearing of defense capabilities but are important
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
to military men and women-in, among other places, Fort Hood, Texas. Leath supported
Election Results
Richard Gephardt's presidential candidacy actively, as did many of his fellow House Demo-
crats. He remains on Budget and in 1989 chaired its Task Force on Defense, Foreign Policy. and
1988 general
J. Marvin Leath (D)
134,207
(95%)
($87,626)
Space-all areas on which he is inclined to spend more than most other Democrats, but on which
Frederick M. King (Lib.)
6,533
(5%)
1988 primary
J. Marvin Leath (D), unopposed
he presumably will work to find common ground with them. When his six-year stint on Budget
1986 general
J. Marvin Leath (D)
84,201
(100%)
($83,069)
ends, he will return to Veterans' Affairs as its number four Democrat.
At home, Leath has not had a serious opponent since his tough races in 1978, nor is he likely to
in this district he fits like a glove.
TWELFTH DISTRICT
Fort Worth, Texas, has a fair claim to being the quintessential mid-American city. Halfway
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 580,200, up 10.0% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,382, up 25.3% 1970-80.
across the continent, midway between the oceans, it is where the East ends and the West begins,
Households (1980): 75% family, 41% with children, 65% married couples; 36.6% housing units rented:
just west of the Balcones Escarpment that divides the dry treeless grazing lands of west Texas
median monthly rent: $162; median house value: $30,400. Voting age pop. (1980): 381,013; 13% Black.
from the humid green croplands of cast Texas. It is southern in its hell-of-a-fellow heritage and
8% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
northern in its advanced post-industrial economy. It has the nation's biggest row of Western
wear shops and in the redeveloped Stockyards the nation's largest honkytonk, Billy Bob's Texas:
it has the nation's richest family, the Basses, who have put up the steel-sheen skyscrapers that
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
106,061
(58%)
dominate the skyline from hills miles away and at whose base is the Sundance Square dream-
Dukakis (D)
75,985
(41%)
world built by the eccentric Bass brother.
Half a century ago the WPA Guide said it was "as thoroughly representative of the Southwest
1186
TEXAS
TEXAS
1187
às a long-horned steer. Its metropolitan aspects-towering business buildings, noisy traffic-
Texas delegation and many but not all southerners. On the second of the secret ballots, he edged
vividly exemplify the modern city; but its people typify the spirit and atmosphere of the Old
out Richard Bolling by two votes; on the third, he beat Phillip Burton 148-147. A reform-
West. There is still time for a cordial 'Howdy, stranger,' and a nice disregard of the city's uproar
minded group of Democrats elected the one candidate without distinguished reform credentials.
in the easy pause for conversation that is definitely reminiscent of the top rail of a corral fence,
Suddenly Wright was a national leader, spokesman for the Democratic Party, in line for the
with boot heels hooked for balance and plenty of time for talk."
speakership. His relationship with Speaker Tip O'Neill turned out to be good; he made peace
Yet Fort Worth has become a center of America's high-tech and defense industries. Fort
eventually with his 1976 opponents; he worked hard and often effectively to find common
Worth is the place where an eight-engine B-52 bomber rolled off the runway and, circling lazily
ground with the majority of House Democrats on issues like energy and foreign policy that
in the wide treeless sky, broke the United States out of the SALT II treaty in 1986, as it together
tended to separate them. He made his share of missteps along the way, championing and
with the new B-1 exceeded the treaty's limits. It took off from Carswell Air Force Base, right
spotlighting the synfuels program which most Democrats eventually voted to kill, switching
across the street from where General Dynamics built it in the nation's largest defense plant; not
positions on the MX missile, putting Phil Gramm on the Budget Committee where he ended up
far away than Bell Helicopter Textron's almost equally huge plant. Fort Worth has some of the
sponsoring the Reagan budget cuts. Back home in Fort Worth, he seemed stronger than ever;
nation's premier small museums (better, it likes you to know, than Dallas's) and the definitive
even in the conservative climate of 1980, when challenged by then Mayor Jim Bradshaw,
museum of Western art; it will also be the site of the second Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Wright raised $1.2 million and won with 60%. In the House he steadily consolidated his position
plant to make paper money. Fort Worth had its beginning as a cow town, where stockmen drove
until, by the middle 1980s, it seemed highly unlikely that anyone else would succeed O'Neill. By
their herds to the railhead, when it pushed west from Dallas; today it has a high-tech economy.
1985, when O'Neill announced his retirement, Wright was able to announce that he had a
with big employers like General Dynamics and Texas Instruments and Tandy Radio Shack. It
majority of votes; Dan Rostenkowski and John Dingell, aggressive and ambitious men who
has long been seen as a defensive rival looking over its shoulder at Dallas; now it is entitled to
admitted they'd like the job themselves, declined to run, knowing the vote count.
stand up on its own. Other cities have their claims, but the visitor from abroad who wants to see
In his first term as Speaker, Wright showed a command over the technical content of
as much as possible of what is quintessentially American would be well advised to fly to the
legislation and he worked capably with committee and subcommittee chairmen to schedule
Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport and head west to Fort Worth.
legislation in a way that gave the Democratic House a chance to make a strong positive record.
Fort Worth's political heritage is Democratic, and for 34 years by the man who became the
Working as O'Neill did only with Democrats, uninterested in the votes across the aisle, Wright
48th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jim Wright. In 1954, when Wright was first
put together clean water and highway bills which were quickly passed over President Reagan's
elected to Congress after a primary victory over anti-labor Democrat Wingate Lucas (who died
veto. He helped fashion a responsible trade bill and attached the ultimately successful (and
the week before Wright announced his resignation), this was still a dusty blue-collar town. in
politically useful) factory closing notice provision to it. The House he led passed a catastrophic
contrast to white-collar Dallas, which was electing its first Republican congressman the same
health insurance program, drug and homelessness laws, a farm credit bill, and a welfare reform
year. Much of Fort Worth still has that air, as sympathetic legislatures have shorn some of the
bill that all represented constructive approaches to nagging national problems. Under his
more Republican parts of Tarrant County away from Wright's 12th District; currently
leadership Congress for the first time in nearly 40 years passed every appropriations bill in time
Arlington and some affluent suburbs to the north are in the 26th District, and some of the
heavily Republican neighborhoods in southwest Fort Worth are in the 6th District which
dazzling, record.
for the new fiscal year. Technically, politically, in legislative substance, it was a fine, perhaps a
stretches south all the way to Houston. That leaves the 12th District with almost all of Fort
On foreign policy, an area he had not been involved in previously, he literally took over U.S.
Worth's blacks and Hispanics, with most of its blue-collar voters, and with ordinary white
Central American policy. Wright speaks Spanish, he has long travelled in Central America, and
Texans living in neighborhoods sprinkled with shopping centers, small Mexican and barbecue
like most House Democrats he voted against opposed military aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
restaurants, and Southern Baptist and fundamentalist churches.
After contra aid was ended in 1987, he began negotiating directly with the Sandinistas, the
As Speaker and before, Wright was a man of tense ambition and mellifluous charm. 1
Reagan Administration, and Central American leaders like Costa Rica President Arias. The
politician of mostly unchanging principles over a 40-year public career but with a tendency
result was that the United States accepted the Arias plan, which produced an end to contra
sometimes to flinch under pressure. For years, he seemed to shift because the world shifted
activities and called for, though it threatened no sanctions to obtain, freedoms of expression and
around him: in the 1950s, this admirer of Franklin Roosevelt was the most liberal member of the
free elections in Nicaragua. The young Democrats who had come to office in the 1970s had felt
Texas delegation, a young national Democrat among a group of old and mostly conservative
then that Congress should have ended the Vietnam war by denying the Johnson and Nixon
nominal members of the party; by the late 1960s, he was being scorned by party liberals for his
Administration funds to fight it. Now, under Wright's leadership and with the votes of most
support of public works projects and the Vietnam war. But public works and an interventionist
House Democrats, Congress was ending the contra war by denying the Reagan and then the
foreign policy had been the heart of Roosevelt's policies. On his way up, as well as on the way
Bush Administrations funds to fight it. For many younger House members, notably David
down, Wright had some severe political setbacks. He lost renomination to the legislature in 1948
Bonior of Michigan, whom Wright appointed Chief Deputy Whip, this was a noble cause and
when his opponent was murdered days before the primary. He ran for Lyndon Johnson's Senate
effectiveness. me which cemented them to their leader. For everyone, pro or con, it was a sign of Wright's
seat in 1961 and came in third-tantalyzingly close to the second place which would have pot
him in a runoff with John Tower which he probably would have won. He tried for the Senate
Yet Wright's work also showed some of his characteristic defects. He was temperamentally a
again in 1966, going on television to ask for $10 contributions, but he didn't get enough to make
bner in an institution which places a premium on camaraderie and, though his yeomen efforts to
a statewide race. By the early 1970s, this Texan who surely hoped he might follow Lyndom
consult his colleagues often resulted in legislative success, his occasional failures to do so
Johnson to the White House was reduced to hoping that he might eradicate his 1961 campaign
resulted in political setbacks. His proposal for a tax rate increase in the 100th Congress
debt and succeed some day to the chairmanship of the House Public Works Committee.
embarrassed his fellow Democrats; his flinching on the pay raise issue at the beginning of the
Then in 1976, he ran for House Majority Leader. He began the race with support from the
01st Congress infuriated them. He infuriated the Republicans even more by his aggressive
1188
TEXAS
TEXAS
1189
partisan tactics and increasing resort to steamroller tactics. Some of the Republican complaints
optimism. Like the rural Texas from which many Fort Worth citizens come, Fort Worth ha
were disingenuous: majorities always employ procedural devices in ways minorities always find
been shifting towards Republicans in the 1980s: Fort Worth's Tarrant County was actually 1':
unfair. But Wright, through his usually ironclad control of the Rules Committee, did use closed
more for Ronald Reagan than Dallas County in 1984, and that same year Tarrant joined Dallas
rules preventing amendments much more often than Tip O'Neill did; he did contrive to keep
in electing the Republican slate to county-wide offices-a revolution in local politics. In 1986
Republicans from having an up-or-down vote on their alternatives on major issues like contra
Tarrant was only 2% less for Republican Governor Bill Clements than Dallas, and in 1988 not
aid; he did declare the House adjourned and then open up what he called a new legislative day
only Tarrant County but also the 12th district voted for George Bush over Michael Dukakis. But
one afternoon; he did have his key aide John Mack, convicted in 1973 of beating a young woman
Bush's margin in the 12th was small, and as Wright announced his resignation, the Republicans
with hammer blows to the head, escort Texas Congressman Jim Chapman to the floor in
were searching for a candidate and the major Democratic contenders appeared to be state
October 1987 to switch his vote and give Wright a 206-205 victory on a budget issue. One must
Senator Hugh Parmer of Fort Worth and Pete Geren, a lawyer who ran against 6th District
go back at least to the 1920s to see such hard-nosed partisan tactics employed habitually by a
Congressman Joe Barton in 1986.
Speaker of the House.
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 631,500, up 19.4% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,715, up 4.7% 1970-80
One must go back even farther also to find a speaker embroiled with the kind of ethical
Households (1980): 73% family, 41% with children, 59% married couples; 36.0% housing units rented:
problems facing Wright in early 1989. In fact, he is the first Speaker ever to resign because of
median monthly rent: $204; median house value: $33,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 374,842; 15% Black.
such problems. In 1988, when Newt Gingrich filed charges against Wright before the Ethics
9% Spanish origin.
Committee, Gingrich was a Republican backbencher with a reputation as a not very reliable
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
gadfly and Wright was at the peak of his power as speaker. Democratic members could not
98,449
(53%)
Dukakis (D)
87,316
(47%)
imagine any more dire result than a partisan tussle that would be little noticed outside their
chamber and on which they would win as they had won most partisan tussles within the House in
Rep. Jim Wright (D)
the 1980s. But in March 1989 the Ethics Committee announced it found reason to believe
Wright violated the rules of the House by taking gifts from his longtime business associate,
Elected 1954; resigned June, 1989; b. Dec. 22, 1922, Ft. Worth:
George Mallick, on the grounds that Mallick had an interest in legislation, and that his unusual
home, Ft. Worth; Weatherford Col., U. of TX; Presbyterian:
married (Betty).
royalty and marketing arrangements for his book The Reflections of a Public Man was an
attempt to evade the House limits on outside earned income.
Career: Army Air Corps, WWII; Partner, trade extension and
Against both these charges Wright had defenses which were not frivolous: that Mallick had no
adv. firm; TX House of Reps., 1947-49; Mayor of Weatherford.
interest in legislation beyond what any citizen has and that royalty income, which is allowed by
1950-54; Pres., TX League of Municipalities, 1953.
the rules, is royalty income even if the arrangement is unusual. And the Ethics Committee
Offices: 1236 LHOB 20515, 202-225-5071. Also 9A10 Lanham
refused to charge him with violations for his frequent and vehement interventions with federal
Fed. Bldg, 819 Taylor St., Ft. Worth 76102, 817-334-3212; and 536
regulators on behalf of Texas savings and loan operators-interventions which, together with his
B Seminary Dr., Ft. Worth 76115, 817-334-4845.
effective opposition to FSLIC recapitalization bills, may end up costing the taxpayers $100
billion to bail out the S&Ls bankrupted by improvident and crooked owners. But as the
elaborate ethics process dragged on, and as more charges and facts surfaced (including a
graphic Washington Post article on the story of the woman John Mack attacked in 1973).
Wright's position became politically untenable. Jack Brooks, Charles Wilson, and other Texans
tried to rally members behind him; Majority Leader Thomas Foley and Whip Tony Coelho
Election Results
defended him publicly and privately. But few Democrats felt for this competent but personally
1988 general
Jim Wright (D)
distant man the loyalty they felt, for instance, to the warm and gregarious O'Neill; and, while
135,459
(99%)
($940,760)
1988 primary
Jim Wright (D), unopposed
Democrats were ready to take seriously Wright's arguments that he hadn't violated the rules.
1986 general
Jim Wright (D)
84,831
(69%)
($1,098,252)
very few relished the prospect of defending on the stump in 1990 all the things he had done.
Don McNiel (R)
38,620
(31%)
($269,946)
As the early months of 1989 dragged on, Wright fought bravely, smiling and maintaining his
innocence. Complaints were heard from many quarters that little legislation was being passed.
but in fact the budget resolutions and appropriations bills were moving forward, committees
were marking up legislation, and Wright himself during all his troubles continued to play the
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT
pivotal role on Central American policy, negotiating the Bush Administration's total surrender
Heading west in Texas, the population thins out, the land becomes browner, till you can travel
on contra aid. The sad irony is that genuine legislative competence which he always wanted to be
through a whole county where only a few hundred people-plus quite a few more head of
the hallmark of his speakership seemed likely to be obscured by controversy over matters which
cattle-live. And then you go up nearly 1,000 feet of elevation, up the steep gullies that surround
Wright surely believes are at most peripheral to his public duties. But by May 1989 it was clear
the rivers which are most of the year just a tiny trickle, till you come to the tilted tableland that is
even to Wright that he could not prevail, and, after Tony Coelho abruptly announced his own
the High Plains of west Texas. The winds here sweep down from the Rockies, the land is barren
resignation following charges that seemed far less serious, Wright spoke emotionally to the
except where it is irrigated, often with the now dangerously depleted waters of the Ogallala
House, defending himself, and announcing his resignation:
Aquifer, but here and there in this demanding environment-sticky-hot in the summer, swept by
Republicans looking ahead to the special election to replace him had some reason for
north winds from Canada in much of the winter-comfortable cities have been built to house the
1190
TEXAS
TEXAS
1191
people and businesses that bring forth oil and natural gas and helium and other elements from
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 551,700, up 4.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,840, up 7.7% 1970-80.
the earth.
Households (1980): 75% family, 39% with children, 66% married couples; 30.0% housing units rented:
The 13th Congressional District of Texas, the northernmost district in the state, spans all this
median monthly rent: $166; median house value: $28,800. Voting age pop. (1980): 376,878; 7% Spanish
territory. Its easternmost part, around Wichita Falls, is part of the agricultural land of the Red
origin, 5% Black, 1% Asian origin.
River Valley. It is dusty land, with empty skylines, afflicted with the woes-low crop and land
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
121,111
(63%)
prices, worse export markets, banks failing because of bad loans-characteristic in the middle
Dukakis (D)
68,739
(36%)
1980s of the Farm Belt. This is white Anglo Texas: few blacks got this far west and few Mexican-
Americans go this far north. Population has been declining here not only in the rural counties.
Rep. William C. Sarpalius (D)
but also in the district's second largest city, Wichita Falls, whose population fell below 100,000
Elected 1988; b. Jan. 10, 1948, Los Angeles, CA; home, Amarillo:
in 1980. Wichita Falls was the home base of John Tower, but historically this area, like the entire
TX Tech. U., B.A. 1972, W. TX St. U., M.A. 1978; Methodist:
Red River Valley, has been one of the heartlands of the Democratic Party, and some of the
divorced.
sparsely populated counties to the west still vote heavily Democratic.
Up on the High Plains, the economy is different: it is based on minerals. The 13th District's
Career: Agribusiness; Teacher, 1976-79; TX state Senate, 1981-
88.
largest city is Amarillo, the home of former oilman and now corporate raider T. Boone Pickens,
the helium capital of the world, and just 15 miles west of the Pantex plant that builds America's
Offices: 1223 LHOB 20515, 202-225-3706. Also 817 S. Polk.
nuclear bombs, It has churches whose members believe that the end of the world is near and
Amarillo 79109, 806-371-8844; 1000 Lamar, Ste. 208, Witchita
nuclear destruction will come soon, and Stanley Marsh III who planted a row of 10 Cadillacs
Falls 76301, 817-767-0541.
nose down in his "Cadillac ranch." Settled partly by people from neighboring northwest
Committees: Agriculture (23d of 27 D). Subcommittees: Con-
Oklahoma and western Kansas, the Panhandle has always been one of the most Republican
servation, Credit, and Rural Development; Cotton, Rice and Sugar:
parts of Texas. Opposition to energy price regulation has strengthened this area's Republi-
Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition; Wheat.
canism, and in national elections it almost seethes hostility toward the Democrats.
Soybeans and Feed Grains. Small Business (23d of 27 D). Sub-
committee: Procurement, Tourism, and Rural Development. Select
Politically, this is a split constituency, cobbled together from two districts after the 1980
Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (18th of 18 D).
Census: the Democratic Red River Valley and the Republican High Plains. It has shifted
between the parties twice, in 1984 and 1988. The first time, Democratic Congressman Jack
Group Ratings and Key Votes: Newly Elected
Hightower was beaten by Beau Boulter, a Republican of the religious right, and beaten 53%-
Election Results
47%. Boulter was reelected in 1986, partly because a month before he had tacked onto the $560
1988 general
William C. Sarpalius (D)
98,345
(52%)
($384,738)
billion continuing resolution $700,000 for the Lake Wichita-Holliday Creek flood control
Larry S. Milner (R)
89,105
(48%)
($476,220)
project. In 1988, he gave up what was looking like a safe seat for a predictably uphill race
1988 primary
William C. Sarpalius (D)
37,745
(58%)
against Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who not only won, but held Boulter to a 51%-49% margin in his
Ed Lehman (D)
16,629
(26%)
home district.
1986 general
Beau Boulter (R)
84,980
(65%)
($744,332)
The new congressman is Democrat Bill Sarpalius, who has beaten both of the leading
Doug Seal (D)
45,907
(35%)
($52,914)
Republicans who ran against him. One was Bob Price, elected congressman from the High
Plains in 1966 and defeated by Hightower in 1974; Sarpalius beat him for the Amarillo state
Senate district in 1980. This time Price lost the Republican nomination to Amarillo businessman
Larry Milner, whom Sarpalius also beat. Sarpalius has a gripping personal history: he came to
FOURTEENTH DISTRICT
the High Plains as a child, stricken with polio, abandoned by his father, sent with his brothers by
Going south from Houston, on the flat coastal plains along the Gulf of Mexico, you come to some
his alcoholic mother to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch near Amarillo. He went to Texas Tech. taught
of the hottest and most humid places in the United States. These cottonlands were settled well
agriculture, went into the farm business, and ran for office. In Austin, he was a crusader against
after the more temperate-climated northeast Texas, and they have always been dedicated to
drunk driving; back home he broke his back while driving an all-terrain vehicle in 1986, and was
market-oriented rather than subsistence farming; the lifeline here is the railroad, with the cotton
beaten and had his jaw broken in an Amarillo bar in January 1988, but in neither case was he
gin beside it. The coastline, though it has plenty of inlets, never had any important ports in the
drinking. Milner charged Sarpalius with being a liberal and talked taxes and gun control:
stretch between Houston and Corpus Christi, until the discovery of oil in this part of Texas made
Sarpalius talked agriculture and natural gas, topics more adapted to the district. Milner wom
it worthwhile to build channels to ship the oil out. "A curious mixture of cultures lingers here,"
54% in the High Plains; Sarpalius won 62% in the Red River Valley and the grazing counties to
says the WPA Guide: "traces of the plantation era with its tangible evidences-rambling white
the west, and was elected with 52%.
houses set in groves of moss-draped oaks, old-time Negroes, and cotton; some of the glamour of
With a seat on the Agriculture Committee as a new farm bill is being written, an arresting
the days of the cattle kings, who erected mansions; and combined with this, the thrift and
biography and considerable political acumen, Sarpalius seems to have a good chance to make
customs of descendants of European immigrants. In this region of canebrakes, oil wells, rice,
this once Republican district a safe Democratic seat.
pecans, and hump-backed Brahmas, the land is black, rolling and open except along streams and
where small groves of oaks make islands of darker green in a usually verdant picture."
This is the land of the 14th Congressional District of Texas, an area made up of rural
countrysides, small towns and a couple of small cities, along the Gulf coast and inland toward the
1192
TEXAS
TEXAS
1193
old Texas German country, which includes just the outer edges of the sprawling metropolitan
Election Results
areas of Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. These cotton lands, settled well after
1988 general
Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
111,395
(53%)
($600,114)
the Civil War, don't have many blacks (11% districtwide); the percentage of Mexican-
Mac Sweeney (R)
96,042
(46%)
Americans (20% districtwide) is about average for Texas. You don't find many Mexicans until
1988 primary
($645,988)
Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
59,213
(72%)
you get down to Victoria and the south. This is mostly white Anglo country, ancestrally
Michael L. Herzik (D)
22,770
(28%)
Democratic except for a couple of counties settled by Texas Germans, who were pro-Union in
1986 general
Mac Sweeney (R)
74,471
(52%)
($883,081)
the Civil War and have remained Republican ever since.
Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
67,852
(48%)
($429,672)
The 14th District has been represented by some odd congressmen: one was beaten in 1978
after a woman staffer charged him with sexual improprieties; his conservative successor retired
after he was arrested on homosexual charges in 1979; Bill Patman, son of the longtime populist
FIFTEENTH DISTRICT
chairman of the House Banking Committee, won in 1980 and 1982 but was beaten in 1984 by
the oddest of the lot, Republican Mac Sweeney. Sweeney, who had held some position on the
"Starting virtually as a wilderness at the turn of the century," the WPA Guide wrote 50 years
Reagan White House staff, was guilty of resume inflation, of making inaccurate charges against
ago about the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, it "has experienced an almost phenomenal
Patman, of mailing out campaign literature under the frank after criticizing Patman for doing
development. Along this fertile plain, at intervals approximating seven miles, are thoroughly
so, of claiming to have co-sponsored bills he hadn't yet co-sponsored, of being almost invisible in
modern towns whose populations range from 3,000 to 12,000. Between them vast citrus groves
the House and in committees on which he was nominally serving. Sweeney won the seat by
crowd close to the highway. Along the main roads the glossy fronds of date palms, frequently so
blindsiding Patman and held it in 1986 against a politically inexperienced opponent, Democrat
luxuriant that they serve as windbreaks for citrus groves, contrast with the lighter green of the
Greg Laughlin. But voters catch on to this kind of thing, and in 1988, Laughlin came back and
orchards, the dusty emerald of salt cedars, and the duller tones of the unusually tall, slender
won the seat with 53% of the vote-more than either of Sweeney's two winning percentages.
Washingtonia robusta palms; the latter are strung out in long lines across the landscape, often
Laughlin won in the Democratic heart of the district; his percentages were lower, and he lost 2
marking the boundaries of property or the windings of irrigation canals." To this valley pioneers
couple of counties, at the edges in places with metropolitan overspill. He has committee
came, like Lloyd Bentsen Sr., who arrived after World War I with five dollars in his pocket and
assignments-Public Works, Merchant Marine-that suggest he will be a nuts and bolts
became one of the biggest Valley landowners, remaining active in his business until he died in an
politician. But it's possible that the Republicans will try to win this one back, in which case it
auto accident in 1989 at age 95.
would be seriously contested in 1990 as it has been in each election of the 1980s.
But the neat towns settled by migrants from the North did not supply most of the labor in this
southernmost part of the United States mainland; the workers mostly came from Mexico, or
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 604,200, up 14.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,920, up 26.0% 1970-00
were from Hispanic families settled on the north side of the Rio Grande for generations. Off the
Households (1980): 77% family, 42% with children, 67% married couples; 28.0% housing units rented:
paved streets, and in settlements in the counties to which the big citrus developments had not
median monthly rent: $153; median house value: $34,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 368,619: 17%
penetrated, "Mexicans here cling to the customs of their homeland across the river. One- and
Spanish origin, 11% Black.
two-room jacales made of willow branches, daubed with mud or thatch, make rooms for the
humbler folk; milk goats, dogs and cats, chickens and children swarm over these casitas. The
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
121,903
(57%)
Dukakis (D)
90,108
(42%)
border in those days was a porous thing, with no patrolling or border stations to speak of; and the
Valley was a kind of border zone between the underdeveloped Mexican economy and the
advanced economy of the United States."
Rep. Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
It still is, with the proviso that all three economies have grown and produce levels of affluence
Elected 1988; b. Jan. 21, 1942, Bay City; home, W. Columbia: IX
today unforeseen by all but a few visionaries 50 years ago. It is still possible to find some
A&M U., B.A. 1964, U. of TX, LL.B. 1967; Methodist: married
backward dwellings in the Valley, but most residents live an air-conditioned life, and if wage
(Ginger).
levels are the lowest in the United States, so is the cost of living. People and money still ebb and
Career: Asst. Dist. Atty., Harris Cnty., 1970-74; Atty., Bd. of
flow across the border, depending on currency exchange rates; when the peso collapsed in 1982,
Dir., St. Bar of TX, 1981-84; Pres., TX Aggie Bar Assoc., 1984-85.
Valley retail sales plummeted and Valley bank deposits surged to record levels. Population
figures have bounced all around, rising sharply in the late 1980s.
Offices: 1022 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2831. Also 312 Main St.
Victoria 77901, 512-576-1231; and 221 E. Main St., Ste. 20R
Once upon a time in the small counties of south Texas local ranchers and oil men wielded
Round Rock 78664, 512-244-3765.
absolute political power. The Parr family of Duval County, for example, held back their returns
in the 1948 Senate runoff and then reported 4,622 votes for Lyndon Johnson and 40 votes for his
Committees: Merchant Marine and Fisheries (24th of 26 DI
Subcommittees: Coast Guard and Navigation; Merchant Marme
opponent-a margin similar to that by which Johnson had been trailing in the first primary. But
Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf. Public Works and
those days are pretty much gone. The Hispanic voters in small counties are heavily Democratic:
Transportation (30th of 31 D). Subcommittees: Aviation: Surface
Starr County voted 85% for Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen (his official Texas residence is
Transportation; Water Resources.
here) in 1988. But in the larger counties there is more two-party voting these days, and Dukakis
swept the Valley in the 1988 presidential primary not because of connections with local bosses
but because he spoke Spanish and ran TV ads heavily on local stations.
Group Ratings and Key Votes: Newly Elected
The 15th Congressional District of Texas includes much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley,
1194
TEXAS
TEXAS
1195
including Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata Counties along the river. It goes north almost as far as San
Rep. E (Kika) de la Garza (D)
Antonio, although most of its population is along the border. This is the descendant of a district
Elected 1964; b. Sept. 22, 1927, Mercedes; home, Mission; Edin-
that in 1948, 1950 and 1952 elected Lloyd Bentsen Jr., to the House, before he went to Houston
burg Jr. Col., St. Mary's U., LL.B. 1952; Roman Catholic; married
to make his fortune and got elected to the Senate in 1970. The current congressman from the
(Lucille).
15th District is Eligio (Kika) de la Garza. He came up from poverty, served 12 years in the
Career: Navy, WWII, Army, Korea; Practicing atty., 1952-64:
legislature and was a favorite of the big landowners who was sometimes attacked by Austin-
TX House of Reps., 1952-64.
based liberals and militants. His voting record for years was rather conservative; he is somewhat
Offices: 1401 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2531. Also 1418 Beech St.,
liberal on economic issues and always supported civil rights, but he tends to be hawkish on
McAllen 78501, 512-682-5545; and Alice Fed. Bldg., Rm. 210, 401
foreign policy and rather conservative on cultural issues. This is out of line with many
E. 2d St., Alice 78332, 512-664-2215.
professional Hispanics but meshes well with the views of Mexican-American voters, who tend to
Committees: Agriculture (Chairman of 27 D).
be pro-military and culturally traditional. Generally, de la Garza is an earnest, pleasant man,
who takes the trouble constantly to learn new languages and to surprise foreign visitors by
speaking to them in their native tongue.
De la Garza has been chairman of the House Agriculture Committee since 1981-a troubled
time for that assignment. He got the chair when Thomas Foley moved up in the leadership. As
chairman, de la Garza has superintended the committee's work on two major farm bills, in 1981
and 1985. These have been melancholy duties: even as spending on farm programs went up to
Group Ratings
unprecedented heights, crop prices, land values and farm exports were declining disastrously.
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
For years the Democratic Party has knitted together Farm Belt politicians who want to use
1988
50
55
61
45
38
20
10
63
50
16
government to bolster the family farmer and urban politicians who want to use government for
1987
56
-
60
57
-
5
-
-
27
11
other purposes, and they have voted for each others' programs. Now, on both sides, they know
National Journal Ratings
that government must pay less. The 1981 farm bill, in a way quite unanticipated by anyone.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
boosted costs enormously, so much so that de la Garza and everyone else knew that the 1985 bill
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
56%
-
44%
73%
-
0%
would have to skin them back, and it did. In the years since, he has done craftsmanlike work, as
Social
60%
-
39%
45%
-
54%
on the 1988 drought relief bill and a 1988 pesticide bill which, characteristically, did not include
Foreign
72%
-
28%
49%
-
51%
provisions sought by lobbies on either extreme. De la Garza will be working on yet another farm
bill in 1989; his expectation early in the year was that it would result in still further cuts in
Key Votes
spending. No opposition has arisen to his chairmanship, and he has been reelected by
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
overwhelming margins in the 15th District.
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
-
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice
-
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
-
Election Results
1988 general
E (Kika) de la Garza (D)
93,672
(94%)
($219,469)
Gloria Joyce Hendrix (Lib.)
6,133
(6%)
1988 primary
E (Kika) de la Garza (D), unopposed
1986 general
E (Kika) de la Garza (D)
70,777
(100%)
($141,973)
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 638,100, up 21.0% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,203, up 38.4% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 84% family, 54% with children, 71% married couples; 27.8% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $126; median house value: $23,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 329,023; 66%
SIXTEENTH DISTRICT
Spanish origin, 1% Black.
North America's largest border city, perhaps the largest border city in the world, is the city
known as El Paso in Texas and Juarez in Mexico. "El Paso lies directly under the crumbling face
of Comanche Peak," the WPA Guide wrote 50 years ago, "spreading out fan-shaped around the
foot of the mountain. In some directions, irrigation has made bright green gardens of the
residential section; in others, as in the Chihuahuita district and toward the west, the scene
consists chiefly of brick and adobe houses. Fashionable residences, largely of a modified Spanish
or Pueblo architecture, lie near the mountains, their roofs bright against gray rocks. The city's
international tonc is evident everywhere; on the streets, which bear English and Spanish names,
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
108,744
(63%)
Bush (R)
64,034
(37%)
and where fluent Spanish is spoken by Texans as well as Mexicans; in the schools, which face the
problem of teaching more than 900 children who daily cross the bridge from Juarez by special
1196
TEXAS
TEXAS
1197
arrangement with the immigrant authorities; in such segregated districts as Chihuahuita, where
the sights, and sounds, manners and folkways of Mexico are found." Today El Paso still is a
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 610,900, up 15.8% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,401, up 29.9% 1970-80.
bicultural, bilingual city, but it is vastly larger. In 1940, there were 97,000 people in El Paso and
Households (1980): 81% family, 53% with children, 66% married couples; 39.3% housing units rented;
39,000 in Juarez; in the late 1980s there were over a half million people in El Paso and more
median monthly rent: $158; median house value: $36,800. Voting age pop. (1980): 341,560; 55%
than-no one really knows how much more than-one million in Juarez.
Spanish origin, 4% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Other American border cities owe their prominence to factors other than their position on a
dotted line on the map: San Diego to the Navy, Detroit to autos, Buffalo to grain-shipping and
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis
(D)
69,550
(52%)
steel. El Paso and Juarez would be little more than a crossroads, a pass through the mountains,
Bush (R)
63,062
(47%)
without the border. What has grown up here is a huge metro area that lives off labor that is very
low-wage by United States standards and attracts workers with wages that are very high by
Mexican standards. They live in physical isolation-a kind of heavily populated island in the
Rep. Ronald D. Coleman (D)
midst of a vast sea of sand: it is more than 600 miles east to Dallas-Fort Worth and 400 miles
Elected 1982; b. Nov. 19, 1941, El Paso; home, El Paso; U. of TX,
west to Phoenix; Albuquerque and Chihuahua are 260 miles north and 230 miles south,
B.A. 1963, J.D. 1967; U. of Kent, England, 1981; Presbyterian;
divorced.
respectively. Government puts in some money in El Paso-there are big military bases here-
while Juarez's economy increasingly depends on the maquiladora plants which enable U.S. and
Career: Army, 1967-69; Teacher, El Paso pub. schs., TX Schl.
foreign (especially Japanese) firms to assemble products in Mexico but sell them duty-free in the
for the Deaf; Asst. El Paso Cnty. Atty., 1969; First Asst. El Paso
U.S. market! To a north-of-the-border eye, life for most people in El Paso and Juarez looks pretty
Cnty. Atty., 1971; TX House of Reps., 1973-82.
mean. Yet the huge migration from other parts of Mexico is mute evidence that this represents a
Offices: 416 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4831. Also Fed. Bldg., 700
significant improvement for these people.
E. San Antonio St., El Paso 79901, 915-534-6200; and U.S.P.O.
The 16th Congressional District of Texas is made up of El Paso and several desert counties to
Bldg., Rm. 304, Pecos 79772, 915-445-6218.
the east; 90% of the 16th's votes are in El Paso County, while Loving County, out in the desert, is
Committees: Appropriations (31st of 35 D). Subcommittees: For-
America's lowest populated county with only 91 people in 1980 (but 108 registered voters in
eign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs; Military
1988: it's growing), and the town of Langtry, where Judge Roy Bean once held court as the only
Construction.
law west of the Pecos. Politics here is very much divided on ethnic lines: most Anglos vote
Republican in any contested race, most Mexican-Americans vote Democratic. The census-
takers say there is an Hispanic majority here, but many are not citizens. For years, the border
has been porous, and many workers cross it every day to go to work, in both directions.
Group Ratings
The congressman from the 16th District is Ron Coleman, a Democrat with an aggressive
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
personality, an old-fashioned Texas Anglo personal style, and a voting record which means that
CEI
1988
80
81
88
73
44
17
3
50
29
7
most of his votes come from Hispanics. In a House where Members try to please everyone in
1987
84
-
87
71
-
4
-
-
13
8
their districts, Coleman is not afraid to antagonize some in his-which may just be good politics,
since the district is polarized anyway. He was the attorney for the strikers in the big Farah strike
National Journal Ratings
of the 1970s, and he served 10 years in the legislature, where he didn't mind tangling with the
conservative House speaker. He gets along better with the Democratic leadership in Washing-
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
ton, though he's not always a reliable vote for them. In his first term, Coleman had a seat on the
67%
-
33%
73%
-
0%
Social
81%
-
19%
-
Armed Services Committee and he now serves on the Military Construction Appropriations
66%
32%
Foreign
51%
-
48%
57%
-
42%
subcommittee, where he has been able to funnel projects to the Fort Bliss Military Reservation.
one of the mainstays of El Paso's economy. He competed with Mike Andrews of Houston to be
Key Votes
the Texas candidate for a vacant Democratic seat on Ways and Means after the 1984 election,
but the seat ultimately went to someone else. But Coleman converted the loss to a victory, by
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
getting a seat on Appropriations instead; his first subcommittee assignment there was Military
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
Construction, whose potential for district service need not be explained.
7) Handgun Sales
-
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
With his rather controversial politics, Coleman had some difficulty winning this seat when
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
conservative Democrat Richard White retired in 1982; his task was complicated by the presence
Election Results
of a Mexican-American candidate in the initial Democratic primary. But Coleman had a strong
enough base' to lead with 33% in the first primary, and he had enough Mexican-American
1988 general
Ronald D. Coleman (D), unopposed
($317,444)
turnout to beat a conservative Democrat in the runoff and to get 54% against a Republican
1988 primary
Ronald D. Coleman (D), unopposed
heavily supported by the national party in the general. The trajectory of his electoral
1986 general
Ronald D. Coleman (D)
50,590
(66%)
($511,094)
performance has been upward, to 57% in 1984 when Ronald Reagan was carrying the district.
Roy Gillia (R)
26,421
(34%)
($538,622)
66% in 1986 and an unopposed 100% in 1988, when the 16th went for Michael Dukakis.
1198
TEXAS
TEXAS
1199
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 580,900, up 10.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,913, up 9.3% 1970-80.
SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT
Households (1980): 76% family, 38% with children, 67% married couples; 27.3% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $144; median house value: $25,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 380,499; 9% Spanish
Stretching endlessly from Fort Worth west to the horizon and beyond are the west Texas plains.
origin, 3% Black.
thousands and thousands of acres of rolling grazing land punctuated occasionally by oases of
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
irrigated farmland (often in those circles that show the reach of the sprinklers). This is primarily
118,173
(58%)
Dukakis (D).
85,322
cattle country, although there is some oil here and some raising of cotton and grain. On the
(42%)
interstate straight west of Fort Worth the largest town is Abilene, with a high concentration of
Rep. Charles W. Stenholm (D)
bankers, lawyers and professionals. Settled by Confederate veterans always suspicious of eastern
bankers and Yankee businessmen, never much concerned about civil rights one way or the other
Elected 1978; b. Oct. 26, 1938, Stamford; home, Avoca; TX Tech.
(for there are very few blacks this far west), this was one of the Democratic heartlands of
U., B.S. 1961; M.S. 1962; Lutheran; married (Cynthia).
America for many years, right up through the 1970s. Right now, the 36 mostly sparsely
Career: Teacher, vocational educ., 1962-65; Exec. Vice Pres.,
populated counties west of Fort Worth that make up Texas's 17th Congressional District are
Rolling Plaines Cotton Growers, 1965-68; Mgr., Stamford Electric
fought-over political territory: still mostly Democratic in local and congressional elections
Coop., 1968-76; Farmer, 1976-78.
(thanks to the popularity of Congressman Charles Stenholm) and Republican typically in
Offices: 1226 LHOB 20515, 202-225-6605. Also 903 E. Hamilton
presidential contests and increasingly in statewide races.
St., Stamford 79553, 915-773-3623; and 341 Pine St., Abilene
Stenholm is one of several conservative Texas Democrats first elected in 1978 who have made
79604, 915-673-7221.
their mark in different ways-Phil Gramm is now a Republican senator, Kent Hance a
Committees: Agriculture (9th of 27 D). Subcommittees: Cotton,
Republican member of the Railroad Commission and Marvin Leath, who nearly got elected
Rice, and Sugar; Department Operations, Research, and Foreign
chairman of House Armed Services Committee. Stenholm has no taste for self-promotion and
Agriculture; Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry (Chairman); Tobacco
has made less of a splash in the outside world. Inside the House, he has made a difference in a
and Peanuts. Veterans' Affairs (10th of 21 D). Subcommittee:
variety of ways. Immediately on coming to Washington after working in Democratic Party
Hospitals and Health Care.
affairs in Stamford (the home town also of Democratic mega-leader Robert Strauss) and
running the Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Association, he complained correctly that conserva-
Group Ratings
tive Democrats weren't getting good committee assignments and that Democratic leaders, used
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
to 2 to 1 majorities, didn't care much about them. After the Democrats' big losses in 1980.
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
1988
20
17
19
27
31
78
58
100
Stenholm and others got Jim Wright to put Phil Gramm on the Budget Committee, supported
77
54
1987
12
-
17
50
-
74
-
-
80
59
Gramm and voted for the Reagan budget and tax cuts (they became known as the Boll Weevils)
and formed a group called the Conservative Democratic Forum, which Stenholm still serves as
National Journal Ratings
chairman. After the Democrats' rebound in 1982, the Boll Weevils had to decide whether to stay
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Democrats or leave the party; Stenholm was one of those who stayed. He threatened
Economic
31%
-
67%
36%
-
63%
momentarily to run against Speaker O'Neill in 1985, then desisted and got O'Neill to promise to
Social
12%
-
87%
18%
-
81%
give Democrats like him full representation in the Caucus. Since then Stenholm, with his
Foreign
27%
-
71%
24%
-
76%
pleasant personality and straightforwardness, has managed to find at least a little common
Key Votes
ground with the Democratic leadership which had, by this time, great incentive to get along with
I) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
him.
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
He has also managed to do some constructive legislative work. On the Agriculture Commit-
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
tee, he has worked on farm credit, disaster relief and animal product safety; he chairs the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee. A staunch supporter of rural health care, he has
Election Results
been crusading to keep small town doctors in the medicare program and to get small defense
contractors relieved of the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act. He favors a balanced budget
1988 general
Charles W. Stenholm (D), unopposed
($342,766)
constitutional amendment and an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit. He is not just trucking
1988 primary
Charles W. Stenholm (D), unopposed
to district sentiment: he voted in 1988 for the Brady Amendment, the seven-day waiting period
1986 general
Charles W. Stenholm (D)
97,791
(100%)
($217,744)
to buy handguns vociferously opposed by the National Rifle Association.
Stenholm seems temperamentally comfortable with being a Democrat, even as one who
dissents so often from the party's majority. It is an affiliation that has worn well on the plains of
EIGHTEENTH DISTRICT
Texas. A Republican congressman here might have vigorous competition from the Democrats.
Stenholm has not had a Republican opponent since 1978 and he dispatched his only Democratic
What you see in Houston depends on your perspective. The gushing writer of the WPA Guide 50
primary.opponent, in 1984, by an 88%-12% margin.
years ago saw "towering above the lush green prairie where its suburbs multiply like ripples in a
pond, Houston's sky line is that of a lusty growing giant; its factory smokestacks are as thick as
are the oil derricks in the fields nearby; its office buildings are more those of the North and East
1200
TEXAS
TEXAS
1201
than the usual product of a Texas city." But John Gunther a few years later found Houston, in
licensed pharmacist, the most prominent in American politics since Hubert Humphrey. He has
those days before the windows were sealed shut to keep in the air-conditioning, "the noisiest city
been mentioned as a possible candidate against Senator Phil Gramm in 1990, but that would
I have ever visited, with a residential section mostly ugly and barren, a city without a single good
seem to be a long shot; he would begin little-known statewide and without a large base, and his
restaurant, and of hotels with cockroaches." Central Houston today remains a place of contrast,
virtues are not ones that are easily communicated in 30-second spots-while in the 18th District
between the showy architecture of the downtown buildings, whose affluent daytime tenants
he can be reelected indefinitely.
escape home each night out Memorial Drive or the always-clogged Katy or Southwest Freeways.
But in the neighborhoods just to the south and east, blacks and Mexican-Americans live in
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 541,600, up 2.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,393, dn. 5.9% 1970-80.
unpainted frame houses full of cracks wide enough to let in Houston's humid, smoggy air. The
Households (1980): 65% family, 39% with children, 46% married couples; 57.2% housing units rented:
Houston slums look like something out of the sharecropper 1930s, and they remind us that
median monthly rent: $185; median house value: $31,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 366,424; 39% Black.
although this was until recently one of our fastest-growing cities, its growth is based in large part
27% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
on the availability of cheap labor; there are income disparities here as vast as there are in
developing countries. Yet there is also upward mobility. Moving north from downtown, you find
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis
solid working and middle-class neighborhoods, some even with a touch of grandeur from when
(D).
92,191
(74%)
Bush (R)
30,408
(25%)
their houses were built many years ago.
Central Houston makes up the 18th Congressional District of Texas, which goes east beyond
the Houston Ship Channel's Turning Basin, south to Loop 610, west to the edge of ultra-rich
River Oaks and Memorial Park and far north, in some places past the city limits, toward
Rep. Mickey Leland (D)
Houston Intercontinental Airport. The 18th is Houston's minority district. It was created after
Elected 1978; b. Nov. 27, 1944, Lubbock; home, Houston; TX
the 1970 Census for then state Senator Barbara Jordan, famed later for her performance in the
Southern U., B.S. 1970; Roman Catholic; married (Alison).
House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings and as one of the 1976 Democratic
Career: Instructor, TX St. U., 1970-71; Dir. of Spec. Dev. Proj.,
Convention's keynoters; within its current boundaries, in 1980, 41% of its residents were black
Hermann Hosp., 1971-78; TX House of Reps., 1973-78.
and 31% of Spanish origin, with very little overlap. The number of Mexican-Americans has been
Offices: 2236 RHOB 20515, 202-225-3816. Also 1919 Smith St.,
rising in the inner-city neighborhoods, as a result of heavy immigration in the 1970s; blacks have
Ste. 820, Houston 77002, 713-739-7339.
been moving outward, mostly to the north. Politically it is the most heavily Democratic district
Committees: Energy and Commerce (10th of 26 D). Subcommit-
in Texas.
tees: Energy and Power; Health and the Environment; Telecom-
The congressman from the 18th District since 1978 has been Mickey Leland, who has turned
munications and Finance. Post Office and Civil Service (5th of 15
out, contrary to expectations, to be an active legislator. Leland started off in politics as a dashiki-
D). Subcommittees: Compensation and Employee Benefits; Postal
clad militant; now he is a Giorgio Armani-clad committee chairman. In his first term, he
Operations and Services (Chairman). Select Committee on Hunger
snagged a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, the hot committee during most of the
(Chairman of 19 D).
1980s because of all the regulatory work it handles. He serves on the Telecommunications and
Health Subcommittees, where he has pushed for pet causes like getting more blacks on TV
programs and lifeline phone rates for senior citizens. Leland also serves on the Post Office and
Civil Service Committee, where he chairs the subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services.
Group Ratings
He was one of the few black politicians with the inclination and nerve to have backed Walter
Mondale over Jesse Jackson in the 1984 presidential primaries; in 1988 he backed Jesse Jackson,
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
1988
but he helped to smooth things over at the convention when he seconded the vice-presidential
100
95
96
91
75
0
9
0
27
6
1987
96
-
95
93
-
0
-
-
0
6
nomination of Lloyd Bentsen.
His most visible assignment in this and the last Congress was as chairman of the Select
Committee on Hunger which he helped create. He got it in place just as Americans began
National Journal Ratings
focusing on famine in Ethiopia and other African countries, and got Congress to spend $800
1988 LIB- 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
million for aid to sub-Saharan nations. But like most congressmen, he has been slow to criticize
Economic
92%
-
0%
73%
-
0%
the Marxist government of Ethiopia whose policies helped create the famine and exacerbated it:
Social
86%
-
0%
78%
-
0%
maybe he remained silent prudently, to get as much food as possible to the starving. He
Foreign
84%
-
0%
81%
-
0%
criticized the Reagan Administration harshly for not providing aid to the hungry in Sandinista-
held Nicaragua. He has worked on hunger at home too, passing a bill giving better tax treatment
Key Votes
to companies that contribute to food banks and establishing grants to study pediatric undernutri-
tion; he has also tried to provide more help for runaways and the mentally ill homeless.
I) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
Leland is an individual, even an eccentric, Congress's closest personal acquaintance of Fidel
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
Castro and a booster of the Houston economy. As a young man, he ran into the barriers of
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
segregation. Now, he not only serves but also exercises power in Congress. Incidentally, he is a
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
1202
TEXAS
TEXAS
1203
Election Results
tion policy on occasion; otherwise he voted a pretty straight conservative line. In early 1989, he
Mickey Leland (D)
94,408
(93%)
($534,732)
played an apparently unintentional role in defeating Tower's nomination to be Secretary of
1988 general
J. Alejandro Senad (Lib.)
7,235
(7%)
Defense by testifying privately that Tower was frequently incapacitated by alcohol in the 1970s;
Mickey Leland (D)
38,963
(82%)
Combest's point was that he had improved and was not drinking so heavily in the 1980s, but Sam
1988 primary
Elizabeth Spates (D)
8,321
(18%)
Nunn and other Democrats took this as a sign that Tower was unfit for the office.
Mickey Leland (D)
63,335
(90%)
($207,419)
1986 general
In 1986, despite opposition from a veteran of the 1970s farmers' tractorcade to Washington,
Joanne Kuniansky (I)
6,884
(10%)
queasiness about the proposed nuclear dump in Deaf Smith County, and the general nationwide
Democratic trend, Combest increased his percentage from 58% to 62%; in 1988, he raised it to
68%, with 70% in Lubbock.
NINETEENTH DISTRICT
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 562,500, up 6.6% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,805, up 15.2% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 77% family, 45% with children, 68% married couples; 34.7% housing units rented;
Up on the High Plains of Texas, on land separated from the dusty cattlelands further east by
median monthly rent: $191; median house value: $33,200. Voting age pop. (1980): 360,942; 20%
the United States, centered around the city of Lubbock. This fertility is a triumphant work
rising gullies astride wide river courses, is some of the most productive cotton and wheat land of it
Spanish origin, 5% Black.
man: for this is irrigated land, which gets its water from the giant Ogallala Aquifer that
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush
(R)
110,148
(67%)
Dukakis (D)
54,551
(33%)
undergirds so much of the western Great Plains, making this part of Texas a sort of green island
in a vast brown sea of arid grazing land, to the east, west, north and south. It was settled
Rep. Larry Combest (R)
relatively late, with most of the growth after World War II; Lubbock grew from 31,000 in 194
Elected 1984; b. Mar. 20, 1945, Memphis; home, Lubbock; W. TX
to 128,000 in 1960 and 173,000 in 1980 and by 1988 was estimated to be at 190,000. In the
St. U., B.B.A. 1969; United Methodist; married (Sharon).
1980s, there have been signs that the aquifer is going dry, and populations in the rural countie
Career: Farmer; teacher, 1970-71; Dir., U.S. Agric. Stabilization
have declined. But Lubbock, with an economy that includes Texas Tech University as well
and Conserv. Svc., Graham, TX, 1971; Aide to U.S. Sen. John
agribusiness, and which has one of Texas's lowest unemployment rates, has continued to thrive
Tower, 1971-78; Founder and Pres., Combest Distributing Co.,
Lubbock also entered the national political lexicon in March 1989 when President Georg
1978-1985.
Bush, asked to comment on the drumbeat of press criticism in Washington, said, "I talked to:
Offices: 1527 LHOB 20515, 202-225-4005. Also 613 Fed. Bldg.,
fellow in Lubbock, Texas, the other day, and he said all the people in Lubbock think things as
1205 Texas Ave., Lubbock 79401, 806-763-1611; and 419 W. 4th
going just great." In this Texan's administration, Lubbock has replaced Peoria (a victim in the
St., Rm. 601, Odessa 79761, 915-337-1669.
1980s of the decline in farm prices and heavy manufacturing) as the metaphor for Midd
Committees: Agriculture (12th of 18 R). Subcommittees: Con-
America, and not altogether unfittingly. It is, like the country, ancestrally Democratic, and
servation, Credit, and Rural Development; Cotton, Rice, and
happy to be the beneficiary of federal largesse for years, especially when its congressmar
Sugar; Tobacco and Peanuts. District of Columbia (3d of 4 R).
George Mahon, was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee (1964-79). But by
Subcommittees: Fiscal Affairs and Health; Government Opera-
1950s Lubbock was voting Republican in national elections and by 1970, in state contests
tions and Metropolitan Affairs (Ranking Member). Small Business
(9th of 17 R). Subcommittees: Environment and Labor; SBA, the
well.
The 19th Congressional District of Texas includes Lubbock and most of the agricultura
General Economy and Minority Enterprise Development. Select Committee on Intelligence (4th of 7
counties around it, just east of the New Mexican border. It also stretches north to Deaf Smith
R). Subcommittees: Oversight and Investigations; Program and Budget Authorization.
County, where the government wanted to dispose of nuclear waste in a cavern 2,600 feet deepi
Group Ratings
the Palo Duro Basin, and south to the Permian Basin, where oil and gas reserves were firs
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
developed in the 1950s. The 19th includes Odessa, the more roughneck of the two main Permia
1988
0
4
13
18
25
92
83
100
93
73
Basin towns, which houses many of the technically skilled men who do the gritty, sweaty worked
1987
0
11
7
-
89
-
-
-
93
73
making the oil rigs work and getting the oil to the surface; George Bush lived here briefly in 194
and 1949, when it emerged from World War II with just 3,000 people but was suddenly burstine
National Journal Ratings
with oil rig workers.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
The 19th District, despite its Republican leanings, did not elect a Republican (congressma
Economic
21%
-
77%
11%
-
83%
until 1984; Mahon retired in 1978, and his successor was Kent Hance, then a Democrat from Social
0%
-
95%
10%
-
85%
Lubbock, who beat George W. Bush, the President's oldest son, who was then an oilman from Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
Midland, 53%-47%. (Both men in early 1989 were thinking about running for governor in 1991
as Republicans.) When Hance ran for the Senate in 1984, the 19th had another riproaring race; Key Votes
and the winner of a tough primary, runoff and general election was Republican Larry Comber Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
-
Combest worked on farm issues for seven years on Senator John Tower's staff, and specializes (2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
them in the House (though professionally he was an electronics distributor rather than a farment 3) Deficit Kill Plnt Reduc Clsng
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
Notice
There he started off with a good knowledge of farm programs and opposed Reagan Administre
FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
1204
TEXAS
TEXAS
1205
Election Results
longer period of time and beginning when there were much greater obstacles. The 20th District
1988 general
Larry Combest (R)
113,068
(68%)
($244,821)
that he represents today, thanks to the equal-population standard, includes only the central part
Gerald McCathern (D)
53,932
(32%)
($44,082)
of San Antonio, leaving the mostly Anglo northern fringes and suburbs as part of the 21st
1988 primary
Larry Combest (R), unopposed
District and the southern fringes and suburbs on three sides as part of the 23d; more than 60% of
1986 general
Larry Combest (R)
68,695
(62%)
($317,265)
the 20th District's residents in 1980 were Mexican-American. But when Gonzalez first ran for
Gerald McCathern (D)
42,129
(38%)
($112,732)
Congress in 1961, the 20th was all of Bexar County, including the then less heavily populated
but nonetheless conservative and rather anti-Mexican-American Anglo north side. It is hard to
summon back now the prejudice against Mexican-Americans that existed in Texas then, or to
imagine how it affected Gonzalez, who began serving on the San Antonio Council in 1953 and
TWENTIETH DISTRICT
was elected to the Texas Senate in 1956-especially when he had the nerve to run for governor
San Antonio sits at the frontier: not on the banks of the Rio Grande, but on that invisible line
in 1958 and in the special election (against John Tower and Jim Wright, among others) for the
separating territory that is on the one side mostly Hispanic and on the other mostly Anglo. It has
Senate in 1961. Gonzalez ran poorly in those races, but later in 1961, when Congressman Paul
been at the frontier for a long time: San Antonio was the most important town in Texas when it
Kilday, part of a long-successful San Antonio machine, was appointed to a federal judgeship, he
was part of Mexico, and it was here that Santa Ana and his troops wiped out Davy Crockett, Jim
got into the race for Congress-and won.
Bowie and 184 others at the Alamo in 1836. (Crockett was a Tennessee congressman from 1827-
In his early days in Congress, Gonzalez was the patron saint of Texas liberalism, as he
31 and 1833-35; if he had not lost his bid for reelection in 1835, he never would have left
compiled a record of support for the national administration and for civil rights. Later, in the late
Tennessee for Texas.) Today, San Antonio is Texas's third largest city, with more than 900,000
1960s and early 1970s, he alienated some liberals because he did not share their scorn for
people and a metropolitan population over one million. That's only one-third the size of
American foreign policy and heartily disagreed with the efforts of a few Hispanics to set up a
metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston, but San Antonio in the 1980s has been a boom town
separate La Raza Unida party. Gonzalez's stubbornness-or adherence to principle-seems
in its own right. The local economy is based not on oil but on government: this is one of America's
vindicated now; his refusal to campaign on ethnic appeals and insistence that Mexican-
prime military towns, with Kelly Air Force Base, Fort Sam Houston, Brooke Army Medical
Americans seek opportunity within the general framework of American society-assimilation
Center and two other Air Force bases, with tens of thousands of military personnel and
rather than polarization-is now clearly the wave of the future.
employees. Behind them as a local employer is the medical complex centered on the Health
Over the years Gonzalez developed a reputation of being prickly and quick to take offense,
Science Center. In the 1980s, Mayor Henry Cisneros tried to build on that base by linking San
though he can argue persuasively that his judgment has been vindicated over time. He made his
Antonio with Austin, 70 miles north, and promoting them together as high-tech centers; at the
biggest headlines when he resigned as chairman of the House committee investigating the
same time San Antonio has the advantages of the low wages of a border city.
Kennedy and King assassinations, because he disagreed with the approach of the lead
It also has the advantage of having its own special atmosphere. A block from the Alamo the
investigator, who himself was later discharged. He has had his successes: the poll tax, which he
Riverwalk along the little San Antonio River is lined with overhanging trees and with pleasant
opposed early, is long gone, and several housing programs which he backed early were passed.
shops and restaurants below street traffic. Nearby is the HemisFair, preserved from the 1968
But he also has a temper. In 1963, he took a swing at Texas Republican Congressman Ed
World's Fair here. San Antonio has ancient buildings from its Spanish days and old neighbor-
Foreman who accused him of being a Communist; in 1986 he punched a 40-year-old man in a
hoods redolent of the Texas Germans who were its chief Anglo citizens for many years. On the
San Antonio restaurant for the same offense-one which must particularly rankle a man who
west side, beginning with the bare-tabled Mexican restaurants in the market area, San Antonio
has served his country loyally for many years. In 1983 and 1987, he called for the impeachment
is à Mexican-American city with an Hispanic majority. There is all the potential here for angry
of President Reagan because of Grenada and Iran-contra respectively.
clashes between Hispanics and Anglos, and in partisan elections they vote quite differently.
In 1989 Gonzalez became chairman of the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee,
Yet the level of animosity between the two groups seems low, the range of opportunities open
thanks to the defeat of Fernand St Germain in 1988. At first there was some nervous talk among
now to Hispanics seems great, and such differences as do exist do not seem to end up as zero-sum
Democrats about the prospect of his chairmanship, particularly since the committee was
games in which one side or the other (or both) must lose. For that some credit should go to
confronted with the vast savings and loan crisis and Gonzalez has spent most of his efforts on the
political leaders, most notably Henry B. Gonzalez, congressman from the 20th District of Texas
committee on housing rather than banking issues (though he did a workmanlike job of chairing a
since 1961, and Henry Cisneros, mayor of San Antonio from 1981 to 1989. Cisneros has
subcommittee on international banking agencies); on banking he simply denounced the big
attracted the greater attention, as a Texas A&M and Harvard educated innovator who has
banks and high interest rates in old-fashioned populist language. His legislative output even on
stimulated economic development and started such projects as the Westover Hills development.
housing was not great in the 1980s, primarily because of the adamant opposition of the Reagan
where Pope John Paul II appeared in 1987, and Sea World that opened in 1988. He served on
Administration to new subsidy and public housing programs (though he did push through a bill
the Kissinger Commission on Central America in 1983 and was on the short list of possible
lowering some mortgage interest rates and continues to support generous federal housing
Democratic vice-presidential candidates in 1984. But in 1987, Cisneros announced his retire-
programs). But as time went on, Gonzalez began to seem a better choice. He clearly was utterly
ment from politics after the birth of a son with serious health problems, and in 1988, it was
independent of the savings and loan lobby (and of the Texas S&Ls) in contrast to St Germain.
revealed that Cisneros was having an affair with a rich Anglo woman. Still, even as he was
He is independent, as well, of the lobbies of the big banks, the securities industry, the investment
leaving office, he remained widely popular and admired for his public record and for his
bankers-who have been lobbying furiously on banking issues. He is far less autocratic than St
demonstration that a politician proud of his Mexican-American heritage could operate success-
Germain and scrupulous about letting other committee members have their chance to speak and
fully in mainstream politics and advance policies that would gain widespread support.
be heard. Even his detractors concede that his intellectual abilities are high. Much of the savings
In many ways, Gonzalez has been doing that too, sometimes in a less tactful way, but over a
and loan crisis can be traced to laws that were pushed through to the benefit of sharp operators
1206
TEXAS
TEXAS
1207
and crooks. No such law would ever be allowed through knowingly by Henry Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has become something of a civic institution in San Antonio and has no trouble
TWENTY-FIRST DISTRICT
winning reelection.
Slightly larger than Ohio, with a single county that is larger than Connecticut, 500 miles from
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 546,100, up 3.8% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,333, dn. 5.8% 1970-80.
end to end, the 21st Congressional District is a Texas-sized chunk of the landscape, geographi-
Households (1980): 75% family, 45% with children, 56% married couples; 42.5% housing units rented;
cally the largest district in the state. It includes most of Texas's sheep and goat ranching country
median monthly rent: $142; median house value: $23,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 358,798; 56%
and 200 miles of its border with Mexico. Demographically, it is a series of modern urban
Spanish origin, 9% Black, 1% Asian origin.
settlements across ranges of arid hills and miles of rugged desert. It begins in the Anglo
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis
(D).
92,584
(67%)
neighborhoods on the north side of San Antonio and goes all the way to the Big Bend territory,
Bush (R)
44,444
(32%)
where 7,000-foot peaks tower up over stony desert where the Rio Grande in fact makes a big
bend. About half the people live in and around San Antonio: the 21st has the north side, where
1
few Mexican-Americans and most of the city's affluent Anglos live. Voters here in Bexar County
Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (D)
(pronounced as a drawn-out bear) cast 41% of the district's votes in 1988. Affluent Anglos in San
Elected 1961; b. May 3, 1916, San Antonio; home, San Antonio;
Antonio have voted heavily Republican since 1961, when Representative Henry Gonzalez was
San Antonio Col., U. of TX, St. Mary's U., LL.B. 1943; Roman
elected to replace Paul Kilday, the conservative Democrat whose machine controlled city
Catholic; married (Bertha).
politics. Then Bexar was Democratic; now the impact of the north side is great enough that the
Career: Army, Navy Intelligence, WWII; Bexar Cnty. Chf. Pro-
county has gone Republican in the last three presidential races and has even elected a
bation Officer, 1946; Dpty. Dir., San Antonio Housing Authority,
Republican sheriff in 1984.
1950-51; Mbr.; San Antonio City Cncl., 1953-56, San Antonio
Just north and west of San Antonio you get into the Texas hill country, much of it first settled
Mayor Pro Tem, 1955-56; TX Senate, 1956-61.
by refugees from the failed German revolutions of 1848. They made good livings, even off
Offices: 2413 RHOB 20515, 202-225-3236. Also B-124 Fed.
barren soil, but they disliked slavery, instinctively favored the Union, and when Texas became
Bldg., 727 E. Durango St., San Antonio 78206, 512-229-6195.
one of the most heavily Democratic states in the Union after the Civil War they insisted on
Committees: Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (Chairman of
voting Republican in every election. They still do. The hill country around Fredericksburg and
31 D). Subcommittees: Consumer Affairs and Coinage; Domestic
Kerrville got electricity back in the 1930s thanks to Lyndon Johnson, whose LBJ Ranch is just at
Monetary Policy; Financial Institutions Supervision, Regulation
the edge of German country; the hill country now is the site of condominium developments for
and Insurance.
prosperous Texans who want a second home in a pleasant, quiet environment.
Beyond the hill country is flat plateau: ranch lands, oil fields, blank desert. Actually few
people live out on the land, and their cities are distinctive. One is Midland, the headquarters of
Group Ratings
the people who run the Permian Basin, the rich oil and gas terrain where George Bush made his
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
fortune in the 1950s and which, until the crash in oil prices, gave Midland one of the highest
1988
100
96
90
82
88
0
10
0
15
7
income levels in the country. Midland remains one of the most Republican cities in America.
86
9
-
7
9
1987
96
-
90
-
-
More typical is San Angelo, a center of sheep and cattle ranching as well as oil, one of the
nation's biggest producers of mohair, which is ancestrally Democratic, but in current practice
National Journal Ratings
Republican.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
The 21st District has been Republican in presidential elections for nearly 40 years and
Economic
87%
8%
68%
-
27%
Republican in House elections for a dozen. The current congressman, Lamar Smith, won the
|
Social
86%
-
0%
73%
22%
seat in 1986 when his predecessor, Tom Loeffler, gave up seats on three plum committees
Foreign
84%
0%
81%
-
0%
-
(Energy and Commerce, Appropriations, Budget) and the post of chief deputy whip to run for
governor; he got only 22% of the vote, a distant second behind 69-year-old William Clements,
Key Votes
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
but remains active in Texas and national politics. Smith, who had served both in the legislature
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
and on the Bexar County Commission, and who is from an old San Antonio and south Texas
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
ranching family, had to win a tough primary race here, beating two other San Antonio-based
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
candidates 31%-25%-20%. In the runoff, in which Senator Phil Gramm took the unusual step of
endorsing him over a religious right conservative, he won 54%-46%. Smith had serious
Election Results
opposition in the general election as well, from Pete Snelson, an 18-year state senator from
1988 general
Henry B. Gonzalez (D)
94,527
(71%)
($174,470)
Midland. The Democrat did win a solid margin west of the German counties. But Smith won
Lee Travino (R)
36,801
(28%)
($58,217)
67% in the German counties and 74% in Bexar County for a convincing 61% victory. He had
1988 primary
Henry B. Gonzalez (D), unopposed
minimal opposition in 1988 and seems to have a safe seat for as long as he wants it.
1986 general
Henry B. Gonzalez (D)
55,363
(100%)
($133,055)
Smith seems to have been unusually busy in the House for a junior Republican. He pushed to
passage a bill adding 100,000 acres to the Big Bend National Park in the western part of the
1208
TEXAS
TEXAS
1209
district-one of the few freshmen to see his bill passed into law. He took part in the drug bill
Election Results
negotiations and worked to protect funding for local drug task forces. He pushed successfully for
1988 general
Lamar Smith (R)
203,989
(93%)
($418,989)
$18 million for gas and oil recovery research. He was one of the chief Republicans pushing to
James A. Robinson (Lib.)
14,801
(7%)
apply various ethics restrictions to Members of Congress. In 1989, he became ranking
1988 primary
Lamar Smith (R), unopposed
Republican on the subcommittee handling immigration, just as the Democrats dumped
1986 general
Lamar Smith (R)
100,346
(61%)
($1,062,154)
chairman Romano Mazzoli for Bruce Morrison of Connecticut.
Pete Snelson (D)
63,779
(39%)
($345,117)
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 661,900, up 25.6% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,846, up 38.0% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 74% family, 39% with children, 65% married couples; 31.1% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $221; median house value: $47,700. Voting age pop. (1980): 381,130; 16%
TWENTY-SECOND DISTRICT
Spanish origin, 3% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Just three or four miles from downtown Houston, the Gulf plains began 50 years ago: "flat, open
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush
(R)
192,335
(70%)
prairies unbroken except for the outline of timber on the horizon, and occasional clumps of live
Dukakis (D)
78,961
(29%)
oaks which make small green islands called mottes in Texas. Farming is diversified, although
cotton is the largest crop. Beef cattle are raised, and dairy farms are frequent. Well-wooded
Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R)
sections are found along the river bottoms, and in the early spring, when rainfall is abundant,
Elected 1986; b. Nov. 1, 1947, San Antonio; home, San Antonio;
bluebonnets cover the prairies." That was the scene where today you will find, at Post Oak and
Yale U., B.A., 1969, Southern Methodist U., J.D., 1975; Christian
Westheimer, the glitzy shopping centers that are the Fifth Avenue and 57th Street of the oil
Scientist; married (Jane).
kingdom. Along the Southwest Freeway, 30 and 60-story high-rises tower over the traffic jams,
and out into Fort Bend and Brazoria counties which are now choked with new subdivisions and
Career: Small Bus. Admin. official, 1969-70; Bus. and Fin. re-
porter, Christian Science Monitor, 1971-72; Practicing atty.,
office clusters, fields were once planted in the cotton that made the fortunes of the great
1975-76; TX House of Reps.; 1981-82; Bexar Cnty. Commis-
Houston cotton traders and political operators Jesse Jones and Will Clayton, with the sun
sioner, 1982-85.
beating down mercilessly, the humidity fierce, the ground thick with bugs.
Offices: 422 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4236. Also 10010 San Pedro,
On this unforgiving environment was built the urban civilization that includes what is now the
Ste. 530, San Antonio 78216, 512-229-5880; 201 W. Wall St., Ste.
22d Congressional District of Texas. It includes monuments of greater Houston's development:
104, Midland 79701, 915-687-5232; 1006 Junction Hwy., Kerrville
the high-rises airily flanking the Southwest Freeway near the Galleria, the Sharpstown shopping
78028, 512-895-1414; and 33 E. Twohig, Ste. 302, San Angelo
center and subdivision put up by a local wheeler-dealer whose financial collapse and political
76903, 915-653-3971.
dealings brought down a governor in 1972, the newly-sprouted suburban towns of Sugar Land
Committees: Judiciary (11th of 14 R). Subcommittees: Adminis-
and Missouri City in Fort Bend County, the steamy Brazosport oil shipping complex around
trative Law and Governmental Relations; Crime; Immigration,
Freeport and Lake Jackson on the Gulf of Mexico. Air-conditioning-in malls, cars and
Refugees, and International Law (Ranking Member). Science,
homes-has made this civilization possible; insecticides have helped; the automobile ties it
Space and Technology (13th of 19 R). Subcommittees: Energy Research and Development; Natural
together (if the traffic would ever clear up). There were fewer than 100,000 people as World
Resources, Agriculture Research and Environment; Space Science and Applications. Select Committee
War II ended, in what now is the 22d District, less than 200,000 in 1960; as the Sharpstown
on Children, Youth, and Families (9th of 12 R).
scandal was breaking, there were 300,000 and, by the Census's 1986 estimate, there were
632,000.
Group Ratings
This is a heavily Republican district: you will be hard put to find many national Democrats
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
among the people who have come from other parts of Houston and Texas, the South and North
1988
5
9
14
27
19
100
78
100
92
65
and even foreign countries, and live now in the new and affluent subdivisions of Houston or
1987
4
-
6
21
-
96
-
-
93
75
Sugar Land or in the more widely-spaced subdivisions scattered farther out in Fort Bend and
National Journal Ratings
Brazoria; and even in local elections the historic Democratic leanings of the rural areas are
usually overwhelmed by the strong Republican allegiance of the newcomers. In the 1970s, the
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB- 1987 CONS
22d, then mostly in Houston and with more black neighborhoods, had a series of turbulent
Economic
18%
-
81%
0%
-
89%
Social
elections, in large part because of Republican Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian so pure that
0%
-
95%
0%
-
90%
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
he was an isolationist abroad and Congress's foremost champion of the gold standard. But Paul
I
80%
ran for the Senate in 1984, coming in second behind Phil Gramm in the Republican primary,
Key Votes
and for President as the Libertarian party candidate in 1988, running a very distant third behind
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
George Bush and Michael Dukakis; the current congressman, Republican Tom DeLay, fits the
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
preferences of the newcomer majority here more easily.
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
Even so, DeLay has an interesting background. He was born in the border town of Laredo and
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice
-
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
spent much of his childhood in Venezuela, where his father drilled oil wells. In Sugar Land, the
son built a pest control business-environmentalists might not like that, but in Houston people
1210
TEXAS
TEXAS
1211
would rather control the bugs than preserve the environment-and was elected to the state
Key Votes
legislature in 1978, the first Republican from Fort Bend County. When Paul retired in 1984,
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOP
DeLay easily won the Republican primary and the general election: this is a safe seat for him.
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
DeLay's voting record is solidly conservative on practically every issue, but he seems also to have
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
traditional political instincts. In his first term he was the freshman representative on the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
Republican Committee on Committees, and in his second term he got a seat on the Appropria-
tions Committee. He defends the indemnification of chemical companies when pesticides are
Election Results
banned. He is proud of helping Houston get $64 million to build a busway on the Southwest
1988 general
Thomas D. (Tom) DeLay (R)
125,733
(67%)
($361,255)
Freeway, $50 million for Houston Metro Rail, Rice University got $1.6 million to study how to
Wayne Walker (D)
58,471
(31%)
($109,004)
improve mass transit, and Freeport, $15 million for harbor development and designation as a
1988 primary
Thomas D. (Tom) DeLay (R), unopposed
foreign trade zone. In 1989, DeLay served as campaign manager for Ed Madigan's unsuccessful
1986 general
Thomas D. (Tom) DeLay (R)
76,459
(72%)
($294,850)
run for minority whip.
Susan Director (D)
30,079
(28%)
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 632,700, up 20.1% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,602, up 76.9% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 67% family, 38% with children, 57% married couples; 46.8% housing units rented;
TWENTY-THIRD DISTRICT
median monthly rent: $271; median house value: $64,200. Voting age pop. (1980): 381,492; 12%
Spanish origin, 9% Black, 3% Asian origin.
Texas is border country from San Antonio south: a part of the United States which is culturally
neither entirely Anglo nor entirely Mexican, but a mixture-a volatile and constantly changing
mixture-of the two. Historically the picture here has been of desert-like rural counties where
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
120,066
(62%)
big landowners rule the lives-and cast the votes-of their Mexican-American field hands. But
Dukakis (D)
70,739
(37%)
these small counties have no economic future and few resources, as the "brown power" militants
found out when they took over local government. The real economic growth comes in cities,
through the growth of metropolises like San Antonio and Austin and through the special
Rep. Tom DeLay (R)
advantages of the towns on the land border with the greatest economic disparities in the world.
Elected 1984; b. Apr. 8, 1947, Laredo; home, Sugar Land; U. of
Here the exchange rate, labor costs and flow of immigration change constantly. Laredo, down on
Houston, B.S. 1970; Baptist; married (Christine).
the border, had chain stores with some of the highest sales in the U.S. before the peso
Career: Owner, Albo Pest Control; TX House of Reps., 1979-85.
devaluation of 1982; by 1986, most were closed and others were quiet. But those developments
also made U.S. wages all the more attractive to residents of Mexico, stimulating twin-plant
Offices: 308 CHOB 20515, 202-225-5951. Also 9000 S.W. Free-
way, Ste. 205, Houston, 77074, 713-270-4000; and 500 N.
development here and there.
Shenango, Ste. 310, Angleton 77515, 409-849-4446.
The 23d Congressional District of Texas extends from the south side of San Antonio south to
Laredo and west to Eagle Pass, both on the Rio Grande. Most of the land area is in the border
Committees: Appropriations, (20th of 22 R). Subcommittees:
counties, which in most elections are among the most heavily Democratic counties in the nation.
Military Construction; Transportation.
But some 64% of the votes are in San Antonio and surrounding Bexar County (pronounced with
something like the soft Spanish X, which sounds like an H to English-speakers). The district
includes the southern fringes of San Antonio, working-class neighborhoods near big military
bases where nearly half the residents are Mexican-Americans. But the district also includes
suburban territory east, west and north of the city. This takes in some of the most affluent
precincts in Bexar County, where, historically, mistrust of Mexicans and Democrats is high.
The congressman from the 23d grew up in a small Mexican-American town, but he has made
Group Ratings
his political career in San Antonio. He is Albert Bustamante, who served a few years on
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Representative Henry B. Gonzalez's San Antonio staff and then proceeded to make his political
1988
0
5
2
18
6
100
77
100
92
90
fortune. He was elected to the Bexar County Commission in 1972 and was elected county judge
1987
0
-
2
7
-
100
-
-
93
86
in 1978. In 1984, he decided to run for Congress in the 23d, and challenged the incumbent.
Abraham Kazen, who had 18 years of seniority but little in the way of accomplishments to show
National Journal Ratings
for it. There was an ethnic contrast-Kazen is Lebanese-American-but a more aggressive
incumbent could have held this seat, or would never have been seriously challenged. In the 23d.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
Bustamante won what will probably remain his crucial contest by a 59%-37% margin. This is a
0%
I
93%
0%
I
89%
Social
9%
-
89%
pretty solidly Democratic district, although George Bush carried it 50%-49%, and Bustamante
0%
-
90%
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
should have no difficulty winning reelection.
Bustamante has a seat on the Armed Services Committee, the second south Texas Hispanic
$ 1, *
1212
TEXAS
TEXAS
1213
on that body; he has looked after San Antonio's military bases and after military personnel and
Election Results
retirees, promising that no user fee for use of military medical facilities will be imposed on them.
1988 general
Albert G. Bustamante (D)
116,423
(65%)
($187,302)
On economic issues he is liberal and an ally of organized labor; on cultural and economic issues
Jerome L. (Jerry) Gonzales (R)
60,559
(34%)
($6,365)
he is more moderate. He was a swing vote on contra aid, opposing it in 1985 and voting for it in
1988 primary
Albert G. Bustamante (D), unopposed
1986, and he supported the immigration reform bill. He has been pushing hard and early for
1986 general
Albert G. Bustamante (D)
68,131
(91%)
($199,090)
drug interdiction funds for the border. But he has also gone farther afield, getting interested in
Ken Hendrix (L)
7,001
(9%)
the issue of nuclear plant safety before it got hot in 1988.
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 669,800, up 27.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,746, up 50.0% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 84% family, 56% with children, 70% married couples; 30.2% housing units rented;
TWENTY-FOURTH DISTRICT
median monthly rent: $163; median house value: $33,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 332,851; 51%
Spanish origin, 4% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Dallas is built on two sides of the Trinity River; on the southwest side, overlooking downtown
1988 Presidential Vote: Bush (R)
94,826
(50%)
across the cement-lined river bed, is Oak Cliff. This is a kind of separate Dallas, just about as old
Dukakis (D)
93,074
(49%)
as the city, with some fine old Victorian gingerbread houses; there is more evidence here than on
the other side of the river of the kind of city Dallas was before steel-and-glass skyscrapers
Rep. Albert G. Bustamante (D)
towered over downtown and were scattered around freeway interchanges on the north side of the
city. The south side of Dallas, beyond Oak Cliff, is where most of the city's black residents live
Elected 1984; b. Apr. 8, 1935, Asherton; home, San Antonio; San
Antonio Col., Sul Ross St. U., B.A. 1961; Roman Catholic; married
and almost half of its much smaller number of Mexican-Americans. There is a feeling of
(Rebecca).
apartness here that became apparent in 1988 with criticism from blacks that Dallas police use
force too readily, and from police supporters who criticize blacks for condoning violent attacks
Career: Army, 1954-56; High sch. teacher and coach, 1961-68;
on policemen.
Aide to U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, 1968-71; Bexar Cnty.
Oak Cliff is the heart of the 24th Congressional District of Texas, the strongest national
Commissioner, 1973-78, Judge, 1979-84.
Democratic district in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Its population was 32% black and 13%
Offices: 1116 LHOB 20515, 202-225-4511. Also Fed. Bldg., 727
Hispanic in 1980, its income rather low; its housing prices are relatively inexpensive. It does
E. Durango St., Rm. B-146, San Antonio 78206, 512-229-6191;
include some suburban territory, however: the modest suburb of Grand Prairie and somewhat
1300 Matamoros St., Rm. 115, Laredo 78040, 512-724-7774;
higher-income Irving, the home of the Dallas Cowboys' stadium. The 24th District's boundaries
Uvalde Cnty. Cthse., Uvalde 78801, 512-278-5021; Fed. Cthse.
Bldg., Rm. 103, 100 E. Broadway, Del Rio 78841, 512-774-6549;
were the key issue in the partisan fights over Texas's redistricting; the current lines were drawn
101 E. Dimmit, W. Annex, Crystal City 78839, 512-374-5200;
by Democrats in 1983 after a federal court intervened.
Dimmit Cnty. Cthse., Carrizo Springs 78834, 512-876-2323; and
The congressman from the 24th District is Martin Frost, who started his political career by
Maverick Cnty. Cthse., P.O. Box 995, Eagle Pass 78852, 512-773-
challenging an incumbent congressman and became one of the young congressmen closest to the
4110.
Democratic leadership of the House. In 1974 he ran against and in 1978 finally beat
Committees: Armed Services (23d of 31 D). Subcommittees: Military Personnel and Compensation;
conservative Democrat and former TV weathercaster Dale Milford, with the help of large
Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems. Government Operations (19th of 24 D). Subcommittees:
majorities from blacks. His rapport with black voters helped him again in 1982, enabling him to
Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs; Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources. Select
face down black primary opposition, when it looked like the district would have a black majority,
Committee on Hunger (14th of 19 D).
and then to beat a black Dallas councilwoman running as a Republican by a 73%-26% margin.
He has been easily reelected since.
Group Ratings
Frost's House career took off when then Majority Leader Jim Wright got him a seat on the
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Rules Committee in 1979, making him only the second Democratic freshman in the 20th
1988
70
81
95
82
50
8
5
40
21
11
1987
76
-
93
50
-
0
-
-
14
8
century to get a seat on Rules. Frost has generally not disappointed the Democratic leadership.
voting often but not always on the liberal side. He was disappointed, however, in his run for the
National Journal Ratings
chairmanship of the Budget Committee after the 1984 elections. He led the move to deny
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
waivers of the three-term rule to Jim Jones and Leon Panetta, thus barring them from the
Economic
84%
-
16%
73%
-
0%
leadership; on this he was serving not just himself, but also Tip O'Neill and Jim Wright, who
Social
70%
-
30%
62%
-
38%
mistrusted both men. But it was apparent that William Gray of Pennsylvania had the votes sewn
Foreign
60%
-
37%
59%
-
40%
up to be chairman, and so Frost withdrew.
Key Votes
On Rules, he was a close ally of Jim Wright and of the beleaguered Texas savings and loan
industry. On the committee in 1986, he helped kill a non-bank banks bill that would have
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
tightened lending and investment requirements on S&Ls, and in 1988, he helped kill a bill that
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
would have increased FSLIC capitalization $5 billion at the expense of the S&Ls. At the time
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
presumably Frost had no idea of the huge amount of money-estimated in 1989 at $100 billion
plus-that improvident and crooked S&Ls would cost the taxpayer.
1214
TEXAS
TEXAS
1215
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 626,700, up 18.9% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,267, up 14.2% 1970-80.
TWENTY-FIFTH DISTRICT
Households (1980): 77% family, 48% with children, 60% married couples; 40.9% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $217; median house value: $37,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 352,993; 29% Black,
West from the scruffy towns where the Houston Ship Channel empties out into the bay near the
11% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin, 1% American Indian.
giant San Jacinto Battle Monument, through Pasadena where the now defunct country music
honkytonk Gilley's, with its mechanical bulls used to sit on Spencer Highway, out past the black
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
97,357
(52%)
87,616
(47%)
neighborhoods near Houston's (comparatively) close-in Hobby Airport, to the Astrodome: this is
Bush (R)
working-class Houston. Some of the neighborhoods here are black, some are heavily Mexican.
but most are white, and the cultural tone is down home and southwestern. These areas, plus the
Rep. Martin Frost (D)
more affluent, and in some cases Jewish, neighborhoods west of Main near Rice University and
Elected 1978; b. Jan. 1, 1942, Glendale, CA; home, Dallas; U. of
the giant Texas Medical Center-out in territory where James Baker can remember his
MO, B.A., B.J. 1964, Georgetown U., J.D. 1970; Jewish; married
grandfather shooting quail on his acreage-make up Texas's 25th Congressional District.
(Valerie).
This was one of the three new Texas districts created after the 1980 Census, a political bonus
Career: Legal commentator, KERA-TV, Dallas, 1971-72; Prac-
to the Houston area for the demographic gains it made from the oil price rises of the 1970s, with
ticing atty., 1972-78.
the partisan benefit going, as the legislature intended, to the Democrats. Working-class
Offices: 2459 RHOB 20515, 202-225-3605. Also 400 S. Zang
Houston, not only in black and Mexican neighborhoods, but in white as well, votes pretty
Blvd., Ste. 1319, Dallas 75208, 214-948-3401; and 801 W. Free-
faithfully Democratic-this was a Dukakis, not a Bush, district in 1988-and if one of the
way, Ste. 720 Grand Prairie 75051, 214-262-1503.
effects of the new district lines was to strengthen Republican Jack Fields in the 8th District and
make the 22d District safely Republican, the other was to open up the 25th to an ambitious
Committees: House Administration (12th of 13 D). Subcommit-
young Democrat named Mike Andrews.
tees: Elections; Libraries and Memorials; Procurement and Print-
ing. Rules (4th of 9 D). Subcommittee: The Legislative Process.
Andrews had already run for Congress once, in 1980, in the 22d District against gold bug Ron
Paul (and 1988 Libertarian presidential candidate), where he won 49% of the vote after
spending $750,000. But he didn't capture the 22d without a fight. He was challenged by a
former Pasadena mayor in the primary who charged he was too liberal and then by a Republican
in the general who said he'd be a better supporter of President Reagan; Andrews spent $647,000
Group Ratings
and won those races with 58% and 60%. As the size of his campaign treasury suggests, Andrews
knows how to raise money from Houston's downtown business community even as he was
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
winning the primary endorsement of the 18th district's black congressman Mickey Leland.
1988
70
74
79
82
44
9
4
40
23
13
1987
88
-
81
57
-
-
-
6
In the House, Andrews has shown considerable political adroitness and has an impressive list
0
29
of accomplishments. He first won a seat on the Science and Technology Committee, where of
course he looked after the interests of the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake City, just at the
National Journal Ratings
southern edge of the district. He kept NASA from transferring several thousand jobs from there
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
to Huntsville, Alabama, and he helped to keep alive the often beleaguered space station
Economic
87%
I
8%
73%
-
0%
Social
63%
-
36%
60%
-
39%
the year before by one vote.
program. In 1986, he moved to the Ways and Means Committee, a place on which he had lost
Foreign
55%
-
44%
55%
I
44%
On Ways and Means he has forged a reasonable working relationship with Chairman Dan
Key Votes
lower energy taxes and claims credit for the repeal of the windfall profit tax (which had ceased
Rostenkowski despite their differing regional interests. Andrews naturally lobbies heavily for
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
to produce any revenue, but would have been reimposed if oil prices went back up). He took a
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
part in the welfare reform bill, successfully moving at one point to cut its cost by $500 million
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
-
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
he and pushing for mandatory withholding of child support from wages. At Rostenkowski's request,
because of its huge cost, and prevailing on the floor 243-169; this was not a particularly pleasant
headed a task force working against Claude Pepper's long-term health care bill, opposing it
Election Results
duty. Andrews may have had a better time working successfully with Robert Mrazek of New
1988 general
Martin Frost (D)
10,841
(93%)
($438,949)
10,841
(7%)
also found time to become co-chairman of the Sunbelt Caucus.
York to preserve part of the Manassas, Virginia Battlefield from a proposed shopping center. He
Leo Sadovy (Lib.)
1988 primary
Martin Frost (D), unopposed
After fighting through two tough election seasons before he finally won the seat, Andrews
1986 general
Martin Frost (D)
69,368
(67%)
($709,864)
Bob Burk (R)
33,819
(33%)
($23,676)
seems to have a secure hold on it: he was reelected without difficulty in 1984, 1986 and 1988.
threat to him.
Given greater Houston's robust population growth, redistricting probably doesn't pose a serious
TEXAS
TEXAS
1217
1216
Est. Pop. 1986: 580,500, up 10.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,801, up 20.4% units 1970-80. rented:
The People: (1980): 74% family, 44% with children, 60% married couples; 41.6% housing 23% Black.
TWENTY-SIXTH DISTRICT
Households median monthly rent: $261; median house value: $46,700. Voting age pop. (1980): 366,175;
It is almost invisible as you drive the freeways amidst construction cranes and newly built
12% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
offices, shopping centers and apartment complexes, but it was one of the major geographical
(51%)
barriers in American history-the Balcones Escarpment, the rim of higher west Texas land that
Dukakis (D)
84,886
1988 Presidential Vote:
80,566
(48%)
passes between Dallas and Fort Worth and extends southwest to Waco and Austin. East of the
Bush (R)
escarpment the land is low and green, often forested and sometimes swampy; west it is high and
brown, with little water and few trees. This is the boundary between East and West, the reason
why the first railroads here stopped at Dallas. It is still crucial territory today, the site, just west
Rep. Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D)
Elected 1982; b. Feb. 4, 1944, Houston; home, Houston; U. of TX.
in the 1980s.
of the huge Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport, of the fastest population growth in the country
B.A. 1967, Southern Methodist U., J.D. 1970; Episcopalian; mar-
This growth is all the more extraordinary because it has not been generated by the oil business;
ried (Ann).
Career: Law clerk, U.S. Dist. Judge, Houston, 1970-72; Asst.
more important in this area have been defense industries and DFW Airport and a certain
Dist. Atty., Harris Cnty., 1972-76; Practicing atty., 1976-82.
entrepreneurial drive. They have come together in Arlington, southwest of the Airport, which
thirty years ago was almost entirely vacant land: rolling hills with scrubby vegetation, and long
Offices: 322 CHOB 20515, 202-225-7508. Also 1001 E.
views from the escarpment over the plains to the skyscrapers of Fort Worth and Dallas. Now it is
Southmore, Ste. 810, Pasadena 77503, 713-473-4334; and Fed.
a city of more than 250,000 people, and not just a bedroom suburb of Fort Worth: it is the home
Bldg., 515 Rusk, Houston 77002, 713-229-2244.
of the Texas Rangers, of Six Flags Over Texas and of a branch of the University of Texas.
Committees: Ways and Means (21st of 23 D). Subcommittees:
Arlington is full of the people whose talents and skills have made the Dallas-Fort Worth
Human Resources; Select Revenue Measures.
Metroplex a ranking center of high tech and defense industries; it is progressive, with clean new
streets and commodious public services; it seems safe and secure against the urban ills that
afflict so many neighborhoods in so many of America's other major metropolitan areas. In
national politics, Arlington is heavily Republican, receptive to the message of free enterprise and
traditional moral values. It seems difficult, in this pleasant, hard-working America, to under-
stand that there are other parts of the country (and even a few whole states) which disagree.
Arlington forms almost half of Texas's 26th Congressional District, a new seat created after
Group Ratings
ADA
ACLU
COPE
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
the 1980 Census and made up of incipient or quasi-Arlingtons to the north, including several
CFA
LCV
66
73
31
29
34
70
62
30
suburbs of north Dallas and going up through formerly rural territory and the county seat of
1988
75
70
-
47
25
62
57
0
-
Denton almost to the Red River. Its first congressman, fittingly, was former Arlington mayor of
-
1987
58
-
26 years Tom Vandergriff, who ran as a conservative Democrat. But even with his local fame
and in a Democratic year, it took him $700,000 of his own money to win a 344-vote victory in
National Journal Ratings
1982; and it is not too surprising that he lost by 6,000 votes in the Republican year of 1984.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
The current congressman, Dick Armey, has made a surprisingly strong impression on public
48%
60%
-
39%
Economic
50%
-
-
49%
policy in his few years in Washington. Like Senator Phil Gramm, he was an economics professor
40%
50%
-
Social
58%
-
53%
at a Texas public university who believed fervently in private free markets; unlike Gramm, he
50%
-
50%
46%
Foreign
seems not to have been always ambitious for political office, but ran in 1984 only after his
interest was piqued by watching House sessions on C-SPAN. Even at North Texas State in
Denton, he was the odd man out as a free market advocate in a Keynesian department; in the
Key Votes
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
House he served on the liberal-dominated Education and Labor and Government Operations
1) Homeless $
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
Committees. He spent his first years in the House as a "budget commando," staying on the floor
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
FOR
and offering budget-cutting amendments to almost all spending bills, a few of which actually
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
12) Nuclear Testing
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
passed; to save money, he slept the nights he was in Washington in the House gym and, when he
was forced to stop that, on his office couch.
Yet unlike some of his conservative allies Armey, a cheerful man originally from North
Election Results
113,499
(71%)
($318,970)
Dakota, seems to have genuine political skills. He can analyze not only issues but colleagues,
1988 general
Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D)
George Loeffler (R)
44,043
(28%)
figuring out what formulation of his principles he can sell to them. He has championed causes
1988 primary
Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D), unopposed
which have gone farther than conventional wisdom at first expected, such as selling public
67,435
(100%)
($133,817)
Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D)
bousing to tenants, privatization of government operations like Amtrak's Northeast Corridor
1986 general
and the sale of government loan assets, and has opposed parental leave bills as "yuppie welfare."
1218
TEXAS
TEXAS
1219
He won a seat on the Budget Committee in 1987 and supported the first bipartisan budget
National Journal Ratings
resolution in many years.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
his greatest achievement was the 1988 military base closing bill. In 1987 Armey base pursued closing
Economic
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
7%
-
91%
Social
0%
-
But well-trodden route of reformers of various ideologies by proposing an apolitical not
0%
89%
-
95%
the commission. But Congress, as well as former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, 1987. were In 1988
Foreign
0%
-
0%
90%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
ready back again. After resolving disputes over the size and makeup of the House and
to delegate power in this way, and Armey's plan was narrowly defeated in commission-its
Key Votes
I) Homeless $
he 12-member came composition was eventually agreed upon by senior members of the House 223-
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
AGN
9) SDI Research
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
Armed Services Committees and the Pentagon-Armey's bill passed the chairman
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
Senate with the co-sponsorship not of some other bomb-thrower, but of Armed Services closings
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
had Aspin. be approved or vetoed by the Congress all at once, with no changes or suggestions, the list and
Les 186, The bill's success lay in the fact that the commission's list of recommended with
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
Election Results
congressional to actions vetoable by the President. The commission did draw up savings of
1988 general
Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R)
any Congress didn't veto it, producing the first base closings since 1977, and an advertised
194,944
Jo Ann Reyes (D)
(69%)
($314,903)
1988 primary
86,490
Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R), unopposed
(31%)
($189,780)
nearly $700 million a year.
This not be the last of Armey's achievements. He seems to suit this fast-growing market economics district
1986 general
Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R)
101,735
better may. two years, his ebullience matching its mood and his faith in side of the
George Richardson (D)
(68%)
($541,542)
47,651
(32%)
even reflecting its every settled conviction based on observations of the bounteous world on either and with
($133,785)
Armey won reelection in 1986 and 1988 by better than 2 to 1 margins, safe no
Arlington Escarpment. about to eclipse nearby Fort Worth in number of voters he seems politically
TWENTY-SEVENTH DISTRICT
matter what happens in redistricting.
Est. Pop. 1986: 746,000, up 41.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,598, up 62.2% units 1970-80 rented
Ranch Along the Gulf of Mexico from the port and industrial city of Corpus Christi down past the King
The People: (1980): 76% family, 45% with children, 67% married couples; 33.7% housing 4% Spanist
and along Padre Island to the Mexican border is the 27th Congressional District of
median Households monthly rent: $251; median house value: $57,400. Voting age pop. (1980): 372,244;
Texas. This is part of south Texas between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, the land in
of contention in the Mexican war, which despite the U.S. victory is still inhabited mostly by people
origin, 3% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Mexican ancestry. There is, however, plenty of variety here. Corpus Christi is an oil the
203,541
(68%)
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
beach. most important one south of Houston, with big petrochemical plants and a causeway port, to the
92,508
(31%)
Dukakis (D)
than About half its citizens are Mexican-American, but they are less segregated and set
Half was once the case. Overall, they seem to fit in with the city's blue-collar, roughneck apart tone.
the 27th's people live in and around Corpus Christi.
Rep. Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R)
Elected 1984; b. July 7, 1940, Cando, ND; home, Cooper Canyon
Most of the other half live in and around Brownsville and Harlingen in the Lower Rio Grande
Jamestown Col., B.A. 1963, U. of ND, M.A. 1964, U. of OK, PhD
Valley. Harlingen became a figure of fun for many when backers of Ronald Reagan's Central
1969; Presbyterian; married (Susan).
American when policy suggested it would be the next place to be invaded. But the fun is less
Career: Prof., W. TX St. U., 1967-68, Austin Col., 1968-72
you're there: Harlingen is not about to be overrun by Nicaraguans, of course, apparent but its
TX St. U., 1972-77; Chmn., Dept. of Economics, N. TX St. U.
position down on the border could be an uncomfortable one if a government hostile to the United
States should come to power in Mexico. Any Mexican development-the devaluation of the
1977-83.
Offices: 130 CHOB 20515, 202-225-7772. Also 1301 S. Bower
peso, unemployment in the northern Mexico states, the success or failure of maquiladora
Rd., Ste. 422, Arlington 76013, 817-461-2555; and 250 S
plants-changes life on the border, and a hostile Mexico could do more to damage the quality of
Stemmons, Ste. 210, Lewisville 75067, 214-221-4527.
American life, especially here, than any other foreign development short of war.
Committees: Budget (7th of 14 R). Task Forces: Budget Process.
of Padre Island, for most of its length a national seashore, where the hot sands meet the almost
In between these two nodes are Texan versions of dreamland. Fronting the Gulf is the sandspit
Reconciliation and Enforcement; Economic Policy, Projections and
Revenues; Urgent Fiscal Issues. Education and Labor (8th of 19
iteamy waters of the summertime Gulf. At its south end, there are extensive high-rise
R). Subcommittees: Labor-Management Relations; Labor Step
developments, where residents can sit high in air conditioning and watch the beach shimmer in
the heat. Inland are the vast grazing and oil lands of the King Ranch, long America's largest.
dards.
This is a solidly Democratic district, and the congressman, Solomon Ortiz, was chosen in the
Democratic primary in 1982. There were five main candidates, and in the first primary their
Group Ratings
ADA
ACLU
COPE
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
e
Notes fell in the narrow range between 14% and 26%. The high figure was won by Ortiz, then
CFA
LCV
2
18
19
100
89
100
100
90
sheriff of Nueces County, known as a tough law enforcer. His major opponent was former
1988
0
4
100
95
2
14
I
96
I
I
Corpus Christi legislator Joe Salem. But Ortiz out-maneuvered him for support in the
1987
0
I
Brownsville area; by making a local alliance there, he cinched the runoff. The general election
1220
TEXAS
TEXAS/UTAH
1221
was anticlimactic: the Republican candidate had been mayor of Corpus Christi some time
Key Votes
before, but had little personal support.
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
Ortiz's voting record is liberal on economics, moderate on cultural and military issues-like
AGN
2) Gephardt Amdt
9) SDI Research
FOR
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
Kika de la Garza's in the 15th. Many in Washington assume that a Mexican-American will vote
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
-
on the left wing of the Democratic Party, but Mexican-American voters are vociferously
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
patriotic and culturally traditional; and Ortiz seems to share their attitudes. He is a member of
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
Merchant Marine and Fisheries and the Armed Services Committee, where he seems to fit in
Election Results
well with the generally hawkish majority. The successful legislation he has sponsored has local
1988 general
Solomon P. Ortiz (D), unopposed
angles: a technical bill on determining the taxes owed by oil refineries in foreign trade zones,
1988 primary
Solomon P. Ortiz (D), unopposed
($142,651)
delaying for a year the Endangered Species requirement that shrimpers use Turtle Excluding
1986 general
Solomon P. Ortiz (D)
64,165
(100%)
($138,793)
Devices, protecting the Flower Garden coral reefs 220 miles east of Corpus Christi in the Gulf.
Ortiz is reelected easily and has a safe seat.
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 609,600, up 15.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,988, up 23.7% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 80% family, 50% with children, 66% married couples; 37.8% housing units rented;
UTAH
median monthly rent: $171; median house value: $31,000. Voting age pop. (1980): 341,512; 55%
Spanish origin, 3% Black.
"Mormon Utah," wrote the WPA Guide 50 years ago (Utah has been mostly Mormon since
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
76,313
(46%)
1847), "is primarily that fertile strip of occupied land, down through the north-central part of
Dukakis (D)
88,458
(53%)
the state, lying at the foot of the Wasatch Mountain rampart. Four-fifths of the population lives
here, in towns that vary from metropolitan Salt Lake City to humble villages that are
distinguishable as towns only by their general store and sturdy "meeting house.' Even in this
Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D)
richest and oldest-settled area, the stamp of a pioneer culture is everywhere manifest. Grandsires
Elected 1982; b. June 3, 1937, Robstown; home, Corpus Christi;
built too sturdily, albeit of such materials as wood and mud, for the pioneer period to have lost its
Del Mar Col., Natl. Sheriffs' Training Inst., 1977; United Method-
substance. And these houses almost always are shadowed by trees. If houses could not stand as
ist; divorced.
monuments to a culture, trees, gardens, and sheer greenness could. The cities themselves, almost
Career: Army, 1960-62; Nueces Cnty. Constable, 1965-68,
universally set four-square to the directions, reflect an ideal of spacious and noble planning."
Commissioner, 1969-76, Sheriff, 1977-82.
Fifty years later, having grown from 550,000 people to 1.7 million, Utah's basic character
Offices: 1524 LHOB 20515, 202-225-7742. Also 3649 Leopard,
remains stamped as firmly as ever on the desert, mountain-shadowed, often surrealistic
Ste. 510, Corpus Christi 78408, 512-883-5868; and 3505 Boca
landscape of what would have been, without the Mormons, an uninhabited wasteland.
Chica Blvd., Ste. 438, Brownsville 78521, 512-541-1242.
Utah and Mormonism had their roots in a very different landscape more than 150 years
Committees: Armed Services (20th of 31 D). Subcommittees:
in a wave of religious enthusiasm, prophecy and utopianism that swept across the "burnt-over ago,
Military Installations and Facilities; Readiness; Seapower and
district" of Upstate New York in the 1820s and 1830s. There Joseph Smith, a young farmer,
Strategic and Critical Materials. Merchant Marine and Fisheries
experienced a vision in which the Angel Moroni, a prophet of the lost tribe of Israel (the
(15th of 26 D). Subcommittees: Coast Guard and Navigation;
American Indians), appeared and told him where to unearth several golden tablets inscribed
Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment. Select
with hieroglyphic writings. (So important is this revelation to the religion that forged documents
Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control (12th of 18 D).
showing that Smith was directed by a "white salamander" to the tablets resulted in extortions,
car-bombings, and finally the confession of forger Mark Hofmann in 1987.) With the aid of
Group Ratings
special spectacles, Smith translated the tablets and published them as the Book of Mormon in
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
COC
CEI
Saints. His Mormons, as they were called, attracted thousands of converts and created their own
1831. He later declared himself a prophet and founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
NSI
1988
55
38
87
55
44
26
5
70
29
14
communities; persecuted for their beliefs, they moved west to Ohio, Missouri, and then Illinois.
1987
60
-
85
43
I
17
-
-
33
14
In 1844, the Mormon colony at Nauvoo, Illinois, had some 15,000 members, all living under the
strict in the theocratic rule of Joseph Smith. In secular Illinois politics, Nauvoo-then the largest city
National Journal Ratings
state-held the balance of power between contending Democrats and Whigs. It was here
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
the hands of a mob in 1844.
that Smith received a revelation sanctioning the practice of polygamy, which led to his death at
Economic
84%
I
15%
66%
I
33%
Social
43%
I
55%
42%
I
57%
After the murder, the new president of the church, Brigham Young, decided to move the
Foreign
54%
|
46%
54%
45%
faithful, "the saints," farther west into territory that was still part of Mexico and far beyond the
pale of white settlement. Young led a well-organized march across the Great Plains and into the
DM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
October 9, 1990
MEMORANDUM
TO:
THE TEAM
FROM:
BETH
RE:
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION
OF EVENTS IN KUWAIT
Attached is a report faxed over from Amnesty
International, spelling out and documenting some
examples of atrocities from the Iraqi occupation
of Kuwait.
If anyone has additional questions, the con-
tact person is Christine, (202) 775-5161.
10/09/90 17:34
202 546 7142
AIUSA WASH. DC
5.
01
A/O
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
304 Pennsvivania Ave. $5 Washington, DC 2000
USA
Phone: (202) 544-0200 / Fax: (202) 548-7142
FAX COVER SHEET
Please deliver
this message to:
Beth
Sent by: Rohamed
RE:
Report $ Preso & Release on Iraq & Kuwant
DATE: 10/9/ go
TAX ÷
Please 0312 == report $.7 incomplete 5 or illegible FAX
÷ CE PAGES INCLUDING THIS COVER
Transmission foom 1715 office. Due FAX number 15 (202) 546-7142.
Comments:
st :Sd 6 100 06
Amesty International Cn The Hill
Amnesty International U.S.A
304 Permanying it. DC. ==003
Amnestv
International
15
an
10/09/90 17:34
202 546 7142
AIUSA WASH. DC
02
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
USA
304 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Washington, DC 20003
Phone: (202) 544-0200 / Fax: (202) 546-7142
Embargoed for 7:01 p.m. Eastern
Tuesday, October 2, 1990
Contact: Christine Haenn (202) 755-5161
IRAQI FORCES KILLING AND TORTURING IN KUWAIT,
SAYS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FACT-FINDING TEAM
Iraqi forces have tortured and executed scores of people, including boys as young as 15,
October 2).
since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, Amnesty International said today (Tuesday,
The human rights organization has interviewed scores of people who have fled
Kuwait, and two of its representatives have just returned from Bahrain, where they
talked with victims and eyewitnesses of abuses. "Their testimony builds up a horrifying
picture of widespread arrests, torture under interrogation, summary executions and
mass extrajudicial killings," Amnesty International said.
Hundreds of Kuwaitis and other nationals are now believed to be in detention
centers or prisons in Kuwait and Iraq. "Iraqi forces have arrested not only people
suspected of armed attacks against them but men, women and children found with
opposition literature, the Kuwaiti flag or photographs of the Amir of Kuwait," Amnesty
International said.
The possession of these items is said to be treated effectively as capital offenses,
punishable by death.
Some people have also been arrested or killed for failing to replace photos of the
Amir with those of Iraq's President Saddam Hussain.
Detainees are being held in police stations, schools and other public buildings in
Kuwait, and some have been transferred to Iraq. "Those who have been released say the
Iraqi reported. military and intelligence routinely torture detainees," Amnesty International
Some have been given electric shocks or suffered prolonged beatings to sensitive
parts of their bodies. Others have had their limbs broken, their hair plucked out with
pincers, their finger and toe nails pulled out, and were threatened with sexual assault or
execution. "We cannot even publish more details on former torture victims, in case they
or their families are identified and suffer further reprisals," Amnesty International said.
Iraqi forces have reportedly killed scores of unarmed civilians. Boys as young as
15 have been shot in the head and their bodies dumped outside their homes.
Doctors who worked in Kuwait's hospitals following the invasion said Iraqi
soldiers brought in scores of bodies of young men, many of whom were shot at close
range in the heart and head. The doctors were forced to issue death certificates saying
the victims had died after arrival at the hospitals.
Scores of hangings have also been reported in the grounds of Kuwait University
of people suspected of opposing Iraq's annexation of Kuwait. Those hanged were
summarily executed after being accused of criminal offenses.
While Amnesty International has been unable to confirm some of these accounts
of human rights abuses, they have come from a wide range of sources both within and
outside Kuwait. "The reports tell a consistent story of violations which bears out
International said.
Amnesty International's own information on Iraq's human rights record," Amnesty
Amnesty International condemns the summary executions, extrajudicial
executions and torture being carried out by Iraqi forces.
It also opposes the use of the death penalty, which has been introduced for
harboring western nationals, looting and hoarding food for commercial purposes. One
Kuwaiti was executed in September for harboring an American, and Iraqi authorities
have confirmed that 10 people have $0 far been executed for looting.
10/09/90 17:35
202 546 7142
AIUSA WASH. DC
03
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
1
USA
304 Pennsylvania Ave SE Washington, DC 20003
Phone: (202) 544-0200 / Fax: (202) 546-7142
The following information updates Amnesty International's concerns
following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Reports of mass extrajudicial killings, summary executions, widespread arrests
and torture under interrogation continue to emerge from the thousands of
people who have fled Kuwait since its invasion by Iraqi forces on August 2.
Amnesty International has obtained detailed testimony from scores of people
interviewed in the United Kingdom and Bahrain, among them a number of
Kuwaitis who fled their country on September 15 and 16, when Iraq briefly
testimonies. opened Kuwait's borders. The following information is largely based on such
1. Arbitrary Arrests
Hundreds of people are believed to have been arrested in Kuwait by Iraqi forces
since August 2, the majority of whom remain in detention. Amnesty
International is unable at present to confirm reports that over 1,500 people
(excluding the western nationals held as hostages in Iraq) are currently in Iraqi
authorities' custody. Estimating the number of detainees is particularly difficult
because some detainees were held for short periods, released and the re-arrested.
Several hundred western nationals remain in detention in Baghdad and in other
undisclosed locations in Iraq, while others have been prevented from leaving
either Kuwait or Iraq. Amnesty International reiterates its view that these
detentions are arbitrary and constitute a violation of international human rights
norms. The organization continues to urge the Iraqi authorities to release those
detained and to allow them to exercise the right to return to their home
countries, as well as to grant them consular access in the interim period.
From the third week of Iraq's invasion, the number of Kuwaitis and other
nationals being detained by Iraqi forces increased sharply. Hundreds are said to
be currently in detention centers or prisons in Kuwait and Iraq. According to
information received by Amnesty International, the detainees include men,
women and children. Most are being held for their suspected opposition to
Iraq's annexation of Kuwait. Eyewitnesses have reported to Amnesty
International that schools and other public buildings in Kuwait are being used as
detention and interrogation centers. Local police stations and the juveníles
prison are also being used to hold suspects. Other detainees have been
transferred to places of detention in Iraq, notably Baghdad and Basra. According
to the accounts of those released, Iraqi military and intelligence personnel have
routinely subjected detainees to torture during interrogation while others have
been summarily executed (see below).
During the first two weeks of the invasion, relatives of detainees enquired about
them from Iraqi military personnel in charges of local police stations. In some
instances, the families were informed that the detainees had been transferred to
Baghdad, and that all further inquiries should be made to the authorities in Iraq.
inquiries for fear of being arrested themselves
More recently, however, relatives of detainees have refrained from making such
Extended Page
3,1
Deing allergies memserves.
Amnesty International Is an independent worldwide movement working impartially for the release of all prisoners of conscience, fair and prompt trials for
political prisoners and an end to torture and excecutions. It is funded by donations from its members and supporters throughout the world.
CHAIR. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON OFFICE
Winston Nagan
John G. Healey
D
James ODoa
10/09/90 17:36
202 546 7142
AIUSA WASH. DC
04
2
Refugees fleeing Kuwait told Amnesty International that Iraqi forces have
arrested not only those suspected of armed attacks against them, but also men,
women and children found possessing opposition literature, the Kuwaiti flag or
photographs of the Amir of Kuwait. Others are said to have been arrested (and
in some instances killed) for failing to demonstrate allegiance to President
Saddam Hussain. No one interviewed by Amnesty International to date
the Iraqi authorities in the cases of the detainees.
reported that any form of trial or other legal proceedings have been followed by
2. Torture and Ill-Treatment
Numerous reports have reached Amnesty International of the routine torture of
detainees by Iraqi military and security personnel since August 2. Methods of
physical torture are said to include rape, electric shock treatment, prolonged
beatings on sensitive parts of the body, the breaking of limbs, plucking out hair
with pincers, the extraction of finger and toe nails, and psychological methods of
torture including threats of sexual assault, threats of execution, mock executions
and general humiliation and insults.
According to relatives of torture victims interviewed by Amnesty International,
15-year-old boys have been tortured in the manner described above. Although
Amnesty International has obtained details of the condition of some former
torture victims, the organization is unable (at their families' request) to name
them or publish details which may help to identify them.
3. The Death Penalty
As previously reported by Amnesty International, Iraq's Revolutionary
Command Council (RCC) passed a decree on August 11 making the hoarding of
food for commercial purposes punishable by death. No executions for this
offense have been reported to date. On August 14, the RCC introduced the death
penalty for anyone found guilty of looting in Kuwait. The first execution for this
offense was reported on August 16, when a man was publicly hanged in Kuwait
City. Eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesty International reported that the
victim, said to be an Iraqi soldier, was executed by firing squad and his body
subsequently suspended for public viewing. Ten other people were also
executed for the same offense during the third week of August, including
Kuwaiti, Egyptian and Syrian nationals. Their execution was announced on Iraqi
television. Since then, the RCC has passed another decree introducing the death
penalty for anyone harboring western nationals. Amnesty International has
received the name of a Kuwaiti man reported to have been executed for
harboring an American national in Kuwait. The precise date of execution is not
known, but is believed to have been carried out in early September.
Refugees who fled Kuwait in the third week of September stated to Amnesty
International that scores of people have also been executed by hanging in the
grounds of Kuwait University. The victims were said to be suspected opponents
accused of criminal offenses and then summarily executed without any form of
trial. However, no names or details of such executions have yet reached
Amnesty International.
4. Extrajudicial Killings (EJEs)
10/09/90 17:37
202 546 7142
AIUSA WASH. DC
05
3
Scores of civilians -- men, women and children - are reported to have been killed
outside the context of armed conflict. According to eyewitness accounts, boys as
young as 15 have been shot in the head and their bodies dumped outside their
homes because of their suspected opposition to the Iraqi forces. The possession
of opposition literature, the Kuwaiti flag or photographs of the Amir of Kuwait
are said to be treated effectively as capital offenses. Others have reportedly been
executed for refusing to take down photographs of the Amir of Kuwait and to
replace them with those of President Saddam Hussain. Doctors who had been
working in hospitals in Kuwait in the period following the invasion have told
Amnesty International that Iraqi soldiers brought to the hospitals scores of
bodies of young men, many of whom had been shot in the head and heart at
close range. Iraqi soldiers reportedly forced the doctors to issue death
certificates certifying that the victims had died after arrival at the hospitals. The
relatives. unidentified bodies were then sent to the morgue to await identification by
City/State: Dallas, TV
Event: clayton Williams for Gov,
Date: 10/2/90
OFFICE OF PRESIDENTIAL ADVANCE
CONTACT SHEET
Name
Office
Phone Number
Presidential Advance Office
202/456-7565
Presidential Advance Fax Number
202/456-2820
Judd Swift
WH Advance
202/456-7565
Spence Geissinger
" 11
11 "
Kris Goodwin
11
/
" 11
C.C.Burrey
HRD
(214) 651-1234
Charlie DeViTA
Lucy H WILLIAMS
HRD
214 712 7206
USSS-PPD
202 395-4011
Lee PARKeR
USSS-DALLAS
214/767-8021
Mike Gould
Air Force Aide to the Resident
202 395 1747
TED GARMEY
WH SPEECHWRITING
202 456-2771
Beverly Krawpanger dep Camp. chair Clayton Williams 512/477-1994 512-472-5100
Elizabeth Harrison
Clayton Williams- Finance
Lisa PollArD
Clayton Williams-Aduance
512-477-1994
PEGGY BRODERSEN ROB mos bacher Spl Events 214-931-6663
Mary Katheyn HAstings Rob Mrsbucher-FINANCE 713/546-2545 (202)395-4040
LARRY LANDRUM WHCA OPS
MITCH Ross
WHCA
2023956054
MARY MCGINNIS
JEANNE JOLNSONECO.
214-526-2600
CYNTHIA LONGAFALIAL
"
JEANNE JOHNSON WHILLIPS
1.
ANDY FOSTER
WH POLITICAL AFFAIRS
202 456 6510
LYNN LANSON
WH Intergovernmental
2024566597
DOUG ADAIR
WH CABINET AFFAIRS
202 456-2800
Valerie Musgrove
WH Political Affairs
202 456-6573
Clayton Williams
FOR GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin. Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
ABORTION
I am opposed to abortion except in cases of rape,
incest and to protect the life of the mother.
I support laws to:
*
Prohibit abortions for gender selection
*
Establish health & safety standards for
clinics
*
Require parental consent before an abortion is
performed on a minor
*
Prohibit financial "kickbacks" for abortion
referrals
*
Require viability tests for a fetus after 20
weeks
*
Make it a criminal offense for injury or death
of an unborn child resulting from a criminal
offense against the pregnant mother
*
Ensure informed consent and counseling on
alternatives such as abortion
Pd. Poi. Adv. Pd. for by the Clayton Williams for Governor Committee. P.O. Box 1491. Austin. Texas 78767-1491
Dallas Times Herald
Texas GOP spells out its
7-point stand on abortion
By Lorl Montgomery 4/5/90
"I think the Republicans are
TIMES HERALD AUSTIN BUREAU
trying to crawl back from a posi-
tion they trumpeted for 10 years
In an effort to recast a volatile
because now they find it's un-
issue credited with destroying
popular," said Texas Democratic
Republican candidates in other
Party Chairman Bob Slagle.
states, the Republican Party of
The plan, which Meyer said
Texas on Wednesday released a
has been essentially approved by
seven-point plan detailing specif-
GOP nominees for all statewide
ically how GOP candidates
offices except judgeships, advo-
would change state abortion laws
cates:
if elected.
A ban on abortions when
Unlike the Texas GOP plat-
medical tests prove the child can
form, the plan;does not include a
live outside the womb, unless the
proposal to ban abortion outright.
abortion is necessary to save the
It focuses instead on more limit-
mother's life. Texas now has a
ed restrictions that voters may
similar law.
find more palatable, said party
A ban on abortions for "sex
Chairman Fred Meyer.
selection."
Advocates of abortion rights
Making death or injury to an
blasted the plan as an effort to
unborn child punishable as a
defuse the issue, which last year
criminal offense or grounds for
contributed to the defeat of anti-
civil damages.
"
abortion Republican candidates
Requiring. parental consent
in Virginia and New Jersey:
before a minor can have an abor-
"All these little individual reg-
tion.
ulations and bits and such, it's
Regulation of abortion clin-
really a smoke screen to keep ev-
ics. Texas now has a similar law.
erybody off the seminal question,
Licensing of abortion coun- E
which is who gets to make the
selors and a requirement that
decision about abortion," said
women be told about fetal devel-
Phyllis Dunham, executive direc-
opment and adoption.
tor of the Texas Abortion Rights
A ban on "financial kick- il
Action League
backs" for abortion referrals.
EDUCATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS: MONEY NOT THE ONLY ANSWER TO ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
- CITES NEW BROOKINGS REPORT AS EXAMPLE OF BOLD INITIATIVE-
Austin, Tx. Saying "there is little hope of achieving the nation's finest
education system if all we do is spend more money," GOP Gubernatorial candidate Clayton
Williams said in an address to the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors
Association that, "real education reform must come from the grass-roots up, not from
the bureaucracy down."
"We all agree that providing enough money for our children's education is an
investment in our future," said Williams. "But it's more important than ever to examine
the relationship between the levels of spending and the quality of education our children
receive."
Williams noted a new report issued by the Brookings Institute that discusses bold
education reform measures. They include:
1) States would provide schools with tax funded scholarships for every eligible student
enrolled. Depending on the preference of parents and students, students would be free to
attend any state-accredited school.
2) Student scholarships would vary with the educational needs of students, with
disadvantaged students receiving greater assistance.
3) Schools will make their own admissions decisions - subject only to non-
discrimination laws.
4) The applications process will take place within a framework that guarantees each
student a school as well as a fair shot at getting into the schools that the students want
most to attend.
"Now, I'm not here to endorse this plan lock, stock and barrel," said Williams.
"But I am here today to say that as an outsider and not part of the Austin
establishment -- -- a Williams Administration will challenge the status quo."
Williams noted that the Brookings concepts "represent a careful, open-minded
look at the at the current state of education, and discards the traditional cliches of both
liberals and conservatives."
"But unlike others," he said, "I don't believe leadership involves telling every
group everything it wants to hear."
#####
TEXT OF REMARKS BY CLAYTON WILLIAMS
TEXAS ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS AND SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION
JUNE 14, 1990
IT'S BEEN 19 YEARS AND FOUR GOVERNORS SINCE THE STATE OF TEXAS
RECEIVED ITS FIRST STRONG WARNING THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE WAY
WE PAY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION.
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS LATER -- AND WITH A SEEMINGLY ENDLESS SNARL OF
LEGISLATIVE GRIDLOCK -- THE WAY WE EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN HAS BEEN
QUESTIONED, AND IS UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY; NOT JUST IN TEXAS, BUT FROM SHORE
TO SHORE AND IN STATE AFTER STATE.
HOWEVER, THE DEBATE RECENTLY HAS FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON HOW MUCH
MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT.
As EDUCATORS, YOU UNDERSTAND WE HAVE REASON TO BE CONCERNED
ABOUT HOW WE'VE BEEN PREPARING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE CHALLENGES THAT
WE AS A STATE AND WE AS PARENTS -- MUST MEET HEAD ON.
CHALLENGES THAT, IF NOT ADDRESSED BY THE NEXT GOVERNOR OF OUR
STATE, THREATEN OUR CHILDREN'S, AND GRANDCHILDREN'S, INTELLECTUAL AND
ECONOMIC FUTURE.
AS YOUR NEXT GOVERNOR, I WANT TO SET THE TONE FOR A NEW PHILOSOPHY
OF LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION.
AUSTIN JUST PASSED A SCHOOL FUNDING BILL, BUT I'M AFRAID ALL IT DID WAS
SIMPLY PUT A BAND-AID, ON A BAND-AID, ON A BAND-AID -- ALL THE WHILE
BURDENING OUR FAMILIES WITH MORE TAXES.
WE TINKERED AT THE MARGINS WHEN WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN OPENING NEW
HORIZONS.
WE ALL AGREE THAT PROVIDING ENOUGH MONEY FOR OUR CHILDREN'S
EDUCATION IS AN INVESTMENT IN OUR FUTURE.B BUT IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
TO EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVELS OF SPENDING AND THE QUALITY
OF EDUCATION OUR CHILDREN RECEIVE.
I BELIEVE THERE IS LITTLE HOPE OF ACHIEVING THE NATION'S FINEST
EDUCATION SYSTEM IF ALL WE DO IS SPEND MORE MONEY.
YES, MONEY IS ESSENTIAL; BUT MAJOR REFORMS ARE PARAMOUNT.
1
I ASK YOU TO SHARE A DREAM WITH ME.
I LOOK TO THE FUTURE, TO THE YEAR 2000, AND I SEE TEXAS SCHOOLS THAT
ARE THE ENVY OF THE NATION. SCHOOLS WHERE THE ENVIRONMENT ALLOWS
TEACHERS TO TEACH AND STUDENTS TO LEARN.
I BELIEVE THAT BEFORE WE CAN TAKE ANY MEANINGFUL STEPS TOWARD
EXCELLENCE, WE MUST RID OUR CAMPUSES OF DRUGS AND CRIME.
WE KNOW IT'S VITAL TO TEACH THE THREE R's, BUT WE MUST ALSO TEACH
THE THREE D's: DON'T Do DRUGS.
I KNOW YOU DON'T ACCEPT DRUG USE IN YOUR SCHOOL AND I DON'T EITHER.
WE MUST WIN THIS WAR AGAINST DRUGS AND WE MUST START IN OUR SCHOOLS.
I'M READY TO SEE THAT EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM IS REWARDED BY
PROVIDING MORE MONEY TO KEEP AND ATTRACT GOOD TEACHERS.
AND WE MUST ELEVATE THE TEACHING PROFESSION BY RELIEVING OUR
TEACHERS OF MOUNTAINS OF PAPERWORK AND BY PROVIDING A SOUND, SAFE AND
HEALTHY TEACHING ENVIRONMENT.
IN MY TRAVELS THROUGHOUT TEXAS, I'VE YET TO SEE SCHOOL DISTRICTS
WITH HIGH MARKS WHERE PARENTS WERE NOT INVOLVED IN THEIR CHILDREN'S
EDUCATION.
IN FACT, EXCELLENCE WILL TAKE A TOTAL COMMITMENT FROM ALL TEXANS
-- FROM EVERY WALK OF LIFE.
BUT CONFRONTING OUR DIFFICULTIES IN EDUCATION ALSO MEANS
CONFRONTING THE SYSTEM ITSELF -- CHALLENGING THE EXISTING ORDER.
I COMMEND YOU HERE BECAUSE, IN THE PAST, YOU HAVE SPOKEN OUT -- AND
YOU HAVE TAKEN POSITIONS TO SUPPORT REFORMS WHICH WERE NOT POPULAR WITH
OTHER GROUPS.
YOU HAVE ALWAYS HAD ONE GOAL IN MIND -- OUR CHILDREN AND WHAT IS
BEST FOR THEM.
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, REAL REFORM HAS BROUGHT HOWLS OF PROTEST.
THAT'S SIMPLY HUMAN NATURE.
IT'S NEVER EASY TO CHANGE LONG-HELD IDEAS AND INSTITUTIONS.
BUT LARGER INTERESTS -- NAMELY OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE -- DEMAND OUR
ATTENTION AND OUR COMMITMENT.
AS I UNDERSTAND, THE PURPOSE OF THIS CONVENTION IS TO GIVE YOU, AS
EDUCATORS, THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXCHANGE IDEAS AND TO DISCUSS THE LATEST
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION.
2
I HOPE SOME OF YOU ARE AWARE OF A NEW STUDY ISSUED BY THE BROOKINGS
INSTITUTE ENTITLED "POLITICS, MARKETS AND AMERICA'S SCHOOLS." IT'S
THOUGHT-PROVOKING TO SAY THE LEAST.
I CAN'T SAY I ENDORSE ALL THE IDEAS MYSELF. BUT IT DOES REPRESENT A
CAREFUL, OPEN-MINDED LOOK AT THE CURRENT STATE OF EDUCATION, AND DISCARDS
THE TRADITIONAL CLICHES OF BOTH LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES.
JUST AS EASTERN EUROPEANS ARE NOW EXPLORING SYSTEMS OF
GOVERNMENT THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED UNORTHODOX, WE TOO MUST
EXPLORE METHODS OF EDUCATION PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED UNCONVENTIONAL.
PEOPLE WORLDWIDE ARE ABANDONING CENTRALIZED, PLANNED ECONOMIES
WHICH STRANGLE PRODUCTIVITY. IT IS TIME WE ABANDON CENTRALIZED,
BUREAUCRATIC EDUCATION SYSTEMS WHICH STIFLE EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM.
THE REPORT CLAIMS, AS I DO, THAT THE FAILURES OF OUR EXISTING
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ARE CAUSED BY STATE BUREAUCRACIES THAT HAVE LITTLE OR
NO INCENTIVE TO CHANGE OR ADJUST TO MEET NEW CHALLENGES AND NEEDS.
IT STATES, AND I QUOTE:
"THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM FUNCTIONS NATURALLY AND ROUTINELY,
DESPITE EVERYONE'S BEST INTENTIONS, TO BURDEN SCHOOLS WITH EXCESSIVE
BUREAUCRACY, TO DISCOURAGE EFFECTIVE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND TO STIFLE
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT."
"EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS ARE THEREFORE DOOMED UNLESS THEY
ELIMINATE OR SHARPLY CURTAIL THE INFLUENCE OF A CENTRALIZED BUREAUCRACY."
IN OTHER WORDS, REAL EDUCATION REFORM MUST COME FROM THE GRASS
ROOTS UP -- NOT FROM THE BUREAUCRACY DOWN.
THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF THIS APPROACH ARE FIRST, LOCAL CONTROL
AND SECOND, COMPETITION.
SOME OF THE POINTS MADE WORTH THINKING ABOUT INCLUDE:
1) STATES WOULD PROVIDE SCHOOLS WITH TAX-FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS FOR
EVERY ELIGIBLE STUDENT ENROLLED.
DEPENDING ON THE PREFERENCE OF PARENTS AND STUDENTS, STUDENTS
WOULD BE FREE TO ATTEND ANY STATE-ACCREDITED SCHOOL.
2) STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS WOULD VARY WITH THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF
STUDENTS, WITH DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS RECEIVING GREATER ASSISTANCE.
3) SCHOOLS WILL MAKE THEIR OWN ADMISSIONS DECISIONS -- SUBJECT TO
NONDISCRIMINATION LAWS.
3
4) THE APPLICATIONS PROCESS WILL TAKE PLACE WITHIN A FRAMEWORK THAT
GUARANTEES EACH STUDENT A SCHOOL AS WELL AS A FAIR SHOT AT GETTING INTO
THE SCHOOLS THAT THE STUDENTS WANT MOST TO ATTEND.
Now, I'M NOT HERE TODAY TO ENDORSE THIS PLAN LOCK, STOCK AND
BARREL. I AM HERE TODAY, HOWEVER, TO SAY THAT AS AN OUTSIDER -- AND NOT
PART OF THE AUSTIN ESTABLISHMENT -- A WILLIAMS ADMINISTRATION WILL
CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO.
WE MUSTN'T FEAR CHANGE; WE SHOULD FEAR COMPLACENCY.
Now, I HOPE WHAT I'VE SAID TODAY STIMULATES FURTHER DISCUSSION ABOUT
EDUCATION REFORM.
AND I'M SURE SOME OF YOU WILL SAY THAT THIS CLAYTON WILLIAMS FELLOW
HAS SOME NEW AND DIFFERENT IDEAS ON EDUCATION.
THAT'S OKAY -- BECAUSE, UNLIKE SOME OTHERS, I DON'T BELIEVE LEADERSHIP
INVOLVES TELLING EVERY GROUP EVERYTHING IT WANTS TO HEAR.
AS YOUR GOVERNOR, WE WILL WORK AS A TEAM IN OUR EFFORT TO BETTER
EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN TO MEET FUTURE CHALLENGES. AND MY DOOR WILL ALWAYS
BE OPEN.
MAKING PROGRESS WILL NOT BE EASY. I'M REALISTIC ENOUGH TO KNOW
THAT, BUT I'M IDEALISTIC ENOUGH TO TRY.
LOOK AT THE HUMAN STRUGGLE UNFOLDING IN EASTERN EUROPE AS ITS
PEOPLE PURSUE FREEDOM.
WE'VE ENCOURAGED THOSE FLEDGLING DEMOCRACIES TO THROW-OFF THE OLD
GUARD AND TO NOT BE LIMITED BY TRADITIONAL THINKING.
ARE WE UNWILLING TO BE EQUALLY BOLD IN OUR PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE?
4
Clayton Williams
FOR
GOVERNOR
1101 Trinity Street
Suite 100
Austin. Texas 78701
512/477-1994
NEWS FROM: Bill Kenyon
For Immediate Release
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS PROPOSES TWO YEARS FREE TUITION
AUSTIN -- Jan. 18, 1990 -- GOP gubernatorial candidate Clayton
Williams today proposed giving two years tuition, including fees and books,
to any Texas high school student whose family does not make more than
$30,000 a year.
"I want to offer hope to high school students in Texas who don't think
they have the chance for a higher education," Williams said during a
morning press conference. "These kids must have hope or else we will lose
them to drugs and crime or we will end up paying for them through welfare."
"This is the first step of my education plan," Williams added. "I want
to ensure that no student in Texas who is hard working, clean living and
deserving is deprived of the chance to go to college."
To qualify for the program a student would have to maintain an
overall "B" average during high school, maintain a 95 percent attendance
record (other than excused absences), be a good citizen and be willing to
participate in drug tests to prove they are drug free. The students must
maintain a passing grade their first year in college to qualify for the second
year.
Williams estimated that as many as 20,000 Texas students will be
eligible for this program. At approximately $400 per semester for books and
tuition, the program would cost $32 million. Williams said he will pay for
the program with cuts in state governement.
The cuts include limiting the size of internal legal divisions in state
agencies which would save $10 million; reducing the number of district
offices maintained by state agencies which would save $20 million; and
deregulating trucking which would save $9 million.
- 30
Pd. pol. adv. by the Clayton Williams Committee. 112 Colorado. Suite 307. Austin. Texas 78701
A Drop-out Prevention Program
"I want to offer HOPE. "
- Clayton Williams
Requirements
To be eligible for the program students must:
Graduate with an overall "B" average for High School work,
Maintain a 95% attendance record, excepting excused absences,
Demonstrate good citizenship and good behavior,
Must submit to random drug testing to prove they are drug-free, and
Come from a family whose income does not exceed $30,000.
The student must maintain passing grades in his or her college studies to
qualify for the second year of eligibility.
How will the program work?
Each school district would be responsible for determining the eligibility of each
student. When the school district has verified the eligibility of a student, it would
submit an application to the Governor's office. A voucher, along with a letter of
congratulations from the Governor, would be mailed to the student. The student
will be able to redeem the voucher for free tuition at any state-funded institution
of higher learning. The student must be able to meet the entrance requirements
of the institution he or she chooses. / want to create HOPE.
Each student will be responsible for submitting to the Governor's office certified
proof eligibility. of his or her college grade point average to obtain the second year of
Which colleges and universities are included?
All state-funded institutions of higher learning would be required to participate
in the program, including 24 public four-year institutions, 2 lower-division
centers, 49 community colleges, TSTI, and the special college for the deaf.
How much will it cost to offer HOPE?
Each year approximately 200,000 youths graduate from all Texas high schools,
both public and private. We estimate that 10% of these graduates would be
eligible for this program. Average tuition, fees and costs of books for a 15 hour
course load is in the area of $400 per semester for all state institutions. That
places the estimated cost of our program at $32,500,000 annually, including
$500,000 to administer the program.
Paying for the Williams program to offer HOPE to Drop-outs?
1. Limit size of internal legal divisions in state agencies.
$10,000,000
Several state agencies have their own legal divisions. If these agencies need legal
advice and litigation help. they should use one of the 1,500 employees of the Attorney
General's office.
2. Reduce the number of district offices maintained by state
$20,000,000
agencies.
The state has over-expanded its district offices and many others cannot be justified.
Shut the unneeded offices and consolidate the others.
3. Deregulate Trucking
$9,000,000
The Railroad Commission tightly regulates who can haul goods on Texas roads. They
tell truckers what they can haul, where they can haul it and what price they can charge.
An overwhelming number of chambers of commerce believe deregulation would benefit
both consumers and businesses. It would also save taxpayers money.
Total
$39,000,000
Cuts documented in the report published by the National Center for Policy Analysis in 1989
titled "How Much Government Does Texas Need?," by Morgan Reynolds.
Clayton, Williams
FOR GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin. Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
MONDAY, MAY 21, 1990
512/477-1994
WILLIAMS URGES TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
TO CONTINUE FIGHT FOR V-22 OSPREY
-- CITES JOBS FOR TEXAS -
Austin, Tx. Saying that "Texans have a fight on their hands." GOP gubernatorial
candidare Clayton Williams sent letters to the entire Texas congressional delegation urging
its continued lobbying efforts on behalf of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft project.
Funding for the V-22, manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Arlington. is still
pending before Congress.
Said Williams in his letter to the 27 Texas House members and Senators Gramm
and Bentsen: "The Osprey's future is uncertain and I'm writing you to respectfully ask that
you continue your efforts on behalf of the Osprey and on behalf of Texas. Funding of this
project will creare high-tech, high paying jobs in Texas that will bolster and diversify the
employment base of our state.
"Aside from what this will mean to our state, production of this aircraft will help
maintain our nation's leadership in aviation technology, improve our drug enforcement and
anti-terrorist operations, and improve our responses to natural and other emergencies."
Williams warned that Japan or Germany will develop technology for a similar
aircraft if the United States fails to do so, "thereby forcing us to pay money for technology
we had ar our own fingertips."
"I reject that," continued Williams, "We need this technology in the United States;
we need it in Texas."
The GOP candidare also noted that, "when all costs are considered over the life of
this program. the V-22 will cost some $14 billion less than the alternative mix of CH-60
and CH-53 helicopters.. Funding the V-22 Osprey makes sound business sense."
Letters to the Texas congressional delegation were faxed to their Washington
offices on Monday.
#####
P.1. Pol. Adv. I'd. for by the Claston Williams 11st Governor Committee. PO Box 1191. Austin. T-xas TATAL 191
Clayton Williams
FOR GOVERNOR
P.O. Box 1491
Austin. Texas 78767-1491
512/477-1994
May 21, 1990
Dear X:
As you are well aware, Texans have a fight on their hands -- a fight to win
support for a program that could create more than 25,000 jobs in Texas.
The battle is for the V-22 Osprey, the revolutionary tilt-rotor aircraft project
being manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Arlington, Tx.
The Osprey's future is uncertain and I'm writing you to respectfully ask
that you continue your efforts on behalf of the Osprey and on behalf of Texas.
Funding of this project will create high-tech, high-paying jobs in Texas that will
bolster and diversify the employment base of our state.
The V-22 is the most versatile tactical transport aircraft ever built. Aside
from what this will mean for our state, production of this aircraft will help
maintain our nation's leadership in aviation technology, improve our drug-
enforcement and anti-terrorist operations and improve our responses to natural
and other emergencies.
And think about this: If we don't develop this aircraft, Japan or Germany
will, thereby forcing us to pay money for technology we had at our own
fingertips. I reject that. We need this technology in the United States; we need
it in Texas.
As you may also know, when all costs are considered over the life of this
program, the V-22 will cost some $14 billion less than the alternative mix of CH-
60 and CH-53 helicopters. And compared to the helicopters it is designed to
replace, the V-22 will carry the same payload twice as fast over twice the
distance at half the cost and it will be more reliable, maintainable and
survivable doing so. Funding the V-22 Osprey makes sound business sense.
In closing, I thank you for your time and I appreciate your continued
support of this project.
Sincerely,
CIP Willn
Clayton W. Williams Jr.
Pd. P.O. Adv. I'd. for hv the Clarton Williams The Governor Committee. P.O. Box 1191. Austin. Texas
Clayton Williams
FOR
GOVERNOR
1101 Trinity Street
Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78701
512/477-1994 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: WILLIAMS PRESS OFFICE
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1990
(512) 477-1994
WILLIAMS SEEKS OSPREY FUNDING IN EFFORT TO CREATE TEXAS JOBS
- SAYS BETTER POSITIONED THAN RICHARDS TO BRING FEDERAL AID TO TEXAS -
Arlington, Tx -- Following a tour of the Bell Helicopter
research center and a demonstration of the V-22 Osprey, Texas GOP
gubernatorial nominee Clayton Williams said Federal funding for the
aircraft could create more than 26,000 jobs for Texas residents.
Said Williams: "What's at stake here is jobs: Texas jobs for
Texas workers to benefit Texas families. High technology jobs that
will serve to bolster and diversify the employment base of the
state."
The Bell Helicopter V-22 Osprey, the first aircraft ever
designed according to specifications stipulated by all four branches
of the U.S. Armed Forces, has a wide variety of military and civilian
applications, including use in drug interdiction efforts.
Congressional approval of the V-22 Osprey is pending.
"I want the people of Texas -- and the people here in Tarrant
County, where thousands of jobs will be created -- to know that
Clayton Williams is going to fight for this program," Williams said.
"Texas needs the Osprey."
Williams also noted that, "One of the major issues in this
election will be who -- Clayton Williams or Ann Richards -- is
better positioned to help bring federal funds to Texas for projects
such as the Osprey?
"I want to put this before the people of Texas: When we need
help from the Oval Office and the Administration, whose call will be
better received? Clayton Williams' call, or a call from the
individual who said the President of the United States of America
was "born with a silver foot in his mouth"?
#####
Pd. 20L JOV. by the Clarton Williams Committee. 1122 Colorado. Suite 307. Austin Texas 78701
Williams will meet
with Mexican officials
Last week, Democratic guberna-
Going to Mexico
torial hopeful Ann Richards attract-
ed a crowd of 314 people for her
to talk economics
speech to the same group.
Williams carefully avoided dem-
onstrators marching in front of the
hotel. He entered and left the
building via a side door.
BY MICHAEL CINELLI
The protesters, members of
OF THE HOUSTON POST STAFF
WAVE - Women Against Vio-
lence Everywhere - marched
Texas Republican gubernatorial
candidate Clayton Williams will
along Louisiana Street carrying
poster boards attacking Williams
meet next week with Mexican
joke three months ago comparing
government officials and business
rape to bad weather.
leaders during an economic "fact-
finding trip" to Mexico City.
Williams, addressing a Greater
"
Houston Partnership luncheon
This is more a
Wednesday, said the trip to Mexico
is aimed at exploring expanded
fact-finding trip than a
international markets for Texas
trip of achievement.
products to fuel future economic
growth.
- Clayton Williams
"We'll visit with the Mexican
secretary of commerce and secre-
Cara Debusk, organizer of the
tary of interior, and members of
protest, said Williams' statement
their Chamber of Commerce,"
"is demeaning to women and we
Williams told reporters after the
don't want people to vote for him."
lunch. "This is more a fact-finding
About 25 WAVE members with-
trip than a trip of achievement."
stood the noontime heat and the
The trip has been arranged and
will be paid for by the Williams
jeers and cheers of passing motor-
ists for more than an hour and a
campaign, he said.
half.
Accompanying the Midland mil-
lionaire to Mexico City will be rep--
Inside, Williams' campaign staff
resentatives of the Houston His-
passed out recent articles detailing
panic Chamber of Commerce and
the candidate's support of stricter
several Mexican-American busi-
laws on violence against women.
ness leaders.
Williams spent the bulk of his
Asked if this trip falls under the
time at the microphone talking
responsibilities of a governor, not a
about econmic development.
candidate for office, Williams sim-
He listed a number of initiatives
ply said, "It's what a candidate is
he would take if elected, including
going to do."
completing a free trade agreement
About 425 members and guests
with Mexico, expanding direct air
of the Partnership attending the
routes between Houston and inter-
luncheon at the downtown Hyatt
national markets and overhauling
Regency listened to Williams talk
the state's workers' compensation
about his economic proposais.
system.
Williams backs
expansion of
Mexico trade
By STUART ESKENAZI
SA.Light
Staff reporter
Clayton Williams said Tuesday that Mexico is fer-
tile ground for Texas exports and that one of his goals
if elected governor would be to complete the U.S.-
Mexico free trade agreement.
Doing so would instill vitality into the San Antonio
economy, which is likely to suffer setbacks from re-
duced military spending, said the Republican
nominee.
"We have to make the peace dividend work for us,
not against us
said Williams. speaking to a con-
vention of independent oil and gas producers. "I be-
lieve the future is bright for the Mexican economy."
Williams addressed the Texas Independent Pro-
ducers and Royalty Owners Association one day after
his opponent, Ann Richards, chided his position on
government financing for energy research and devel-
opment. Richards is in favor of the state paying for
research to enhance oil production, while Williams
believes such research is best left to private industry.
"What in the world could he have been thinking
of?" Richards said Monday. "When you get to see
him. you really need to nail him on that issue."
On Tuesday, Williams said that his 33 years in the
oil fields have taught him at least one thing: "I never
felt government was my friend, with the exception of
the Railroad Commission."
All oil and gas producers need to ask of government
is to be treated fairly, "then get out of the way and let
us get to work," he said. "I'm a great believer in the
private sector and its efficiency."
Williams used his speech to unveil three other eco-
nomic goals for the 1990s. They are:
Continued economic growth without tax increases.
Finding new markets for existing American
products.
Expanding the scope of state of Texas offices in for-
eign countries.
State offices already exist in Mexico City. Tokyo
and Taiwan, and offices in Korea and Germany are in
the process of being opened. Williams mentioned ex-
pansion into countries like Brazil and Czechoslovakia.
"What I want to do, quite frankly, is become an in-
ternational advocate for Texas, for its businesses and
for its products," Williams said.
I. DALLAS
Event:
Fundraising luncheon for Clayton Williams.
Location:
Hyatt Regency
Date:
Monday, October 15, 1990
Time:
12:00 P.M.
Contacts:
Beverly Kishpaugh: 512-477-1994
Notes:
-see enclosed VIP list
-1,500 people expected: $1,000/ person, $10,000
-Texas A & M band will play, along with A & M
Singing Cadets: A & M is C.W. alma mater
-dinner theme: "a new vision for Texas"
-biggest CW issues: crime/drugs, education
(vouchers, local control, fewer mandates)
-Hyatt is across from Reunion Arena (I wasn't able
to check the schedule there)
-the Hyatt is where the Cotton Bowl committee
deliberates
-the annual Texas-Oklahoma game will have taken
place the previous saturday
-one of the most well known restaurants in Dallas
is the Spaghetti Warehouse and is nearby
-POTUS will also be doing a brief mix & mingle for
Bob Mosbacher Jr. (running for Lt. Gov.) in an
adjacent room of hotel. RM will attend Williams
luncheon.
-CW is from western Tx. (Midland)
-CW will introduce POTUS, but check on this: there
was some discussion of a Gramm intro.
-remarks 12-15
-teleprompter recommended
TENNESSEE/TEXAS
TEXAS
1149
1148
whose "hot oil" act forbade the sale of interstate oil at prices below that determined by
Key Votes
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
-
9) SDI Research
production levels set by the Texas Railroad Commission. Texas's most influential money man at
1) Homeless $
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
the time, Jesse Jones, was not an oil man at all, but a Houston cotton broker and newspaper
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
7) Handgun Sales
publisher who was Franklin Roosevelt's Secretary of Commerce and who, as head of the
FOR
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, controlled a pool of government capital that was one of the
nation's major sources of financing for business in the 1930s and war industries in the 1940s.
Election Results
Texas's economic power was based on politics; and political power, in turn, was closely held in a
Harold E. Ford (D)
126,280
(82%)
($364,330)
system with only one functioning political party, with primaries closed to blacks, with voter
1988 general
Isaac Richmond (I)
28,522
(18%)
turnout held down by a poll tax, and with local bankers, courthouse lawyers and big landowners
1988 primary
Harold E. Ford (D)
35,589
(80%)
who held sway through informal influence and, in some counties, ballot-box stuffing.
Mark Flanagan (D)
8,720
(20%)
More than 50 years separate this Texas from the overly air-conditioned Texas of today, with
Harold E. Ford (D)
83,006
(83%)
($320.227)
1986 general
its glittering gallerias and its smooth sophistication. This empire state of nearly 17 million still
Isaac Richmond (R)
16,221
(16%)
depends on oil and gas-which gave it a roller coaster economy in the 1980s-and is not averse
to accepting government largesse, like the huge defense contracts of the Dallas-Fort Worth
metroplex and the super collider to be built at its south edge. But this Texas also has an economy
that generates, rather than begs for capital, and a private sector that is technologically and
TEXAS
economically innovative, rather than slavishly envious of others back east. The state has a
vigorous two-party system which has more in common with the rest of the nation than the one-
party system of pre-air-conditioned Texas; and if its dependence on the clout of its politicians is
far less than it once was, it has succeeded in producing a set of officeholders at least as talented
On the inaugural platform in front of the Capitol in the cold sunlight of January 1989 was B
and enterprising as those from any other state.
scene that would have been unthinkable 50 years before: a Texan was about to be sworn in 25
Yet for all its successes, economic and political, Texas still sometimes seems to be tottering on
President of the United States and standing in his inaugural party were Texans who had been
the edge of disaster. The collapse of oil prices in the early 1980s not only hurt the oil and gas
nominated to be Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense, a concentration of power in
business but, because it resulted in an implosion of real estate values, has resulted in a crash of
politicians who were all from a state unheard of even in the early 1800s in the days of the House
the high-flying Texas savings and loan business-one that may end up costing federal taxpayers
of Virginia. Standing also on that platform were important Texans in Congress: the Speaker of
billions of dollars. And for all the victories of Texas politicians, their hold on power is not utterly
the House, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and three House committee
secure. John Tower, who in that golden moment in January 1989 expected to be Defense
Secretary, was denied confirmation two months later by the same Senate of which he had been a
chairmen. To the Americans of half a century ago, powerful congressional Democrats were a familiar
member for 23 years. And Speaker Jim Wright, for all his large Democratic House majority was
sight: Sam Rayburn was about to begin his long tenure as Speaker, and Texans had recently CO
soon spending all his time fighting the Ethics Committee's charges that he violated House
would soon chair Foreign Relations and Armed Services in the Senate and Appropriations.
rules-and finally in June 1989 had to resign as speaker and leave the House. For all of Texas's
Judiciary and Agriculture in the House. But in the America on the brink of World War II in
advances, it still sits on the only land border between the First and Third Worlds, and its income
seemed quite unlikely that a politician from Texas could be elected President-no candidate
levels, despite all the millionaires and the growth during the years of high oil prices, topped out
from a Confederate state had been elected to the presidency since before the Civil War-and in
11 the national average and then fell back in the 1980s. Texans do not need to be reminded of the
was utterly unthinkable that a Republican from Texas could be elected to anything or
possibility of defeat; it is an integral part of their history: the Alamo was not a victory, the
implausible that Texans would be entrusted with high executive offices with control over foreign
Republic did not last, the Confederacy was extinguished, and Texas's only President before
George Bush, Lyndon Johnson, left office a defeated and bitter man.
and military policy.
- But the sun-parched, wind-blown, dirt-poor Texas of 1940 in which Lyndon Johnson was 1
But just as integral a part of Texas history is the confidence that defeats are never final, and
young scrambling politician was very different from the air-conditioned, sleek. stylish Texas of
that it is always worth making a fight. The Alamo is remembered as the beginning of a war that
1988 which chose between a ticket headed by incumbent Vice President George Bush and one
resulted in victory, Johnson's defeat did not prevent other Democrats of similar politics-Lloyd
that included incumbent Senator Lloyd Bentsen. In the days before air-conditioning. there were
Bentsen and Jim Wright-from rising, even as Texas trended Republican in most elections, and
some six million Texans, with incomes well below the national average, three-quarters of them
George Bush carried Texas three times on national tickets after having lost the state twice in
living outside the metropolitan orbit of the state's medium-sized cities, most of them still post
nces for the U.S. Senate.
dirt farmers.
The bridge between the Texas to which George Bush moved as a young man in 1948 and the
Texas had a proud history, remembering always the Alamo and its nine years as 17
Texas which gave him a solid majority for President in 1988 is what Texans still call the "awl
independent Republic, assertive still in its commemoration of Confederate veterans (mention of
todness". For oil is not just a windfall: finding it and getting it out of the ground is high-skill
whom could still bring a tear to Sam Rayburn's usually piercing eyes), resentful of the Will
work. Oil made instant millionaires out of some lucky Texas farmers, but more importantly, it
Street bankers and financiers who, it believed, kept Texas as a colonial economy. To be SUTE.
created a business which rewarded sophistication and placed a premium on knowledge. The men
Texas was a major oil-producing state beginning with the Spindletop well of 1901; but oil prices
see over scotch and steaks at the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth or Tyler or Midland may
had plummeted in the 1930s and were propped up only by the efforts of Democratic politicians.
at look sophisticated to habitues of Ivy League faculty clubs, but beneath their bravado are
11
1150
TEXAS
TEXAS
1151
hapless Republicans. But in 1978, a more liberal Democrat won the gubernatorial primary and
TEXAS - Congressional Districts, Countles, and Selected Places - (27 Districts)
then lost the general election by a hair to Republican Bill Clements, while John Tower was
108*
107*
2 106" 3
4 105' 5
6 104*
a
103*
10
102*
11
12
101"
13
14 100'15
16
99"
17
18
98"
10
20
97*
21
22
96*
23
24
95"
25
26
94*
27
28
23'
29
30
N°
,
B
getting reelected over the winner of a turbulent Democratic contest by a similarly thin margin.
36*
c
LEGEND
Just as oil prices were about to peak, Texas had developed a genuine two-party politics.
2
Congressional district number
/
...
COUNTY
The years since have been something of a roller coaster for Texas's economy-and for its
D
Congressional district boundery
35'
Place of 100,000 or more inhabitants
politicians. Clements was beaten by Democrat Mark White in 1982, a year when Lloyd Bentsen,
E
Place of 50.000 to 100.000 Inhabitants
Place of 25,000 to 50.000 inhabitants
13
up for reelection, organized a Democratic registration and turnout drive that, together with the
F
Largest place in congressional district
-
without place of at least 25,000 inhabitants
-
downturn in the economy, helped to produce an across-the-board statewide victory for the ticket,
34°
State capital undertined
G
including liberals like Attorney General Jim Mattox and Treasurer Ann Richards. Then, in
19
-
H
Note.
Places of less than 100,000 inhabitants are
26
1984, Ronald Reagan swept the state overwhelmingly, and party-switcher and free market
notshown in Dellas and Tarrent counties
33"
-
1
-
1
aficionado Phil Gramm beat, by nearly as much, the liberal the Democrats nominated for the
12
-
-
-
17
-
Senate. In 1986, Clements came back and beat White, but Republican Judge Roy Barrera Jr.,
J
24
32"
unaccountably underfinanced, failed to win the attorney general job. In 1988, Michael
K
-
COMB
-
-
-
Dukakis's choice of Lloyd Bentsen helped to make Texas closer in the presidential race, but it
L
16
-
=
6
still remained out of reach: Bush-Quayle beat Dukakis-Bentsen 56%-43%. Bentsen was
31"
M
21
reelected to the Senate easily against weak opposition (Democrats in 1984 passed a law saying
-
N
that if a nominee resigned his nomination, the slot went unfilled; hence Bentsen had to run for
30°
10
Senate or his party would have forfeited the seat), but Republican Kent Hance won a statewide
O
18
-
P.
14
race for railroad commissioner-the first time a Republican has won a down-the-ballot race-by
20
29"
a 55%-45% margin that looks something like a straight ticket victory.
-
Q
23
In these seemingly contradictory or at least fluctuating results, you can see Texas torn
A
n
between faith in the free market and a desire for government safety nets, between the traditional
26*
15
S
culture of the rural South and the self-consciously modern culture of the rapidly growing cities,
T
between Texas's traditional image of ethnic uniformity and suspicion of outsiders and its
27"
SCALE
27
increasingly heterogeneous population and its natural friendliness. Some of the contradictions
U
0
60
100
150
200
Kilometers
may be resolved in 1990, when Gramm comes up for reelection and when, with Clements's
50
100
150
200 Miles
N
V
retirement, the governorship will be up for grabs.
26*
W
In Texas's growing cities-in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, in greater Houston, in San
X
U.S. Department of Commerce
-
107*
2 106* 3
4
105"
5
8
104*
,
6
103*
9
10 102" 11
12
101*
13
14 100* 15
16
99°
17
18
98"
19
20
97"
21
22
96°
23
24
95°
X
%
Antonio and the once tiny capital, Austin, now spreading out into the hill country-politics tends
Congressional districts established June 19, 1963; all other boundaries are as of January 1. 1960.
to divide people along income lines. The divisions can be stark: you can drive just a few minutes
on the freeway from the west side of Houston or north Dallas, where house sales of $750,000 are
routine, and find neighborhoods of tiny, drafty frame houses which are little better than tarpaper
plenty of brains. By the 1970s, Texas was not so much the place where oil was found as the place
shacks. Texas, for all its millionaires, has a substantial low-wage economy and, as the largest
where you found people who could find, drill, store and refine oil and natural gas. These skills led
state with a right-to-work law, almost no union members; most of its blacks (12% of the
Texas naturally into technology. And starting in the 1960s, Texas was building the critical mass
population) and Hispanics (21%) are part of this low-wage economy, as are many whites of rural
of knowledge and financing to produce firms like Texas Instruments and H. Ross Perot's EDS
origin. All tend to vote Democratic, but they are not a homogeneous proletariat, and are seldom
At the same time, the University of Texas and, as time went on, Texas A&M-both helped by
found together: there are few Mexicans in Dallas and almost no blacks in San Antonio or west of
the huge income from their oil lands-were providing a superb university infrastructure to 80
Fort Worth. Hispanics are sliding away from the Democrats in some elections, while blacks cast
with the highway system that this huge state built to tie itself together.
almost no Republican votes at all. The affluent neighborhoods, by contrast, are politically
The benefits of a developing economy are never evenly distributed, and much of the tension in
bomogeneous, as heavily Republican as any in the United States. There is no apology or guilt
Texas politics comes from the wide disparities in wealth and the vast cultural variety in this huge
about wealth; people here, like the rich in developing countries, do not feel defensive because
state. Conservative Democrats led rebellions against their national ticket as early as 1944. and
others are still poor; they have grown up in a society in which most people are poor, and they
Texas voted Republican as Governor Allan Shivers endorsed Dwight Eisenhower in 1952
realize that not everyone can get rich all at once.
Republican professor John Tower surprised everyone when he got 41% against Lyndon Johnson
All this leaves the metropolitan areas more divided than tradition would have it. The biggest
in the 1960 Senate race (when Johnson was also on the Democratic ticket as Vice President). and
cities have mayors who are Democrats and women: Houston's Kathy Whitmire, Dallas's
even more when he won the 1961 special election to take Johnson's place (some liberals voted for
Annette Strauss, San Antonio's Lila Cockrell and in 1989 El Paso's Suzie Azar. Dallas is well
Tower because his opponent was a conservative Democrat and they thought he'd be easier to gen
known as one of America's most Republican cities, and Fort Worth has been trending
rid of). But Tory Democrats remained Texas's most successful politicians through the 1960s and
Republican too; yet in the closest recent major race, the 1986 governor's contest, Bill Clements
1970s, winning Democratic primaries (there is no party registration, so conservatives can vote in
carried the Metroplex by the solid but not overwhelming margin of 56%-42%. Greater Houston,
the Democratic primary and then for Republicans in November) and then overwhelming
always a little more Democratic, voted 51%-48% for Mark White, as did the combined San
I,
r
1152
TEXAS
TEXAS
1153
Antonio-Austin areas (50%-48%). The heavily Mexican-American Border counties were a shade
Texas, at times when unemployment in much of the state was rising. The Oil Patch in the 1980s
less Democratic than usual, 59%-40%.
seems to have developed political reflexes the opposite of those the industrial belt developed in
The balance politically is in the rest of Texas, the smaller counties away from the Border
the 1930s. In those days, industrial voters supported theory-minded Democrats to stimulate the
where, after decades of metropolitan growth, more than one-third of the state's votes are still
economy in hard times, but otherwise were pleased to let experienced and practical-minded
cast. Parts of this nonmetropolitan Texas are still exporting young people to the cities: around
Republicans deal with the nuts and bolts of everyday government. In Texas in the 1980s, the
Lubbock, where the aquifers are giving out and irrigated cotton fields are going back to desert.
voters have tended to call the Republicans in to deal with a weak economy; they see the free
in the wheat-growing country of the High Plains, and in cattle-ranching counties in the west.
market, not government intervention, as more likely to produce economic growth. In other times,
people are still moving out. But in central, east, and south Texas there has been growth through
or when they are looking for practical men of action to run the everyday business of government,
most of the 1980s, some seeping out of the big metropolitan areas, some as factories are built and
they may still indulge their historic preference and call in the Democrats. These tendencies were
jobs created off freeway interchanges in piney woods or cotton fields. And just as Texas has not.
apparent in the metropolitan half of the state by the 1970s and in the 1980s in rural Texas.
as many easterners predicted, moved to the heavy-industry-big-unions economy of the Great
The bulwark of the Texas Democrats now is Lloyd Bentsen. As Senate Finance chairman, he
Lakes (the movement has been the other way around), so the small town values and cultural
is a national power who is in a marvelous position to do things for the state. As a Texas politician,
conservatism of the countryside has not withered away any more than the towns have died. Some
he is the leader of his own organization with workers on the ground in all 254 counties and
things have changed: county option liquor by the drink came in 1970, divorce has grown more
topnotch organizers in all the big and medium-sized counties. Bentsen's career, since his first
common. But there is still a vivid contrast between the big metropolitan areas, where the
election to the Congress in 1948 and his defeat of George Bush in the 1970 Senate race, has been
percentage of women working out of the home is among the highest in the country, and the
based on his ties with two different segments of the electorate: Hispanics who are the majority in
smaller counties, where it is among the lowest.
his home area in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and rural whites who provided key votes for him
Rural Texas, though decreasing as a percentage of the state, remains politically pivotal. A
in 1970 and have stayed with him in every election since, despite their trend otherwise to the
Democrat cannot carry Texas without carrying rural Texas. Mark White got 55% in rural Texas
Republicans. Bentsen has made it his business to strengthen the state's Democratic Party,
in 1982 and-won, and got 41% in 1986 and lost-even though his percentage declined only 3% in
especially when he is running, and the fact is that the Democrats' only robust statewide victories
the metropolitan and Border areas. Lloyd Bentsen got 59% in rural counties in 1982 and 58% in
in the last 12 years have been in 1982 and 1988, when he was on the ballot. He has responded
1988, on his way to 59% statewide victories. In presidential contests, Jimmy Carter carried
sharply to Republicans' appeals to his two key groups of the electorate. He has cultivated
Texas in 1976 when he won the rural counties with 53% and lost it in 1980 when he won 42%
Hispanic voters, and the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket-the first American presidential ticket with
there. In 1984, Walter Mondale, having conspicuously rejected Lloyd Bentsen for Geraldine
both members fluent in Spanish-carried solid margins on the Border and in Hispanic
Ferraro, got only 34% in rural Texas; in 1988, Michael Dukakis, having even more conspicuously
neighborhoods in San Antonio and Houston. And when Phil Gramm engineered a vacancy in the
embraced Bentsen, got 42% in the rural counties-as much as Carter-but still lost the state.
1st District and ran a former Texas A&M quarterback for the seat in 1985, Bentsen quietly and
All of which may sound like arcana, except for one little fact: no Democrat since James K. Polk
behind the scenes set about raising money for the eventual Democratic nominee and bringing
has been elected President without carrying Texas. Unless Democrats can win electoral votes on
forward into public view the trade issue which became the deciding factor in the Democrat's
the Pacific Coast or in the Great Plains, which have not been reliably theirs in the past. rural
51%-49% victory.
Texas remains the key to winning the presidency. James Farley and William Randolph Hearst.
Even as Texans like Bush, Bentsen, and Baker wield great authority in Washington, the
who brokered the Roosevelt-Garner ticket in 1932, and Joseph Kennedy and Washington Post
underpinnings of power of their political allies in Texas are not entirely firm, and Texans on all
publisher Philip Graham, who cobbled together the Kennedy-Johnson ticket in 1960. under-
sides are uneasily aware that the economic and political roller coaster rides of the 1980s may not
stood that; so too perhaps did Michael Dukakis, except that by 1988 it was not enough to put 2
yet be over.
Governor. For most of the past dozen years Bill Clements has been governor of Texas. Yet the
Texan in second place.
Republicans have made slogging progress at making Texas bipartisan at other levels. In 1984.
legacy he leaves behind is not what you would have predicted when he came to office in 1978-
even as rural Texas was voting more Republican than the state as a whole, Republicans were
and indeed its most distinctive features are more the product of the one-term hiatus of Mark
electing countywide officials in Tarrant and Bexar Counties (Fort Worth and San Antonio): in
White's governorship than of the two terms Clements has been in office. Clements is a gruff,
1988, they elected Hance and three Supreme Court justices (in races that were really contests
tactless man with the angry streak apparent for years in many Dallas Republicans; he had to
between trial lawyers and insurance companies; the court now has three Republicans. four pro-
leave college to support his family when his father went broke in the 1930s, and in the half a
plaintiff Democrats and two swing Democrats). Another index of Republican strength is the
century since he has made hundreds of millions building an offshore drilling service company.
increasing number of Texans who choose, in a state without party registration, to vote in its
Clements wanted to keep taxes and spending down, he wanted to appoint procedural reformers
primary. In 1978, when Clements first ran, 1.8 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary
rather than political hacks to high state jobs and judgeships, and he has had some success on
and only 158,000 in the Republican contest. In 1982, some 1.3 million Democratic votes were
both counts. But as oil prices plummeted and the high-tech economy boomed, it became
cast and 265,000 Republican. In 1986, the Democratic vote was down to 1.1 million and the
apparent that Texas needed to do more to provide a high-skill work force and high-tech
Republican vote up to 544,000. In the 1988 presidential primary, Democratic turnout was 1 i
infrastructure in the 1980s and 1990s, just as it had had to provide roads, geological engineering
million and Republican turnout one million: George Bush won more votes than the total even
education and tight regulation of production and prices to enable the oil business to grow in the
cast in a Republican primary before. The Republican primary electorate is still tilted and the
1940s and 1950s.
affluent, but it is much broader and more diverse than it used to be; the Democratic turnout is
To those problems, the solution offered by Ross Perot, appointed by White to head a
becoming more heavily Hispanic and black in the metropolitan areas and sparser in rural Texas
commission, was an education reform plan which included a no-pass-no-play rule, requiring high
Yet this trend toward the Republicans occurred in a decade of economic turmoil in much of
school students to make passing grades in all their courses before they could play football and
1154
TEXAS
TEXAS
1155
other sports. In a state where towns charter 727s to fly fans to see state playoff football games.
two pages of the speech text which Texas Republican he was nominating) and Bentsen was
this was audacious stuff, but White stuck by it and-while saying little in the 1986 campaign-
chosen for Vice President by Dukakis. These are tough politicians, betting big stakes and playing
so did Clements. What Clements also had to do, once he took office again, was to raise taxes
for keeps.
substantially. That, plus revelations that, as chairman of the SMU board of trustees, he
Lloyd Bentsen is one of two or three American politicians who is plainly of presidential
approved payments to football players, left him with low job ratings in most of 1987 and 1988.
stature. In breadth of experience, in depth of knowledge, in traits of character-a steely self-
and seemingly weakened enough to prevent his exerting much influence on the choice of his
discipline and the capacity to rebound after setbacks-he is far and away the superior of most of
successor. Yet he was successful in the affecting the outcome of the railroad commissioner race
the candidates who ran for the office in 1984 and 1988 and of some who have held it in the past.
and several of the Supreme Court races.
The conventional wisdom in Washington has long been that he is a dull politician. Certainly he is
In early 1989, two Democrats seemed to be running for governor, while the Republican field
not a spellbinder, but he is operating in an era when voters are not looking for oratory; and he is
was unclear. State Treasurer Ann Richards, famed nationally and in Texas for her ripping
anything but self-revealing in the manner of the Hollywood starlets or minor politicos who
keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, was eager to run; she is in many
babble on about how they have finally gotten in touch with themselves. But on the campaign
ways an attractive candidate, though her jibes against Bush did not sound as convincing as he
trail in 1988 he came up with the single best one-line response any Democrat has had to the
was inaugurated in January 1989 as they had in Atlanta in July 1988, and her hard-line criticism
Republican claim to have produced a strong economy ("If you let me write $200 billion dollars
of Ronald Reagan goes against the grain in a state that gave him 64% of its votes. The other
worth of hot checks every year, I'd give you an illusion of prosperity too" and he delivered the
Democrat is Attorney General Jim Mattox; he starts off better financed, but he showed
single most devastating putdown (of vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle) of the entire 1987-
weakness at the polls in 1986, he is identified as at least as liberal as Richards and, although he
88 campaign ("Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy"). He emerged in some polls the strongest of
was acquitted in a criminal trial many retain doubts about his integrity.
the four men on the two national tickets, and there are many who think that if the Democrats
Among Republicans, the best known name to be making the rounds in early 1989 was George
had had the wisdom to nominate their ticket in alphabetical order it would have won.
W. Bush, the son of the President, often (and inaccurately) referred to as Junior; of all the Bush
Bentsen lacks the spontaneous charm that political reporters like in their politicians, and his
children he is the one who did most of his growing up in west Texas and has the strongest Texas
careful preparation and calm discipline for every political task he takes on is difficult to
accent. He is an oil man from Midland who ran for Congress in 1978 and lost to Kent Hance: his
dramatize or simply to appreciate. Yet he comes from a background that can only be called
efforts in his father's 1988 campaign were more successful. Another possibility is Kent Hance
romantic and has shown aggressiveness to the point of daring in his career. His father-who was
himself, who won only 20% against Clements in the 1986 primary but was appointed by him to
on the podium when his son was nominated in Atlanta and died in a car crash in 1989 at age 95-
the Railroad Commission and then won that office with 55% in 1988. Hance was once a
moved from the Dakotas to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in 1921 with five dollars in his pocket
Democrat and, as a Boll Weevil, was'a lead sponsor of the 1981 Reagan tax cut package, and in
and became one of the great Texas landowners. Back in those days, the border was not patrolled,
1984 won 49% in the runoff for Senate. Absent from the field by their own decisions are two men
most of the people spoke Spanish, and business was done with people who toted guns. Bentsen
who might have made stronger candidates than any of those running: Lieutenant Governor Bill
grew up in a bungalow on a dirt road, speaking Spanish as fluently as English; he went off to war,
Hobby, a moderate Democrat with nearly 20 years' experience running the state senate, and
came back and was elected to Congress in 1948 at age 27. After six years, he left to start an
Democratic former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, Hispanic and intellectual, a graduate
insurance business in Houston and make his millions; then in 1970 he ran for the Senate. In the
of Harvard and Texas A&M, a reformer and an ethnic hero, who in 1987 said he was leaving
primary, against liberal incumbent Ralph Yarborough, he raised Tory Democratic money and
politics because of his infant son's illness and in 1988 revealed that he had a long-standing affair
ran ads featuring footage of the riots outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in
with a rich Anglo San Antonio woman.
1968; in the general election he ran with labor and black endorsements and many white rural
The Texas governorship race will be watched in media markets far beyond Austin because of
votes and beat a Houston congressman named George Bush.
redistricting. Texas stands to gain three or four House seats after the 1990 Census-the exact
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he is one of the most powerful Democrats in
number depends on the count-and how the district lines are drawn can determine which party
Washington, and beautifully placed to help Texas's oil industry. He already has, in the 1986 tax
holds not only those seats but some others as well. If the Republicans hold the governorship in
reform battle. As the leader of the oil state bloc on Finance, he insisted on retaining the
1990 and continue to hold enough state legislative seats to keep the Democrats from overriding 3
intangible drilling allowance and other favorable tax treatments in the bill as his price for
veto (when Clements was first elected Democrats had a 130-20 edge in the House-for the 1989
supporting chairman Bob Packwood's reform package; Packwood and reform author Bill
session it was 91-59), Republicans will have at least a say in the bargaining. But a Democratic
Bradley had to go along. But Bentsen also has broader-gauged interests. In his first 18 months as
governor able to amass a majority in the legislature can redraw the lines pretty much at will. So
Finance chairman, he steered to passage the 1988 trade legislation, the catastrophic health care
not only the governor's office, but three or four U.S. House seats may be at stake in the 1990
bill, and two tax bills-detailed, difficult legislation, plus the Democrats' plant closing bill as
gubernatorial race.
well. It was this record of superb legislating which evidently influenced Michael Dukakis more
Senators. Texas has two of the most powerful and effective Senators in Washington. But they
than anything else in his choice of Bentsen, and it has also commended him to members of both
are powerful and effective in entirely different ways and are certainly not friends; in fact Phil
bouses and both parties. Cool and businesslike in his demeanor, he is willing to listen to
Gramm ran in the Democratic primary against Lloyd Bentsen in 1976. Gramm won 28% of the
colleagues and work with them on their projects; he is not a dictatorial chairman and spends time
vote to Bentsen's 64%, but don't think that either of them has forgotten. Another struggle
and effort coming up with solutions that can win majorities.
between them was the 1985 1st District special election, which Gramm hoped to make 3
In the 101st Congress, he is one of two senators who, by their position and because of the
precedent for Republican gains in the rural South and Bentsen hoped would protect his base
respect in which they are held, can determine the outcome of an issue by his say-so alone. An
among rural white Texans (Democrat Jim Chapman won that seat). A third struggle was the
example is the catastrophic health insurance plan, passed by Congress in 1988 after long debate;
1988 presidential race, in which Gramm nominated Bush (though it was not apparent in the first
after the election, many Members started hearing complaints from the social security recipients
I
TEXAS
TEXAS
1157
1156
who have to pay the tax the act imposed, and agitated for some kind of relief. To this attempt to
the flow of events and his health make a candidacy possible.
welsh on a deal and play cheap shot politics, Bentsen in December 1988 just said no: Finance
Phil Gramm, first elected to Congress in 1978, has made himself a major national politician
would not consider any such measure, he said, and it was promptly killed. Bentsen will, however.
and has changed the American fiscal firmament not once but twice. He started off as a
guide proceedings on any technical changes needed in the tax law, though he doesn't medicaid want to
Democrat in College Station, Texas, an economics professor at Texas A&M, which was founded
monkey with the 1986 reform; and he will have much to say about any medicare or
as a military school and has Aggie jokes told about its students, but which can claim academic
achievements to rival those of the vastly rich and much more famous University of Texas. He
repairs. Bentsen is almost sure to be the Senate's major legislator on what could be the foremost issue
was politically unknown, unconnected to the great wealth and power brokers of Texas (he is a
of the 101st Congress, trade. In 1985, he came forward with a tough retaliatory trade bill. the co-
native of Georgia), armed with little but his belief in free market economics, a gift for making
sponsored by Dan Rostenkowski and Richard Gephardt, which became the cornerstone of
his political case pithily, and plenty of nerve. These have taken him a long way. He ran against
Democrats' political thrust on the issue. The 1988 bill he sponsored and pushed to passage was
Lloyd Bentsen in 1976 at age 34 and avoided humiliation. He was elected to Congress two years
considerably more moderate. On trade bills Bentsen seems to be playing several complicated but
later after squeaking into second place in the primary by 115 votes out of 81,000 votes cast (just
games. On policy, he is keenly aware of the dangers of protectionism and wants to forestall while it. the
ahead of Chet Edwards, now one of the smartest Texas state senators) and winning the runoff
he also seems to believe that he sometimes has a responsibility to act as bad cop
53%-47%.
Administration acts as good cop in negotiations with Japan and other trading partners. On party
In his second term, after Jim Wright helped him onto the House Budget Committee, he was
politics; he- sees trade as one issue on which the Democrats can take an assertive, even 1st
the Democratic co-sponsor of the 1981 Reagan budget cuts, attending Democrats' strategy
chauvinistic posture-this was how he framed the issue for the politically pivotal 1985 Texas
meetings and then reporting the results to Republican strategists; and so made the biggest dents
District race-but he probably also sees the dangers of splitting the party geographically
in the domestic budget since the 1940s. Expelled from the Democratic Caucus after the 1982
between a protectionist bloc anchored in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and a free trade bloc
election, he resigned, switched parties, and ran as a Republican in a special election quickly
anchored on the West Coast. On presidential politics, trade is an issue on which Bentsen can
called by outgoing Governor Clements. It was both an honorable move (voters should be able to
show leadership but on which he may be accused of demagoguery-where he may make some
say whether they want a congressman of a different party) and a shrewd one (his district ran
Democratic friends but risk losing others. On all three dimensions, Bentsen has incentives to
from the Houston to the Fort Worth suburbs, allowing him to campaign heavily in media
oscillate between policies and shift ground: watching him do so, and maintaining, as he almost
markets covering almost half the state). His gift for aphorism did not fail him ("I had to choose
invariably does, not just an intellectually defensible position but usually an intellectually elegant
between Tip O'Neill and y'all, and I decided to stand with y'all") and he won with 55% against
one, is surely as fascinating a spectacle as American politics offers.
nine Democrats and a Libertarian.
Bentsen was embarrassed in early 1987 by one of his campaign tactics, a breakfast-with-
That set the stage for his 1984 Senate race. When John Tower surprised everyone by
Bentsen program for $10,000 a head-"Eggs McBentsen," it was called-and the furor helped
announcing his retirement in 1983, just after a big fundraiser, Gramm immediately jumped in.
spur demands for campaign finance reform. But it was just Bentsen operating with typical the
His Republican rivals had little chance. The Democrats were caught in an epic three-way race
efficiency, admitting "a doozy" of a mistake, disbanding the breakfast group, and returning his
and the winner was Lloyd Doggett, a highly competent and liberal state senator from Austin.
money (much of which was contributed right back). Despite that setback, his fundraising for the
But Doggett was too close on the issues to Walter Mondale and it didn't help that Gramm kept
1988 Senate campaign was so efficient you could set a clock by it, and his organization for
attacking Doggett for receiving some $500 raised at a gay male strip joint in San Antonio.
general election left nothing significant undone. With his strong and deep support from Texas
Then, in his first year in the Senate, Gramm came forth with two bold initiatives: contriving
business interests-why on earth would you want to defeat a Texan who was chairman of Senate
the 1st District special election and, the week after that came up short, Gramm-Rudman. This
Finance?-he deterred any strong opponent from entering the race. The congressman who ran
idea-an orderly ratcheting down of the federal deficit-had appeal on all sides: conservatives
Beau Boulter from the panhandle, was so weak that he had to face a runoff before winning.
thought it would force down domestic spending, liberals hoped it would squeeze defense, deficit-
Bentsen, in his telegram to contributors just after his selection for the VP slot asking for their
culters of both parties figured it might force Ronald Reagan to allow a tax increase. Gramm
support in his Senate race regardless of their position on the national ticket, noted contempte-
surely hoped it would forestall any new spending initiatives, as it mostly has. It passed, it should
ously, "My opponent is simply not qualified." Bentsen won the election 59%-40%, precisely the in
be added, despite and not because of Phil Gramm's personal appeal. He is among the least
same as his margin in 1982; he ran slightly stronger in the metropolitan areas and 1% weaker
popular of Senators. Colleagues will admit that he is true to his principles, but add that he is
rural Texas, carrying even the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex comfortably.
ready to be untrue to his colleagues or his word. Some think he has his eye on the presidency, and
Will Bentsen run for President in 1992? He will be 71 then, but his father was entirely active
be does not deny that he might some day be interested. In the meantime, he has been the subject
until his death at age 95, he is in fine health, and he is only three years older than George Bush-
of some grumbling in Texas for his willingness to let the market drive down oil prices, his
whom he has beaten before. The Democratic selection process remains unfriendly to candidates
opposition to pork barrel projects, and his lack of interest in local issues: principle over politics
of his moderate stripe, but less so perhaps than it used to be; the Democratic convention of 1981
again.
accepted him much more meekly than the convention of 1984 would have, and by the strength of
But, for this breathtakingly bold politician, principle seems to be paying off. He is the
his campaigning and the steadfastness of his support of Dukakis-never once did his major
prohibitive favorite approaching the 1990 Senate election. Henry Cisneros took himself out of
differences with the presidential nominee cause either of them any problem-he made mam
the race in September 1987. Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, a populist with a
friends and created new admirers among Democrats who used to think of him, if they thought of
marvelous wit, started to run and then left the race in January 1989. Congressman John Bryant
him at all, as a dull, gray, middle-aged white male. Now many of them are thinking of him as $
of Dallas, a possible entrant, is also eyeing the race for attorney general; Congressman Mickey
nominee, or a President. In early 1989, Bentsen was not making any obvious preparations to run.
Leland may run. Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby seems to have little interest in running.
but he was doing nothing ostentatious to disclaim interest either. Perhaps he is waiting to sec of
Gramm, despite his occasionally impolitic stands on economic issues, is expected to raise $20
TEXAS
TEXAS
1159
1158
million and will be running in a state that seems comfortable with the positions he has long held
slowdown in the Texas economy in the later 1980s suggests that the state may gain only 2 or 3
and with the party he recently joined and of which he is now a national leader. Nor do Gramm's
new seats, and demography suggests that all or most of them will be Republican. But if
ambitions stop there. He sees himself as a man who has a mission to change the role of
Democrats win the governorship in 1990, they will have the votes to redistrict, while if the
government in American life and, as a party-switcher and a Texan, the logical successor to party-
Republicans win it they will still be in a strong position to protect their incumbents and pick up
switcher Ronald Reagan and Texan George Bush. It is a long way from the economics
at least one new seat.
department at A&M to the White House, but Gramm has already traveled a good part of the
distance. Incidentally his wife, Wendy Lee Gramm, also a free market economist, became
chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in 1988.
Presidential politics. Texas is now the nation's third biggest prize in presidential elections.
The People: Est. Pop. 1988: 16,780,000; Pop. 1980: 14,229,191, up 17.9% 1980-88 and 27.1% 1970-
with 29 electoral votes. It is also a major source of funds and at least has been a major source of
80; 6.92% of U.S. total, 3d largest. 17% with 1-3 yrs. col., 16% with 4+ yrs. col.; 14.7% below poverty
candidates, from Lyndon and John Connally to Lloyd Bentsen and George Bush, though all have
level. Single ancestry: 12% English, 5% German, 4% Irish, 1% French, Italian. Households (1980): 75%
been embarrassed on their home turf from time to time (Bush lost two Senate races, in 1964 and
family, 43% with children, 63% married couples; 35.7% housing units rented; median monthly rent:
1970, and narrowly lost the 1980 presidential primary to Ronald Reagan). It was part, the
$213; median house value: $39,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 9,923,085; 18% Spanish origin, 11% Black,
biggest single part, of the Super Tuesday southern regional primary March 8, 1988, but the
1% Asian origin. Registered voters (1988): 8,201,856; no party registration.
southern regional candidate it promoted turned out not to be the Democrat contemplated by
Super Tuesday enthusiasts, but Republican George Bush. Michael Dukakis won the Demo-
cratic primary with heavy support from Hispanics: he had 43% in San Antonio-Austin and 46%
in the Border. But it's worth noting that his television advertising netted him 29% in the rest of
1988 Share of Federal Tax Burden: $54,847,000,000; 6.20% of U.S. total, 3d largest.
the state-more than Jesse Jackson (25%, mainly from urban blacks), Albert Gore (22%) and
Richard Gephardt (15%, despite running his trade ads in some media markets).
But Texas isn't up for grabs in presidential general elections, unless a southerner or a
candidate with appeal to southern whites is on the top of the Democratic ticket. The 1988
1988 Share of Federal Expenditures
election proved that about as conclusively as anything can be proved in politics. When Lloyd
Total
Non-Defense
Defense
Bentsen was chosen by Michael Dukakis to be his running mate, the Democrats had hopes of
Total Expend
$49,485m
(5.60%)
$33,753m
(5.15%)
$17,320m
(7.58%)
carrying Texas and, buoyed by polls showing their ticket competitive (though never ahead). they
St/Lcl Grants
5,168m
(4.51%)
5,163m
(4.51%)
5m
(4.08%)
poured money and time into the state. It was futile. Bentsen raised Dukakis's percentage from
Salary/Wages
8,600m
(6.40%)
3,729m
(5.57%)
4,871m
(5.57%)
the 38% or so he would have won without him, but only to 43%, and the evidence suggests that
Pymnts to Indiv
23,118m
(5.65%)
21,257m
(5.44%)
1,860m
(9.98%)
for a Dukakis-like candidate that represents something close to a ceiling. It's hard to conceive of
Procurement
10,564m
(5.60%)
1,588m
(3.42%)
10,564m
(5.60%)
a liberal Democrat carrying rural Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, or greater Houston.
Research/Other
2,035m
(5.45%)
2,015m
(5.44%)
20m
(5.44%)
and those three areas account for 78% of Texas's votes; even the San Antonio-Austin corridor.
with its increasing high-tech population, is trending Republican. That leaves a liberal Democrat
with the Border counties, which cast 8% of the state's votes.
Congressional districting. In the 1980s Texas has had the largest-and the most bipartisan-
Political Lineup: Governor, William (Bill) Clements (R); Lt. Gov., William P. Hobby (D); Secy. of
House delegation in its history. Its population gains have raised it to 27 members. But gone are
State, Jack Rains (R); Atty. Gen., Jim Mattox (D); Treasurer, Ann Richards (D); Comptroller of Public
the days when a solidly Democratic delegation met regularly under the superintendency of
Accounts, Robert Bullock (D). State Senate, 31 (23 D and 8 R); State House of Representatives, 150
Speaker John Nance Garner or Speaker Sam Rayburn and worked together on national issues
(91 D and 59 R). Senators, Lloyd Bentsen (D) and Phil Gramm (R). Representatives, 27 (19 D and 8 R).
and local projects. There is still cohesion among Texas Democrats-they rallied early and in
some cases vociferously around Jim Wright when the Ethics Committee decided there was
reason to believe he violated House rules-but there is also a wide range of views on the
Democratic side, from Ralph Hall who seems temperamentally very close to a Republican to
1988 Presidential Vote
1984 Presidential Vote
Mickey Leland who has one of the most liberal voting records in the House. Texas continues to
Bush (R)
3,036,829 (56%)
Reagan (R)
3,433,428 (64%)
have its powerful Democrats: Chairmen Jack Brooks of Judiciary and Kika de la Garza of
Dukakis (D)
2,352,748
(43%)
Mondale (D)
1,949,276 (36%)
Agriculture, Charles Wilson on Appropriations and Martin Frost on Rules and others as well.
But some Texas Democrats have to fight hard for their seats, and some win fortuitously. The
1988 Democratic Presidential Primary
1988 Republican Presidential Primary
Dukakis
579,533
(33%)
Bush
648,178
(64%)
Democrats won a 19-8 edge on the delegation in the 1988 elections. But that is only because a
Jackson
433,259
(25%)
Robertson
155,449
(15%)
locally popular Democrat won an open Republican seat in the High Plains and another
Gore
356,772
(20%)
Dole
140,795
(14%)
Democrat beat a pathetically weak Republican incumbent.
Gephardt
240,033
(14%)
Kemp
50,546
(5%)
For the 1990s the outlook is not entirely clear. If Texas gains 4 seats, there might be pressure
Hart
82,202
(5%)
to use state Senate seats, fixed in number at 31, for House elections; but that surely would be
Simon
34,690
(2%)
resisted by incumbents in both bodies; who would want to fashion districts for themselves. The
Babbitt
11,568
(1%)
1160
TEXAS
TEXAS
1161
National Journal Ratings
GOVERNOR
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
55%
-
44%
57%
-
42%
Gov. William (Bill) Clements (R)
Social
46%
-
53%
45%
-
52%
Elected 1986, term expries Jan. 1991; b. Apr. 13, 1917, Dallas:
Foreign
44%
-
54%
51%
-
45%
home, Dallas; Southern Methodist U., B.A. 1939; Episcopalian:
married (Rita).
Key Votes
Career: Founder and Chmn., Southeastern Drilling Co.; Dpty:
1) Cut Aged Housing $
AGN
5) Bork Nomination
AGN
9) SDI Funding
FOR
Secy., U.S. Dept. of Defense, 1973-77; Gov. of TX, 1979-83.
2) Override Hwy Veto
FOR
6) Ban Plastic Guns
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
Office: State Capitol, P.O. Box 12428, Austin 78711, 512-463-
3) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
7) Deny Abortions
FOR
11) Aid To Contras
FOR
2000.
4) Min Wage Increase
-
8) Japanese Reparations
FOR
12) Reagan Defense $ AGN
Election Results
Election Results
1988 general
Lloyd Bentsen (D)
3,149,806
(59%)
($8,829,361)
1986 gen.
William (Bill) Clements (R)
1,813,779
(53%)
Beau Boulter (R)
2,129,228
(40%)
($1,353,345)
Mark W. White (D)
1,584,515
(46%)
1988 primary
Lloyd Bentsen (D)
1,365,736
(85%)
1986 prim.
William (Bill) Clements (R)
318,938
(58%)
Joe Sullivan (D)
244,805
(15%)
Tom Loeffler (R)
118,224
(22%)
1982 general
Lloyd Bentsen (D).
1,818,223
(59%)
($5,097,445)
Kent Hance (R)
108,583
(20%)
James M. Collins (R)
1,256,759
(40%)
($4,285,377)
1982 gen.
Mark W. White, Jr. (D)
1,697,527
(53%)
William (Bill) Clements (R)
1,465,952
(46%)
Sen. Phil Gramm (R)
Elected 1984, seat up 1990; b. July 8, 1942, Ft. Benning, GA;
home, College Station; U. of GA, B.A. 1964, Ph.D. 1967; Episco-
SENATORS
palian; married (Wendy).
Career: Prof., TX A&M U., 1967-78; U.S. House of Reps.,
1978-84.
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D)
Elected 1970, seat up 1994; b. Feb. 11, 1921, Mission; home, Starr
Offices: 370 RSOB 20510, 202-224-2934. Also 900 Jackson, Ste.
Cnty.; U. of TX, LL.B. 1942; Presbyterian; married (Beryl Ann).
570, Dallas 75202, 214-767-3000; 222 E. Van Buren., Ste. 404,
Harlingen 78550, 512-423-6118; 515 Rusk, Houston 77002, 713-
Career: Army Air Corps, WWII; Practicing atty., 1945-46.
229-2766; 113 Fed. Bldg., 1205 Texas Ave., Lubbock 79401, 806-
Judge, Hidalgo Cnty., 1946-48; U.S. House of Reps., 1948-54;
743-7533; 123 Pioneer Plaza, 6th Fl., Rm. 665, El Paso 79901, 915-
Pres., Lincoln Consolidated, Inc., 1955-71; Dem. Nominee for
534-6896; and InterFirst Plaza, 102 N. College St., Rm. 201, Tyler
Vice Pres., 1988.
75701, 214-593-0902.
Offices: 703 HSOB 20510, 202-224-5922. Also 961 Fed. Ofc.
Committees: Appropriations (13th of 13 R). Subcommittees:
Bldg., Austin 78701, 512-482-5834; 515 Rusk, Ste. 4026, Houston
Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary; District of Columbia
77002, 713-229-2595; and Earle Cabell Bldg., Rm. 7C14, Dallas
(Ranking Member); Labor, Health and Human Services, Educa-
75242, 214-767-0577.
tion; VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies. Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (4th of 9 R).
Committees: Commerce, Science and Transportation (7th of 11
Subcommittees: Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; Housing and Urban Affairs; International Finance
D). Subcommittees: Aviation; Communications; Merchant Marine:
and Monetary Policy (Ranking Member); Securities. Budget (9th of 10 R).
Science, Technology, and Space. Finance (Chairman of 11 D)
Subcommittees: Medicare and Long-Term Care; Taxation and
Group Ratings
Debt Management; International Trade. Joint Economic Commit-
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
tee (2d of 10 D). Subcommittees: Economic Goals and Intergovernmental Policy; Economic Growth.
1988
0
4
2
8
20
95
98
100
92
87
Trade and Taxes (Chairman); Education and Health. Joint Committee on Taxation (Vice Chairman).
1987
5
-
2
8
I
100
-
-
89
91
National Journal Ratings
Group Ratings
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Economic
0%
-
95%
0%
-
94%
1988
40
53
53
83
40
42
27
70
25
19
Social
0%
-
89%
6%
-
89%
1987
60
-
51
75
-
31
-
-
44
33
Foreign
11%
-
88%
0%
-
76%
1162
TEXAS
TEXAS
1163
Key Votes
sional Campaign Committee chairman Tony Coelho was raising money, much of it from Texas
1) Cut Aged Housing $
AGN
5) Bork Nomination
FOR
9) SDI Funding
FOR
savings and loan operators, to oppose Hargett. He fell short of the 50% needed to win without a
2) Override Hwy Veto
AGN
6) Ban Plastic Guns
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
runoff, and Democrat Jim Chapman, a former district attorney, proved to be an adept
3) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
7) Deny Abortions
FOR
11) Aid To Contras
FOR
candidate. Hargett stumbled on the trade issue-being raised simultaneously, and surely not
4) Min Wage Increase
-
8) Japanese Reparations
AGN
12) Reagan Defense $ FOR
coincidentally, in Washington by Senator Lloyd Bentsen-saying "I don't know what trade
policies have to do with bringing jobs to east Texas," despite the recent closing of the Lone Star
Election Results
Steel plant in Morris County. That and a relentless emphasis on social security helped Chapman
1984 general
Phil Gramm (R)
3,111,348
(59%)
($9,452,360)
to a 51%-49% win. Gramm's gambit lost, and Republicans actually lost southern House seats in
Lloyd Doggett (D)
2,202,557
(41%)
($5,887,858)
1988 while George Bush was sweeping the region. Yet the Democrats paid a price. It was only
1984 primary
Phil Gramm (R)
246,716
(73%)
after the S&L operators made their crucial contributions here that Jim Wright began
Ron Paul (R)
55,431
(16%)
1
Rob Mosbacher (R)
26,279
(8%)
intervening with federal regulatory agencies and bottling up reform bills on their behalf, at an
1978 general
John G. Tower (R)
1,151,376
(50%)
($4,359,365)
ultimate cost to the taxpayer that may total tens of billions of dollars.
Robert Krueger (D)
1,139,149
(49%)
($2,428,666)
In the House, Chapman proved, over time, to be the most slavish of followers of Jim Wright
and was been duly rewarded: with a seat on Steering and Policy in 1987 and a seat on
Appropriations in 1989. His greatest moment in the spotlight came in October 1987, when
Wright was about to be beaten on a $12 billion tax vote, former Wright aide John Mack
FIRST DISTRICT
physically carried Chapman to the floor, where Chapman changed his vote and gave Wright a
Fifty years ago a traveler in the northeast corner of Texas would see "a rolling, forested region
206-205 victory. This was in line with Chapman's general practice of compiling a moderate
where shortleaf pine clothes the uplands, with white, red and burr oak, sweet gum, and wild
voting record but giving the leadership votes when they are really needed-it was the second
magnolia trees along the streams. Sawmills dot timber areas. Dogwood blooms profusely in the
time that day and the sixth time that session Chapman had switched his vote-and it enraged
spring, and the wild rose, shame vine, Virginia creeper and swamp pink are among the plants
Republicans, who went out looking for a candidate. But Hargett did not want to run, and neither
that ornament the roadside. Ponds have white and yellow lilies. In dense woods along creeks,
did former state Senator Ed Howard; broadcaster Horace McQueen raised very little money,
small animals are hunted and trapped for their fur; mink and muskrat pelts are most valued." To
and Chapman, in a district yellow-doggedly Democratic enough to have nearly voted for
the careless eye today, this scene described by the WPA writer has not changed much. People in
Michael Dukakis, won 62%-38%. For Chapman this looks like a safe seat.
east Texas-said in tones that make you think it is a separate state-are tradition-minded, and
the great metropolitan areas have not grown out to these counties. But living standards have
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 571,900, up 8.5% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,016, up 20.4% 1970-80.
risen even as traditional values have mostly remained intact. If you still find sawmills and ponds.
Households (1980): 76% family, 39% with children, 65% married couples; 24.9% housing units rented;
you also find Wal-Marts and Holiday Inns and new churches-signs of prosperity and
median monthly rent: $123; median house value: $26,300. Voting age pop. (1980): 376,964; 17% Black,
widespread affluence which would have astonished the east Texans of two generations ago.
1% Spanish origin.
About half of east Texas-the northeastern corner of the state, but with jagged boundaries to
exclude the oil towns of Tyler and Longview-forms the 1st Congressional District. The largest
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
107,949
(52%)
city here is Texarkana, with its city hall so squarely on the Texas-Arkansas line that different
Dukakis (D).
97,014
(47%)
wings serve Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas. This is part of the historic Democratic
heartland: Bonham, the home of former Speaker Sam Rayburn, is just one county west of the
district; the district that elected former Speaker Carl Albert is just across the Red River in
Rep. Jim Chapman, Jr. (D)
Oklahoma. The 1st District was represented for nearly 50 years by Wright Patman, an old-
Elected 1985; b. Mar. 8, 1945, Washington, D.C.; home, Sulphur
fashioned populist, who began his career by moving the impeachment of Treasury Secretary
Springs; U. of TX, B.A. 1968, Southern Methodist U., J.D. 1970;
Andrew Mellon (forcing him to resign to become Ambassador to Britain) and who ultimately
United Methodist; married (Betty).
became chairman of the Banking Committee; a gentle and good-humored man, he was voted out
Career: Practicing atty.; D.A., 8th Judicial Dist. of TX, 1976-84.
of his chairmanship at 81 in 1974, died in 1976, and was replaced by a much more conservative
Democrat, Sam Hall.
Offices: 429 CHOB, 202-225-3035. Also P.O. Box 538, Sulphur
In the summer of 1985, the 1st District was the scene of one the pivotal political battles of the
Springs 75482, 214-885-8682; Fed. Bldg., G-15, 100 E. Houston,
1980s. To shake the Democrats' hold on rural southern districts and encourage challengers to
Marshall 75670, 214-938-8386; 210 U.S.P.O. & Fed. Bldg., Paris
75460, 214-785-0723; and 401 U.S.P.O. & Fed. Bldg., Texarkana
run in 1986 and 1988, Phil Gramm contrived a special election in the Texas 1st by getting Hall
75504, 214-793-6728.
appointed to a federal judgeship and recruiting former Texas A&M and pro quarterback Edd
Hargett, an authentic resident of the 1st, to run as the Republican candidate. Money and
Committees: Appropriations (35th of 35 D). Subcommittees:
topflight consultants poured in, while the Democrats were handicapped because they had more
Energy and Water Development; VA, HUD and Independent
Agencies.
than one serious candidate. Gramm claimed, plausibly, that if a Republican could win in the 1st
in a nonpresidential year, Republicans could win in any southern district.
But this particular Republican didn't win. Even before the primary, Democratic Congres-
1164
TEXAS
TEXAS
1165
Group Ratings
and served four years in the Navy. He got himself elected to the legislature the year he returned
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
to east Texas. He won the House seat of a scandal-plagued conservative in the 1972 Democratic
1988
50
43
58
73
31
52
29
80
64
28
primary; a term later he shoved aside a fellow Texan for a seat on Appropriations. Always a
1987
48
-
54
57
-
9
-
-
47
22
feisty liberal on economic issues, he is a hawk on matters military. He now sits on the Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee, the small and mostly hawkish panel that gives the defense
National Journal Ratings
budget as close a combing as it usually gets on Capitol Hill; he also sits on the subcommittee that
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
handles foreign aid, which gives him a potentially broad view of the whole range of foreign
Economic
49%
-
50%
52%
-
48%
policy. As might be expected, he aggressively promotes the interests of Texas defense
Social
40%
-
58%
39%
-
61%
contractors.
Foreign
47%
-
53%
47%
-
52%
Wilson's number one cause in the 1980s has been aiding the Afghan rebels, and probably
Key Votes
more than any other member of the House, he is responsible for the American aid to the
1) Homeless $
-
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
mujaheddin which enabled them to force the Soviets out of their country. He traveled 14 times
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
to Afghanistan, Pakistan or South Asia in the 1980s, and in 1982 began working in secret
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
Appropriations hearings to put lots of money into the Afghan cause. In 1987, he also got a seat
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
on the Intelligence Committee, where he was able to further the Afghan cause. In 1988, Wilson
Election Results
got in a bit of a flap when it was learned that he put into an appropriation bill a cut in the Defense
1988 general
Jim Chapman (D)
122,566
(62%)
($505,611)
Intelligence Agency's budget apparently because a local DIA official had not allowed a woman
Horace McQueen (R)
74,357
(38%)
($94,477)
accompanying Wilson, a former Miss World, to fly in a plane over Afghanistan; that would have
1988 primary
Jim Chapman (D), unopposed
violated the rules, but the local DIA official might have been wise to overlook that for the man
1986 general
Jim Chapman (D)
84,445
(100%)
($894,772)
who was, more than anyone else, the patron of the Afghan rebel movement the United States
was trying to aid.
Wilson's voting record has never been a great problem for him in his district-though he has
been criticized for his favorable attitude toward increasing the size of the Big Thicket Preserve.
SECOND DISTRICT
Rumors about drug use caused him problems in 1984, when he was held to 55% of the vote by
In east Texas, you can see many landmarks of Lone Star history. There's still an Indian
four primary opponents (though the strongest got only 29%) and 59% in the general election; but
reservation in Polk County, and the Big Thicket National Preserve, to remind you of what this
he was cleared in all investigations and has not had serious opposition since.
land looked like when the first Texans came through. Over near Beaumont is the site of
Spindletop, the world's first gusher that was also the first major oil find in the state in 1901; not
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 590,500, up 12.1% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,772, up 35.4% 1970-80.
far away is the huge oil field that wildcatter H. L. Hunt found in 1931 and made the foundation
Households (1980): 78% family, 43% with children, 67% married couples; 25.3% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $155; median house value: $31,300. Voting age pop. (1980): 372,792; 14% Black,
of his billion dollar fortune. To the uneducated eye, east Texas looks little different from the
3% Spanish origin.
wildcat days of 50 years ago: the town squares with courthouses and churches, the stands of
cheap, quick-growing pine are still there, plus the strip highway culture of the 1950s. Yet in
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D).
99,074
(50%)
many ways, things have changed. Real incomes have tripled over 50 years, endemic diseases
Bush (R)
98,720
(50%)
have been wiped out, racial segregation has been abolished, and the isolation of the small town
has been ended by television and the interstate highway.
Rep. Charles Wilson (D)
The 2d Congressional District of Texas includes all or part of 16 counties in east Texas, most
Elected 1972; b. June 1, 1933, Trinity; home, Lufkin; U.S. Naval
of them still seemingly rural, all of them more imbued with traditional values than most parts of
Acad., B.S. 1956; United Methodist; divorced.
America these days. It includes the oil port of Orange (but not nearby Beaumont or Port
Arthur), the Big Thicket and the Alabama Coushatta Indian reservation, and goes past Lufkin
Career: Navy, 1956-60; Mgr., retail lumber store, 1961-72; TX
and Nacogodoches to Palestine. Politically, it remains one of the most Democratic parts of rural
House of Reps., 1960-66; TX Senate, 1966-72.
Texas; it cast more votes for Michael Dukakis than George Bush in 1988.
Offices: 2256 RHOB 20515, 202-225-2401. Also 701 N. 1st St.,
Charles Wilson, the 2d District's congressman, is one of the most distinctive figures in the
Rm. 201, Lufkin 75901, 409-637-1770.
House-tall, almost spectrally thin, flamboyant, pleasure-loving-yet he is also serious-minded
Committees: Appropriations (13th of 35 D). Subcommittees:
when he wants to be, and even idealistic. He is always ready with a wisecrack or quip; after
Defense; Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Pro-
President Carter fired HEW Secretary Joseph Califano and others in 1979 he said, "Good grief!
grams. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (7th of 12 D).
He's cut down the tall trees and left the monkeys." He has represented east Texas in Austin and
Subcommittee: Program and Budget Authorization.
Washington since 1960, and with a voting record that got him classified with the liberals in the
Texas Senate and a record in the House that on economics and cultural issues is often liberal
today. In early 1989 he was one of the most articulate and determined defenders of Jim Wright.
The common thread in all this is aggressiveness. Wilson is a graduate of the Naval Academy
1166
TEXAS
TEXAS
1167
Group Ratings
emphasis on high-tech and defense industries.
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
As to its Republicanism, affluent Dallas had soured on national Democrats by the 1940s, and
1988
35
72
68
55
25
55
13
100
46
19
by the 1950s there was a bitter, angry tone to its conservative politics seldom heard elsewhere. It
1987
-
67
57
43
-
-
8
13
was a tone that reverberated across the nation in the 1960 campaign when Republican
52
-
Representative Bruce Alger led a group that shoved Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson in the
National Journal Ratings
Adolphus Hotel lobby and was echoed sickeningly three years later when John Kennedy was
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
murdered in Dallas, even though the killer was a left-wing fanatic. Dallas has sobered up since
Economic
64%
-
36%
62%
-
35%
1963, but the faith of affluent Dallas in free enterprise has grown, if anything, stronger. Unlike
Social
66%
34%
50%
-
50%
-
many rich people back East, they don't feel that they have done something evil by getting rich;
Foreign
33%
66%
30%
-
69%
-
they have the 1950s optimism that technology and free enterprise can produce a better life for
Key Votes
all, and they have transformed the small provincial Dallas of the 1950s into a world capital of
1) Homeless $,
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
9) SDI Research
FOR
industry and finance of the 1980s. The role government has played in this-by providing
-
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
education, infrastructure, defense contracts, a secure world market, and a very large consumer
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
class-is largely invisible from their perspective; what they have seen instead is entrepreneurs
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
going out and fighting against the forces of inertia, mishap, regulation and bureaucracy which
keep most enterprises from succeeding.
Election Results
Charles Wilson (D)
($309,355)
The 3d District is represented in the House by one of its smarter and harder-working young
1988 general.
145,614
(88%)
Republicans, Steve Bartlett. He will take second place to no one as a champion of conservative
Gary W. Nelson (Lib.)
20,475
(12%)
principles and, as a former head of a company building custom knobs and molded plastic gears,
1988 primary
Charles Wilson (D), unopposed
1986 general.
Charles Wilson (D)
78,529
(57%)
($339.873)
he personifies the entrepreneurial ethic strong in Dallas. But unlike many other young
Julian Gordon (R)
55,986
(40%)
($47,660)
conservatives, he is a busy and successful legislator. Operating from the unlikely precincts of the
Banking Committee, he got the House to shift public housing programs from new construction
to repair of existing units. He has cooperated with Democrats in making changes in the medicaid
law and repealing a law interpreted by the Supreme Court as requiring overtime for state and
THIRD DISTRICT
local employees, and he played key roles on the "equal access" bill allowing religious groups in
All over the world it is one of the fabled parts of America, the locus of a novel about football
public schools and in creating bigger secondary mortgage markets. He worked on rewriting
players and one of the most popular TV shows of the 1980s, the place where J. R. Ewing lives on
disability law so that disabled people could take jobs without losing government medical benefits
Southfork and H. L. Hunt lived in a replica of Mount Vernon and where insurance heir John
and is working on a bill so that they would not lose benefits because their parents left money for
Post bought a new $3 million, 19,000-square foot mansion and then tore it down because he
their care. He worked on a $15 billion recapitalization of FSLIC, opposed by Jim Wright and
didn't like it: north Dallas. Here in humid, heat-choked summers affluent people live in huge
many high-flying Texas savings and loans. He has something unusual for a free market
shuttered houses, and the 3d Congressional District, which is basically coincident with north
conservative: an interest in how government actually works.
Dallas, is one of the nation's richest, best educated, and most Republican congressional districts
Bartlett won the seat in the 1982 Republican primary, when he was a 35-year-old Dallas
in the nation. The 3d begins, as affluent Dallas does, in the old suburbs of University Park and
councilman, beating former state legislator Kay Hutchinson by emphasizing gun control and
Highland Park, where most of the houses date back to the 1950s and where many of the elite.
abortion. There is no conceivable threat to his tenure in the House except an ambition to run for
like Governor Bill Clements, still live, north through dozens of different half-a-million dollar
statewide office, but so far he seems to enjoy legislating too much to give that any thought.
neighborhoods, north through rich suburbs like Farmers Branch, Addison, Carrollton and
Richardson-which together call themselves the Metrocrest-into the Collin County suburb of
Plano. Four decades ago you would have found here little but mildly rolling hillsides with
occasional trees and a little scrub; today you see huge office buildings and glittering shopping
malls, high-walled condominiums and sprawling singles apartment complexes, neighborhoods
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 648,400, up 23.0% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,023, up 66.5% 1970-80.
full of schoolchildren farther out, neighborhoods for affluent empty nesters closer in.
Households (1980): 66% family, 36% with children, 57% married couples; 40.4% housing units rented;
Where does all of Dallas's wealth come from? And why is this city so especially strongly
median monthly rent: $296; median house value: $82,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 389,627; 3% Black,
Republican? To the first question, the answer is that the wealth comes from a variety of things:
3% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
that is why, when dropping oil prices choked off growth in Houston, Dallas still grew. Dallas was
where the first railroad in Texas stopped at the three forks of the Trinity River. "Its wealth,"
wrote John Gunther in the 1940s, "originally came from cotton, and until recently it was the
largest internal cotton market in the country; but primarily it is a banking and jobbing and
distributing center, the headquarters of railroads and utilities; it is the second city in the United
1988 Presidential Vote:
States in Railway Express business, the fourth in insurance, the fifth in number of telegrams." It
Bush (R)
215,204
(74%)
Dukakis (D)
has built, steadily and sometimes spectacularly, on that base for five decades, with special
72,929
(25%)
1170
TEXAS
TEXAS
1171
Group Ratings
Republican Dallas. The 5th District went for Michael Dukakis over George Bush, though only
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
barely, and it almost always votes Democratic in Texas elections; its boundaries were drawn by
1988
15
17
39
45
31
92
55
100
86
50
Democratic legislature determined to put as many Republican precincts as possible into the
1987
28
38
36
70
-
-
73
51
north Dallas 3d District and to leave just enough Democrats to keep the 5th and the 24th safely
-
-
Democratic. There is enough resentment of north Dallas here for Bryant to denounce
National Journal Ratings
"Republican moneybags in north Dallas who want to have two congressmen and to control this
1988 LIB- 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
district also." But it should be added that most east Dallas residents are currently upwardly
Economic
27%
-
72%
42%
-
56%
mobile and hope to keep moving.
Social
5%
-
91%
10%
-
85%
Bryant is one of the most politically talented of the young Democratic congressmen. He won
-
Foreign
16%
78%
0%
80%
-
this district in 1982; after the district lines were set, Republican Steve Bartlett left the race here
Keyl Votes
and ran in the 3d-a gain for the republic since both these young men, born the same year but of
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
very different views, have proved to be skilled legislators. Bryant, a minister's son and a
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
rebellious liberal in high school, was elected to the Texas legislature in 1974, a year after
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
finishing SMU Law School; he performed skillfully in Austin and won the endorsement of his
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
predecessor, Jim Mattox (now Texas's attorney general) and 65% of the vote against a well-
known opponent in the Democratic primary; he won the general election by a 2 to 1 margin. In
Election Results
his first term, he won the plum of a seat on the most coveted legislative committee, Energy and
1988 general
Ralph H. Hall (D)
139,379
(66%)
($316,846)
Randy Sutton (R)
67,337
(32%)
($65,068)
Commerce. There he has worked ably to represent oil interests, but he has been busy on other
matters as well: a measure allowing utilities to produce energy through cogeneration, a
1988 primary
Ralph M. Hall (D), unopposed
1986 general
Ralph M. Hall (D)
97,540
(72%)
($269,235)
children's television bill, a bill to revive the fairness doctrine in broadcasting. Bryant is a believer
Thomas Blow (R)
38,578
(28%)
($20,000)
in regulation, and when he sees a problem his first impulse seems to be to write a law about it. He
is proud of sponsoring a Texas wilderness bill that passed in his first term. He is proud also of his
bill that would require foreign owners of American companies to make disclosure of assets-a
bill attacked as a know-nothing attempt to discourage foreign investment but which has passed
FIFTH DISTRICT
the House twice. He has a fairly solid liberal voting record, and is something of a workhorse.
Dallas, wrote the WPA Guide 50 years ago, "has no tradition of invasions or battles, or of wild
serving on Judiciary and Veterans' Affairs in the 100th Congress and Judiciary and Budget in
days when cattlemen, gamblers, and outlaws participated in lurid scenes of violence. It came
the 101st, as well as Energy and Commerce, where he is one of John Dingell's aggressive
into existence as a serious community with citizens of a peaceable and cultured type." Or so
interrogators on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.
Dallas would have you believe: the city that is the home of the oldest Neiman-Marcus and the
But Bryant may not remain in the House where he has done so well. He had raised prodigious
nation's newest major art museum has long been proud of its gentility and culture, and does not
sums of money with the help of his Energy and Commerce seat, and he has won handily against
mind it at all if you mistake it for some sophisticated metropolis back east. The corollary of this
the challengers Republicans have touted. But redistricting could easily wipe the 5th District out
is that Dallas, like eastern cities, has its funky and slummy sides as well. As the affluent north
by splitting it between a black-majority and a Republican district, neither of which Bryant could
side of Dallas grows farther north through Plano, past the Dallas city and county lines, the nearly
win. So in early 1989 he was considering running for lieutenant governor or attorney general in
one million people within the Dallas city limits include numbers of poor people and blacks.
1990; he would have liked to run for Lloyd Bentsen's Senate seat if Bentsen had been elected
singles and gays and Hispanics that you would expect in an eastern city.
Vice President in 1988.
This has political consequences: Dallas, long known as a Republican city, and still a very
Republican metropolitan area, nonetheless has a lot of Democratic territory-enough to make
up two Democratic congressional districts, the 5th and 24th. The 5th takes in Dallas's booming
downtown, the singles and apartment neighborhood of Oak Lawn just to the north, and the
Trinity River bottomlands to the northwest, which developer Trammell Crow has converted
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 608,600, up 15.6% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,633, up 0.8% 1970-80.
from marshland to prime commercial property, with not only warehouses and factories, but
Households (1980): 68% family, 39% with children, 53% married couples; 46.8% housing units rented:
Dallas's huge furniture and apparel marts and the cathedral-like Anatole Hotel. It takes in the
median monthly rent: $222; median house value: $35,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 374,926; 18% Black.
south Dallas black ghetto around the State Fair grounds. And it includes most of east Dallas,
10% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
with its renovated prairie houses near downtown and the middle-class neighborhoods farther out
and in the modest suburbs of Garland and Mesquite. Here people live in small frame houses,
commute to unexciting office and factory jobs, try to make ends meet and keep their
neighborhoods up. About one-fifth of the people here are black and one-eighth Mexican-
American; but, as Representative John Bryant puts it, "Generally speaking, what you have in
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
80,731
the 5th District are regular, red-blooded working Americans."
(50%)
Bush (R)
80,275
"Working" is the clue that this is an old-fashioned Democratic District in newly glitzy
(49%)
1172
TEXAS
TEXAS
1173
Rep. John Bryant (D)
superconducting super collider being built by the Energy Department-"the greatest basi
Elected 1982; b. Feb. 22, 1947, Lake Jackson; home, Dallas:
science facility," in one booster's words, "of the latter 20th century." The accelerator, designed
Southern Methodist U., B.A. 1969, J.D. 1972; United Methodist:
to probe the material origins of the universe, is being built like a race track more than 10 miles
married (Janet).
across, centered on Waxahachie; it will cost $4 to $6 billion to build and $270 million a year
Career: Practicing atty., 1972-82; Chief counsel, TX Sen.
run. More than 30 states competed for the SSC; Texas won, in an announcement made shortly
Scmtee. on Consumer Affairs, 1973; TX House of Reps., 1974-83.
after the 1988 election; and if politics played a role in giving Texas a major high-tech facility.
Offices: 208 CHOB 20515, 202-225-2231. Also 8035 East R. L.
this was not the first time: remember the Johnson Space Center south of Houston.
Thornton Freeway, Ste. 518, Dallas 75228, 214-767-6554.
Perhaps the most enthusiastic political booster of the Texas site was Congressman Joe Barton.
Committees: Budget (21st of 21 D). Task Forces: Defense, For-
whose 6th District includes Waxahachie and has a history that reflects the changes in this town
eign Policy and Space; Urgent Fiscal Issues. Energy and Commerce
and in Texas that have transformed a low-income, low-skill state into one of the nation's
(20th of of 26 D). Subcommittees: Energy and Power; Oversight
technological leaders over the last 50 years. Two decades ago the 6th District was mostly a rural
and Investigations; Telecommunications and Finance. Judiciary
and small town seat, running almost from Houston to Dallas and Fort Worth; its largest town
(19th of 21 D). Subcommittees: Courts, Intellectual Property and
was College Station, the home of Texas A&M University. Politically, it was ancestrally
the Administration of Justice; Criminal Justice; Immigration. Ref-
Democratic, and for 32 years elected Olin (Tiger) Teague, who ended up as chairman of the
ugees, and International Law.
Veterans Committee. But as Texas's metropolitan areas grew, the 6th District's boundaries were
expanded to include what was overspill from Fort Worth, Houston and Dallas. These were not
Group Ratings
elite areas, but they were affluent; they contained not ancient farmers, but young families
ADA
ACLU:
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
interested in honoring traditional values; they wanted not to preserve a pristine environment, but
1988
85
71
94
82
56
9
8
30
27
12
to build a high-tech economy in what had been pretty grubby areas.
1987
80
-
93
71
I
4
-
-
14
4
Politically, this once Democratic district became Republican. So did its congressman. Phil
National Journal Ratings
Gramm, elected as a conservative Democrat in 1978, switched parties, resigned and won
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
reelection as a Republican in early 1983, then he went on to win a Senate seat in 1984. He was
Economic
85%
-
15%
73%
-
0%
succeeded by Republican Joe Barton who, like Gramm, won one of his early contests by a
Social
60%
39%
73%
-
22%
-
narrow margin-in Barton's case, the 1984 Republican runoff, which he won by 10 votes. In the
Foreign
84%
-
0%
62%
-
37%
general that year, he beat a Democratic legislator from College Station with 57%; two years
later, against a protégé of Senator Lloyd Bentsen, he won with 56%. These were both million
Key Votes
dollar contests. In 1988, he won with 68%. The race was still pretty marginal in the still rural
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
counties in the center of the district. But the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (including now
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
AGN
Waxahachie) casts 41% of the vote and greater Houston 20%; with 18% more in Texas A&M's
11) Aid to Contras
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
home county, there isn't much rural vote left.
Barton spent his first term as a sort of bomb thrower, organizing a picketing of a Jim Wright
Election Results
press conference in Fort Worth. In his second term he got a seat on Energy and Commerce and
1988 general
John Bryant (D)
95,376
(61%)
($646,218)
spent much of his time promoting the super collider, and pursuing other causes such as removing
Lon Williams (R)
59,877
(38%)
($179,201)
restrictions of offshore natural gas contracts and requiring manufacturers to give refunds to
1988 primary
John Bryant (D), unopposed
anyone whose children are injured while using three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles.
1986 general
John Bryant (D)
57,410
(59%)
($994,285)
Tom Carter (R)
39,945
(41%)
($349,937)
SIXTH DISTRICT
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 659,200, up 25.1% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,765, up 48.1% 1970-80.
Fifty years ago Waxahachie, Texas was, according to the WPA Guide, "densely wooded. with
Households (1980): 75% family, 40% with children, 65% married couples; 28.4% housing units rented:
sycamores predominating. It is one of the largest primary cotton markets in Texas, in the heart
median monthly rent: $192; median house value: $42,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 379,330; 10% Black.
5% Spanish origin.
of an agricultural region noted for its heavy production of the crop. A textile mill utilizes the
lower grades of locally produced cotton in the manufacture of duck and other heavy materials
The town's industries also include two large cottonseed oil mills and a cotton compress."
Waxahachie in the 1940s, was at the low end of the national economy, with most of the people in
the countryside working in back-breaking drudgery under the broiling Texas sun and people in
town concentrated in low-tech, low-skill operations. Waxahachie in the 1990s, will be at the
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
158,954
(62%)
other end of the national economy, for it is slated to be literally at the center of the
Dukakis (D)
95,403
(37%)
1174
TEXAS
TEXAS
117:
Rep. Joe L. Barton (R)
shopping malls full of Swiss chocolates and French furs and restaurants where you can go
Elected 1984; b. Sept. 15, 1949, Waco; home, Ennis; Texas A&M
saltimbocca and sushi. Postmodern skyscrapers tower over clogged freeways and at od.'
U., B.S. 1972, Purdue U., M.S. 1973; United Methodist; married
intersections are side-by-side with a tiny gas station or U-Tote-M. Houston is America's onl'
(Janet).
large city without zoning.
Career: Asst. to Vice Pres., Ennis Business Forms, 1973-81:
For much of the 1980s, Houston's economy has been sagging: home prices were down sharply
White House Fellow, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 1981-82; Consultant.
a lot of office space was going vacant, onetime high rollers were counting nickels and dimes. But
Atlantic Richfield Co., 1982-84.
the west side of Houston remained, by any national standard, affluent and prosperous. 11
Offices: 1225 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2002. Also InterFirst
remains the nation's center of expertise in the oil business. Its huge petrochemical complexe
Tower, Ste. 507, Conroe 77301, 409-760-2291; 809 University
create ever higher technology. It has the Johnson Space Center (saved from cuts by the area's
Ave., Rm. 222, Creekwide Plaza, Bryan 77840, 409-846-9791;
congressional delegation). It has a highly skilled, ambitious, resourceful work force. And the
InterFirst Bank Bldg., Ste. 101, Ennis 75119, 214-875-8488; and
traffic congestion, probably the worst in the country, about which Houstonians complain
3509 Hulen, Ste. 110, Ft. Worth 76107, 817-737-7737.
bitterly, may be a harbinger of better times.
Committees: Energy and Commerce (15th of 17 R). Subcommit-
The key question is whether Houston, with a metropolitan population over three million, can
tees: Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness; En-
diversify its economy, as Los Angeles did in the 1950s and Chicago in the 1880s, or whether it
ergy and Power.
will stay tied to oil as Detroit was to the automobile or Pittsburgh to steel, remaining vulnerable
to the declines that will come sooner or later. One good sign: bad times have spurred tens of
Group Ratings
thousands of Houstonians, who were once happy to rise upward on oil prices and regular
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
corporate paychecks and bonuses, to go out and start their own businesses.
1988
5
4
3
9
6
96
87
100
100
83
The 7th District remains also one of the most Republican districts in the United States in
1987
4
-
4
14
-
100
-
-
93
82
election after election-and number one in particular in 1988, when it cast 77% of its votes for
National Journal Ratings
its former congressman George Bush. The conservatism here is more economic than cultural:
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB- 1987 CONS
many of these people, after all, have moved far from their original roots and they are not much
Economic
13%
-
85%
0%
-
89%
interested in changing other people's lifestyles. But few voters here are aggressive liberals on
Social
19%
-
81%
18%
-
81%
cultural issues, and very few dissent from the hawkish consensus on foreign policy.
Foreign
30%
-
70%
0%
-
80%
The district's current congressman is Bill Archer, Bush's successor and one of the senior
Republicans in the House. Born and brought up in Texas, Archer was elected to the legislature
Key Votes
as a Democrat and then became a Republican. He is now the ranking Republican on the House
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
Ways and Means Committee-a position which, as Dan Rostenkowski has pointed out, Bush
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
could have had if he had stayed in the House. Unsurprisingly, he has been a vigorous advocate
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
for positions on tax issues backed by the oil industry, especially independent producers. He has
been a staunch opponent over the years of increases in social security benefits and coverage, and
Election Results
he opposed as well the 1983 social security refinancing. He has favored lower tax rates for years.
1988 general
Joe L. Barton (R)
164,692
(68%)
($654.260)
but is proud of having opposed the 1986 tax reform and was one of the House Republicans who
Pat Kendrick (D)
78,786
(32%)
($17,414)
came close to scuttling it in December 1985. Up until 1989, anyway, Archer seemed almost
1988 primary
Joe L. Barton (R), unopposed
entirely negative in his approach to legislation.
1986 general
Joe L. Barton (R)
-
86,190
(56%)
($1,034,515)
But on becoming the committee's ranking Republican after the death of John Duncan in
Preston Geren (D)
68,270
(44%)
($895,746)
1988, and with his 7th District predecessor in the White House in January 1989, Archer started
sounding much more disposed toward positive legislation and bipartisan compromise-and even
possibly, if it comes to that, tax increases, though his first priorities are to cut capital gains and
SEVENTH DISTRICT
oil drilling taxes. He worked with Rostenkowski on a technical changes bill and has a better
relationship with him than any previous ranking Republican had. With an utterly safe district,
To the short list of congressional districts once represented in the House by a President of the
Archer is sure to be around; the interesting question is what impact he will have.
United States you can add the 7th District of Texas. This is especially notable since the district
in anything like its present form did not exist until the 1966 redistricting: this was a brand new
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 651,000, up 23.5% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,083, up 103.6% 1970 80
part of America when it elected George Bush as its first congressman. Fifty years ago the WPA
Households (1980): 72% family, 42% with children, 62% married couples; 37.9% housing units rented:
Guide described the rich subdivision of River Oaks as the "outlying" part of Houston: River
median monthly rent: $302; median house value: $79,200. Voting age pop. (1980): 375,483; 6% Spanish
Oaks is now about as close to downtown as you get in the 7th District whose 650,000 people live
origin, 3% Black, 2% Asian origin.
west and northwest in affluent and air-conditioned comfort on land that a half century ago
housed perhaps 20,000, mostly in leaky-frame shotgun houses propped up to keep the swamp
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
194,529
(77%)
water out. The gas stations where you could buy food and bait have been replaced by gallery/
Dukakis (D).
56,781
(22%)
1176
TEXAS
TEXAS
1177
Rep. Bill Archer (R)
sailors, and a maritime supply company offers merchandise dear to the hearts of seafaring men."
Elected 1970; b. Mar. 22, 1928, Houston; home, Houston; Rice U.,
On the west side of Houston, you might be forgiven for thinking this is entirely a white-collar,
1945-46, U. of TX, B.B.A. 1949, LL.B. 1951; Roman Catholic;
office-bound city; but on the east and north, around the turning basin in the port and through the
married (Sharon).
maze of refinery towers and tubing, you can see clearly that Houston is also a blue-collar town,
Career: Air Force, 1951-53; Pres., Uncle Johnny Mills, Inc.,
with blacks and Mexican-Americans and large numbers also of whites from the rural South and
1953-61; Hunters Creek Village Cncl. and Mayor Pro Tem, 1955-
even Michigan and California who came here to move up in the world.
62; TX House of Reps., 1966-70; Dir., Heights St. Bank, Houston,
Politically, Houston is as polarized as a steel town in the 1930s. In 1988, the west side 7th
1967-70; Practicing atty., 1968-71.
District voted 77% for George Bush, while the inner city 18th District, with its large black
Offices: 1135 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2571. Also 7501 Fed. Bldg.,
population, went 75% for Michael Dukakis. They were watching the same TV ads and news
515 Rusk St., Houston 77002, 713-229-2763.
from the same city, they depend on the same economy-but they vote as if they lived in different
Committees: Ways and Means (Ranking Member of 13 R). Joint
countries. In between politically, and off to the north and east geographically, is the 8th
Committee on Taxation.
Congressional District of Texas, which gave 54% of its votes to Bush and 45% to Dukakis-two
points off the national average. About one-third of the people in the 8th live in Houston, about a
third are black; there are modest working-class precincts on the city's east side. To the north, the
district includes what was once countryside, dotted by roadside stores and jerry-built houses, and
what is now the home of Houston's Intercontinental Airport, and the glass high-rise office
Group Ratings
buildings and glittery subdivisions that were built nearby. At the far eastern end of the district is
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Baytown, an industrial refinery town where the Ship Channel empties out into the bay. People
1988
0
9
4
18
25
100
87
100
100
90
here believe in traditional cultural values, perhaps a little more fervently than their neighbors on
1987
0
-
5
21
-
95
-
-
100
85
the west side; they believe also in free enterprise, though their faith has been tested as the 1980s
National Journal Ratings
have gone on, and they are not averse to some government intervention here and there and a little
tighter mesh in the safety net.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
0%
-
93%
0%
-
89%
In the 1970s, this was a Democratic congressional constituency; in the 1980s, it was
Social
0%
95%
0%
90%
Republican, thanks largely to the talents and vote-getting abilities of Congressman Jack Fields.
-
-
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
In Washington, Fields was at first seen as a blow-dried Reagan robot swept into office in 1980
and swept to reelection on billows of PAC money. The reality seems a little different. Fields won
Key Votes
in 1980 in a district closer to the central city and more Democratic, and he beat a veteran and
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
accomplished liberal, incumbent Bob Eckhardt-even while Jimmy Carter was beating Ronald
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
Reagan in the district. Fields was helped by redistricting, but not overwhelmingly: the 8th is not
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
much more Republican than the 5th District in Dallas that elects Democrat John Bryant or the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
12th in Fort Worth that used to elect Jim Wright. Fields won with 57% in 1982 against a weak
Election Results
opponent; he got well over 60% in 1984 and 1986 and was unopposed in 1988.
1988 general
Bill Archer (R)
185,203
(79%)
($180,255)
His political assets seem to be these. He has genuine roots in the district, in the old Exxon
Diane Richards (D)
48,824
(21%)
($11,090)
company town of Humble out near Intercontinental Airport. He won a seat on the Energy and
1988 primary
Bill Archer (R), unopposed
Commerce Committee in his second term-a valuable political asset in energy-dependent
1986 general
Bill Archer (R)
129,673
(87%)
($152,779)
Houston. He is not enough of a free market ideologue to pass up chances to help the district,
Harry Kniffen (D)
17,635
(12%)
fighting efforts to move space station work away from the nearby Johnson Space Center, getting
$38 million for flood control on White Oak Bayou and $3.3 million to clean up toxic wastes in the
Highlands Acid Pit, and trying to block the sales of USX's Texas Works at Baytown to the
EIGHTH DISTRICT
government of Iraq. On the powerful Energy committee, he supports oil industry positions on
various issues and is an adversary of Health Subcommittee Chairman Henry Waxman on issues
"What built Houston," wrote John Gunther in the 1940s, "was a combination of cotton, oil, and
like clean air and AIDS policy. All these have helped Fields gain a solid hold on what might
the ship canal." The cotton and oil were the gifts of nature, though they require much human
otherwise be a Democratic district-a formidable political achievement for someone the
effort and ingenuity to produce in commercial quantities; the ship canal was almost totally man's
Democrats have tried to dismiss as just another pretty face.
creation. After the sand-spit port of Galveston was destroyed by a hurricane and tidal wave in
1900, Houston's town fathers decided to dredge out Buffalo Bayou and make their inland city a
seaport, and they succeeded. By 1940, Houston had a "port district, a teeming. noisy place
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 685,500, up 29.9% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,531, up 65.7% 1970 80.
where the Neptune Shore, the Port Cafe, and the Seven Seas Store are part of a salty
Households (1980): 81% family, 52% with children, 69% married couples; 30.4% housing units rented;
atmosphere that is authentic even though inland from the coast so many miles. Here a beer sign
median monthly rent: $256; median house value: $46,700. Voting age pop. (1980): 347,798; 15% Black,
announces that a certain brand 'steadies your nerves'; a seamen's institute beckons passing
11% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
1178
TEXAS
TEXAS
1179
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
89,941
(54%)
devastating hurricane of 1900 (at which point even venturesome Texans decided it was better to
Dukakis (D).
74,588
(45%)
build the big city which became Houston on swamps inland rather than on sand scarcely above
sea level) and Texas City, just inland where more than 500 perished in a huge liquefied natural
Rep. Jack Fields (R)
gas tanker explosion in 1947. This is not gentle country. Nonetheless, the Space Center was
Elected 1980; b. Feb. 3, 1952, Humble; home, Humble; Baylor U.,
located here, under pressure from Vice President Johnson and longtime Houston Congressman
B.A. 1974, J.D. 1977; Baptist; married (Lynn).
Albert Thomas; and when NASA threatened to move space station operations out, they were
stymied by the area delegation led by 9th District Representative Jack Brooks.
Career: Practicing atty.; Vice Pres., Rosewood Mem. Funeral
Home and Cemetery. 1977-80.
The delegation could hardly have picked a more aggressive or astute champion. Brooks
worked his way through school as a reporter, was a Marine in the South Pacific in World War 11,
Offices: 108 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4901. Also 12605 E. Free-
was elected to the legislature from the Beaumont area at age 23, politicked astutely enough to
way, Ste. 320, Houston 77015, 713-451-6334.
chair the Banks and Banking Committee in his mid-20s, and was elected to Congress in 1952,
Committees: Energy and Commerce (10th of 17 R). Subcommit-
just before turning 30. He is undeniably brainy and even more undeniably forceful; an old-
tees: Energy and Power; Health and the Environment; Telecom-
fashioned man's man who likes to hunt and fish with no evident interest in introspection but an
munications and Finance. Merchant Marine and Fisheries (5th of
impressive ability to figure out how to get things done and then the temperament to see that they
17 R). Subcommittees: Merchant Marine; Panama Canal and
are done his way. He is probably the current Member of Congress who most closely resembles
Outer Continental Shelf (Ranking Member).
Lyndon Johnson, in both his virtues and his faults, in his accent and even a bit in his craggy
appearance. Brooks is extremely partisan, profane, knowledgeable, witty, effective. A story that
may be apocryphal has it that he was charged with being pro-Communist in his 1952 House
campaign. "I fought the fascists for five years in World War II," he is supposed to have told a
Group Ratings
political meeting; "I own an eight-inch revolver back at home and I'll shoot any man who calls
me a Communist."
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
1988
0
9
6
18
19
100
87
100
100
87
Whether that happened or not, it is clear that Brooks is fearless. Representing a district that
1987
0
-
7
29
-
86
-
-
93
75
reached far into rural east Texas in the 1950s and early 1960s, he compiled (and has now) a
liberal record on economic issues and on many non-economic issues as well. While most southern
National Journal Ratings
congressmen postured in opposition to civil rights legislation, Brooks voted for the Civil Rights
1988 LIB 1988 CONS
1987 LIB 1987 CONS
Act of 1964, something that took real guts-and he didn't show a tremor of hesitation. More
Economic
0%
-
93%
11%
-
83%
recently, he was an ally and adviser and the strongest and most vocal defender of Jim Wright
Social
0%
-
95%
15%
-
84%
during the investigation that led to Wright's resignation. Brooks's position has been that Wright
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
violated no rules, that charges were brought against him as they have been brought against
Key Votes
liberal leaders in the past for political reasons only, and that the Ethics Committee has
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
misunderstood the facts and the law. Only four days apart from Wright in age, a friend since
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
they were both combat veterans elected to the Texas legislature in 1946 at age 23, Brooks made
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
a point of renominating Wright for speaker in the Democratic Caucus, declaring "Jim Wright
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
and I have worked together for two-thirds of our lives, and I know him as well as my brother,"
Election Results
and defending his as faithfully as a brother could.
After 14 years of chairing Government Operations, Brooks became Chairman of Judiciary in
1988 general
Jack Fields (R), unopposed
($226,581)
1989. At Gov Ops he was known as an aggressive investigator of agencies and a stickler on some
1988 primary
Jack Fields (R), unopposed
1986 general
Jack Fields (R)
66,280
(68%)
($574,657)
big government procurement issues-the telephone contract, for example. On Judiciary, where
Blaine Mann (D)
30,617
(32%)
($19,666)
he had been less active, he is expected to be a more aggressive and partisan chairman than Peter
Rodino, and some think he will try to expand the committee's jurisdiction as John Dingell has
with Energy and Commerce. But his differences with Rodino are limited: Brooks favors capital
punishment, for example (but not for agency heads who displease him), and he is not a believer
NINTH DISTRICT
in Rodino's old-fashioned trust-buster approach to antitrust.
From Spindletop park in Beaumont, where Texas's oil industry began, to the Lyndon B. Johnson
Brooks served on the special committee investigating the Iran-contra scandal, just as he served
Space Center south of Houston, where America's probes into space are planned, stretches the
on Judiciary's impeachment hearings a dozen years ago. On both he was a prosecutorial-minded
9th Congressional District of Texas. It has two concentrations of population. One is around
critic of Republican administration personnel; Nixon called him "the executioner" after Brooks
Beaumont and Port Arthur, near the border with Cajun Louisiana, an area of refineries.
tracked down all the public money spent on Nixon's San Clemente house. Brooks himself says,
petrochemical plants, and other big processing operations. Heavily blue-collar and dependent on
"I never thought being a congressman was supposed to be an easy job, and it doesn't bother me a
oil, this area had one of the highest levels of unemployment in Texas in the middle 1980s. The
bit to be in a good fight."
other populated area is around Galveston, built on a sand spit and rebuilt after 6,000 died in the
Brooks had some electoral problems in the early 1980s, in 1980 edging a primary challenger
TEXAS
TEXAS
118!
1180
by an uncomfortably narrow 50%-43% margin and beating him two years later, after spending
Election Results
over $700,000, with just 53%. He has not had primary opposition since, but has won general his
1988 general
Jack Brooks (D), unopposed
($226,581
elections with 59% in 1984 and 62% in 1986-a little lower than most congressmen with
1988 primary
Jack Brooks (D), unopposed
seniority usually get, but not in the danger zone. The 9th District, with its blacks and Cajuns. for
1986 general
Jack Brooks (D)
73,285
(62%)
($400.03'
union members and unemployed oil workers, is in any case pretty solidly Democratic; it went
Lisa D. Duperier (R)
45,834
(38%)
($237.17'
Michael Dukakis over Texas's George Bush in 1988. Brooks seems likely to be an even more
important congressman as the 1980s turn into 1990s.
TENTH DISTRICT
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 560,200, up 6.4% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,443, up 17.5% 1970-80. rented:
Households (1980): 76% family, 43% with children, 63% married couples; 32.0% housing units 20% Black.
In the 1940s, world traveler John Gunther found Austin "one of the pleasantest small cities I'v.
median monthly rent: $209; median house value: $39,300. Voting age pop. (1980): 370,362;
ever seen. The street signs are colored orange, and the lamps, uniquely in the world I imagine.
7% Spanish 1% Asian origin.
shine from towers 165 feet high, thus softly floodlighting the whole town. And Austin is
fantastically full of fantastically pretty girls." Austin remains pleasant and the women are still
1988 Presidential Vote:
(D)
105,562
(53%)
Dukakis
attractive, but this southernmost state capital in the continental 48 states is scarcely small any
Bush (R)
94,083
(47%)
more: it is one of the boom towns of America and one of its major centers of high-tech innovation
and economic growth.
There is an irony here, for Austin was not established for economic reasons. It has been
Rep. Jack Brooks (D)
through most of its history a city with only a limited interest in commerce, its skies almost totally
Elected 1952; b. Dec. 18, 1922, Crowley, LA; home, Beaumont:
untainted with the smoke of industry, its ground not pocked with pumping oil rigs. Nor has state
Lamar Col., 1939-41, U. of TX, B.J. 1943, J.D. 1949: United
government been a major employer during most of Austin's history: the dome on the pink granite
VITA
Methodist; married (Charlotte).
Capitol is just a tad higher than its counterpart in Washington, but Texas has always believed in
Career: USMC, WWII; TX House of Reps., 1946-50; Practicing
minimalist government. The real secret behind Austin's growth and vitality, the public sector
atty., 1949-52.
sparkplug that has produced the private sector combustion, is the University of Texas. Endowed
Offices: 2449 RHOB 20515, 202-225-6565. Also 230 Jack Brooks
with thousands of west Texas acres that turned out to sit on top of oil, it has the nation's largest
Fed. Bldg., Beaumont 77701, 409-839-2508; and 601 25th St.
single university campus here in Austin and has become one of the great institutions of higher
Galveston 77550, 409-766-3608.
learning in America.
Committees: Judiciary (Chairman of 21 D) Subcommittee: Eco
But since the middle 1970s Austin has changed, almost doubling in size, bursting with
nomic and Commercial Law (Chairman). Select Committee on
outsiders, spreading shopping centers and condominiums willy-nilly into the surrounding hills
Narcotics Abuse and Control (2d of 18 D).
The catalyst again is the University, plus Austin's selection in 1983 as the site of the
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation research consortium headed by
Admiral Bobby Inman. Austin in the 1980s has become not exactly yuppified, but more
affluent, less of a college town and more a place where families with technical-minded
breadwinners live ordered and disciplined lives. Its attitudes are now closer to those of the Texas
Monthly, probably the most successful-editorially and financially-of the nation's regional
Group Ratings
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
magazines, which eyes Texas critically but usually affectionately; less the adolescent eager to
ADA
ACLU
overthrow all the older generation's pieties and more the adult interested in understanding and
81
77
82
25
9
6
13
23
9
1988
75
76
64
0
13
8
appreciating the society around him.
-
-
1987
88
-
-
Politically, Austin has become more Republican. Austin and the surrounding 10th Congres-
sional District voted for Ronald Reagan twice, and the high-tech and UT ticket of Michael
National Journal Ratings
Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen won just 53% in the district once represented in the House by
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Lyndon Johnson. The city's blacks remain unanimously Democratic, and Democrats' percent
87%
8%
73%
-
0%
Economic
-
59%
40%
ages among Mexican-Americans and students have not fallen too much (conservative young
24%
-
Social
75%
-
people in Texas today tend to choose A&M, SMU or Baylor over UT). But the new affluent
Foreign
60%
37%
68%
-
30%
I
neighborhoods spreading all over the countryside are Republican, though not quite so heavily so
15 affluent neighborhoods in Dallas or Houston, of course (no place else in America is that
Key Votes
Republican), but Republican enough to give a different tilt to Austin politics.
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGS
1) Homeless $
-
5) Ban Drug Test
But congressional politics here remains in the LBJ mode, thanks to Congressman Jake Pickle
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
There is an old tradition here, going back to Lyndon Johnson's victory in the 1937 special
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
-
12) Nuclear Testing
election, of fairly liberal Democratic congressmen, who are fairly generous with public funds
-
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
(especially for central Texas), tolerant on civil rights, hawkish on military affairs, and politically
1182
TEXAS
TEXAS
1183
able-a tradition upheld by LBJ ("the best congressman ever," in the words of his unadmiring
Group Ratings
biographer Robert Caro), his successor Homer Thornberry, and the man who succeeded
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Thornberry when Johnson made him a federal judge in 1963, the current congressman, Jake
1988
80
70
54
64
63
16
14
40
38
19
Pickle. All three were contemporaries, born between 1908 and 1913; the 10th has been
1987
60
-
52
50
-
22
-
-
43
14
represented by politicians of the same generation for more than 50 years.
National Journal Ratings
Pickle gives the impression of being a kindly man; he is conscientious about his work; on the
1988 LIB 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Ways and Means Committee on which he ranks third and on the Social Security Subcommittee
Economic
67%
-
33%
54%
-
45%
he used to chair, he has taken seriously his responsibilities for programs which affect all
Social
70%
-
28%
42%
-
57%
Americans and cut to the heart of the lives of a great many. He is not one to promise what be
Foreign
50%
-
49%
50%
-
48%
believes cannot be delivered, and while other Democrats go out and demagogue the social
security issue on the campaign trail, Pickle has worked hard in the committee room and on the
Key Votes
floor to make sure the system does not go bankrupt. He was the architect of the social security
I) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
rescue of 1983, when benefits were in effect cut by raising the normal retirement age over the
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
years to 67 in the next century; he now chairs the Oversight Subcommittee. He was a serious
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
player on tax reform and on trade; he has come forward with well thought out amendments to
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
help rural hospitals, to strengthen the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and to let owners of rental real
Election Results
estate deduct cash expenses. He is not the kind to challenge Chairman Dan Rostenkowski idly.
1988 general
J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D)
232,213
(93%)
($172,921)
but he knows how to get what he wants.
Vincent J. May (Lib.)
16,281
(7%)
He knows how to win elections, too. It struck some Republicans that changes in Austin were
1988 primary
J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D), unopposed
making the old-fashioned Pickle vulnerable and in 1986 Carole Keeton Rylander, mayor of
1986 general
J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D)
135,863
(72%)
($1,369,912)
Austin in the 1970s and daughter of a dean of UT Law School, a family friend of Pickle's and 3
Carole Rylander (R)
52,000
(28%)
($316,175)
longtime Democrat, switched to the Republican Party and ran against him. Pickle showed
energy, aggressiveness, tenacity and won 72% of the vote. For the 1990s, the outlook for Pickle is
even better. The 10th was, according to the Census's 1986 estimate, the second most populous in
ELEVENTH DISTRICT
the country (after the Texas 26th) and stands to be split up after the 1990 Census; one possibility
is that Republican north Austin will become the nucleus of a new Republican district, leaving
The heart of Texas, just off the geographic center of the state but the center of its traditional
the 10th more Democratic and more pro-Pickle.
rural culture, is not in greater Houston or the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, or even in the state
capital of Austin. It is betwixt and between, a part of Texas whose farm fields and small towns
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 702,400, up 33.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,181, up 41.0% 1970-90
Households (1980): 65% family, 35% with children, 53% married couples; 45.4% housing units rented
recall the state as it was half a century ago, before the growth of the oil industry transformed
median monthly rent: $222; median house value: $47,800. Voting age pop. (1980): 390,909: 15%
Texas, once a rural backwater, into one of the centers of western capitalism. This is the Texas
Spanish origin, 9% Black, 1% Asian origin.
around Waco, which since its founding, wrote the WPA Guide in 1940, "has grown steadily and
1988 Presidential Vote:
without spectacular boom periods. Negroes still sing and sweat in broad outlying cotton fields.
Dukakis (D)
156,015
(53%)
Bush (R)
132,984
(46%)
and cowmen frequent Waco's elm-shaded streets, but false-fronted saloons have been replaced
by tall hotels; old cattle trails are boulevards. River-bank slums, locally called Rat Row, have
Rep. J. J. (Jake) Pickle (D)
grown into an industrial zone." Waco has continued its steady growth since, fortified by the
growth of the Army's huge Fort Hood, which occupies most of one of the counties next door, by
Elected Dec. 17, 1963; b. Oct. 11, 1913, Roscoe; home. Austin: U
of TX, B.A. 1938; United Methodist; married (Beryl).
the 1970s surge in the "awl bidness," and perhaps in the 1990s, by the high-tech influence
rediating out of Dallas-Fort Worth on one side and Austin on the other.
Career: Area Dir., Natl. Youth Admin., 1938-41; Navy. WWII.
Waco and the still mostly rural counties around it make up Texas's 11th Congressional
Co-organizer, KVET Radio, Austin; Adv. and pub. rel. business
District. Politically, this was long one of the most Democratic parts of what was the very
Dir., TX St. Dem. Exec. Cmtee., 1957-60; Mbr., TX Employment
Comm., 1961-63.
Democratic state of Texas, not so much because of blacks and Hispanics (their numbers are not
high here) as because of the ancestral loyalties of rural and small city whites. As late as 1968.
Offices: 242 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4865. Also 763 Fed Bldg.
while Hubert Humphrey was carrying almost nothing but black precincts in the South, he won
Austin 78701, 512-482-5921.
in absolute majority here against Richard Nixon and George Wallace. But in the two decades
Committees: Ways and Means (3d of 23 D). Subcommittees
since, national Democratic loyalties have, if not evaporated, at least diminished: George Bush
Health; Oversight (Chairman). Joint Committee on Taxation.
carried this district with 58% of the vote.
The congressman from the 11th District, Marvin Leath, in his first decade in the House
became one of the leaders of the Democrats-and not just of the conservative Democrats: he has
been one of the Members who has held the Democratic majority together. He came to the House
with experience in business as a small Texas banker and after working two years for his
1184
TEXAS
TEXAS
1185
predecessor, Bob Poage, a conservative and farm policy expert first elected in 1936 who chaired
Rep. J. Marvin Leath (D)
the Agriculture Committee until he was ousted by the Democratic Caucus after the election of
Elected 1978; b. May 6, 1931, Henderson; home, Waco; U. of TX,
1974. Leath ran for the seat in 1978 and won after two tough struggles, against liberal Lane
B.B.A. 1954; Presbyterian; married (Alta).
Denton in the primary and against a well-financed Republican in the general; in his first three
Career: Army, 1954-56; High sch. teacher and coach, 1957-59;
years he compiled a conservative voting record. He even looked the part of a rural conservative:
Salesman, 1959-62; Banker, 1962-68; Spec. Asst. to U.S. Rep. W.
with his deep drawl, his tanned weatherbeaten look, his guitar and country music, he looks like
R. Poage, 1972-74.
the kind of Texan who keeps a shotgun mounted on his pickup truck.
But from the 1970s, he also gained an understanding that the road upward for a Democrat-
Offices: 336 CHOB 20515, 202-225-6105. Also 206 Fed. Bldg.,
Waco 76701, 817-752-9600.
unless he was to switch altogether to the Republicans, as the 6th District's Phil Gramm did in
1983-was to get along with the Democratic Caucus. He worked on the veterans' training and
Committees: Armed Services (10th of 31 D). Subcommittees:
G.I. bills in 1983 and 1984-which have turned out to be one of the unsung public policy
Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems; Readiness. Budget
successes of the 1980s. He championed military spending and protected Fort Hood from his seat
(5th of 21 D). Task Force: Defense, Foreign Policy and Space
(Chairman).
on Armed Sefvices. In 1985, he got a seat on the Budget Committee, where he found his forum,
advanced his own budget alternatives, saw them rejected by other Democrats (though they have
gotten more votés than you might think), and then went on to support his fellow Democrats'
alternative with force and vigor as the best available solution. He proved himself over and over
again a good team player.
Group Ratings
So when liberals were casting around for someone to run against Armed Services Chairman
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Les Aspin after he voted for the MX missile in 1985 and contra aid in 1986, they went down the
1988
15
22
30
45
38
71
44
90
77
41
committee list to number 14 in seniority and came to Leath. He was more hawkish than Aspin by
1987
28
I
28
29
-
41
-
-
50
47
any measure; but also they thought more candid and more of a team player, and he ran for the
National Journal Ratings
job in the Democratic Caucus, with support ranging from Ron Dellums to Sonny Montgomery.
Eventually the move failed: Aspin was rejected in Caucus in January 1987, but the Leath forces
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
came up short after leading liberals passed a letter backing Aspin and pointing to Leath's
40%
-
58%
42%
-
58%
Social
32%
-
68%
35%
-
defense record. This is not the only setback Leath has suffered. He wanted to become chairman
65%
Foreign
38%
-
62%
40%
-
60%
of the Budget Committee. But in July 1987, it became apparent that Leon Panetta of California
had the votes, and Leath took himself out of the race.
Key Votes
Leath has taken these setbacks with characteristic good humor and found other worthwhile
I) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
FOR
work to do. After the death of Dan Daniel in 1988, he became Chairman of the Armed Services
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
Panel on Morale, Welfare, and Recreation; this handles over $16 billion worth of non-
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
appropriated funds that may not have a direct bearing of defense capabilities but are important
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
to military men and women-in, among other places, Fort Hood, Texas. Leath supported
Election Results
Richard Gephardt's presidential candidacy actively, as did many of his fellow House Demo-
crats. He remains on Budget and in 1989 chaired its Task Force on Defense, Foreign Policy, and
1988 general
J. Marvin Leath (D)
134,207
(95%)
($87,626)
Space-all areas on which he is inclined to spend more than most other Democrats, but on which
Frederick M. King (Lib.)
6,533
(5%)
1988 primary
J. Marvin Leath (D), unopposed
he presumably will work to find common ground with them. When his six-year stint on Budget
1986 general
J. Marvin Leath (D)
84,201
(100%)
($83,069)
ends, he will return to Veterans' Affairs as its number four Democrat.
At home, Leath has not had a serious opponent since his tough races in 1978, nor is he likely to
in this district he fits like a glove.
TWELFTH DISTRICT
Fort Worth, Texas, has a fair claim to being the quintessential mid-American city. Halfway
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 580,200, up 10.0% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,382, up 25.3% 1970.80
across the continent, midway between the oceans, it is where the East ends and the West begins,
Households (1980): 75% family, 41% with children, 65% married couples; 36.6% housing units rented.
just west of the Balcones Escarpment that divides the dry treeless grazing lands of west Texas
median monthly rent: $162; median house value: $30,400. Voting age pop. (1980): 381,013: 13% Black.
from the humid green croplands of east Texas. It is southern in its hell-of-a-fellow heritage and
8% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
northern in its advanced post-industrial economy. It has the nation's biggest row of Western
wear shops and in the redeveloped Stockyards the nation's largest honkytonk, Billy Bob's Texas:
it has the nation's richest family, the Basses, who have put up the steel-sheen skyscrapers that
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
106,061
(58%)
dominate the skyline from hills miles away and at whose base is the Sundance Square dream-
Dukakis (D)
75,985
(41%)
world built by the eccentric Bass brother.
Half a century ago the WPA Guide said it was "as thoroughly representative of the Southwest
1186
TEXAS
TEXAS
1187
às a long-horned steer. Its metropolitan aspects-towering business buildings, noisy traffic-
Texas delegation and many but not all southerners. On the second of the secret ballots, he edged
vividly exemplify the modern city; but its people typify the spirit and atmosphere of the Old
out Richard Bolling by two votes; on the third, he beat Phillip Burton 148-147. A reform-
West. There is still time for a cordial 'Howdy, stranger,' and a nice disregard of the city's uproar
minded group of Democrats elected the one candidate without distinguished reform credentials
in the easy pause for conversation that is definitely reminiscent of the top rail of a corral fence.
Suddenly Wright was a national leader, spokesman for the Democratic Party, in line for the
with boot heels hooked for balance and plenty of time for talk."
speakership. His relationship with Speaker Tip O'Neill turned out to be good; he made peace
Yet Fort Worth has become a center of America's high-tech and defense industries. Fort
eventually with his 1976 opponents; he worked hard and often effectively to find common
Worth is the place where an eight-engine B-52 bomber rolled off the runway and, circling lazily
ground with the majority of House Democrats on issues like energy and foreign policy that
in the wide treeless sky, broke the United States out of the SALT II treaty in 1986, as it together
tended to separate them. He made his share of missteps along the way, championing and
with the new B-1 exceeded the treaty's limits. It took off from Carswell Air Force Base, right
spotlighting the synfuels program which most Democrats eventually voted to kill, switching
across the street from where General Dynamics built it in the nation's largest defense plant; not
positions on the MX missile, putting Phil Gramm on the Budget Committee where he ended up
far away than Bell Helicopter Textron's almost equally huge plant. Fort Worth has some of the
sponsoring the Reagan budget cuts. Back home in Fort Worth, he seemed stronger than ever:
nation's premier small museums (better, it likes you to know, than Dallas's) and the definitive
even in the conservative climate of 1980, when challenged by then Mayor Jim Bradshaw,
museum of Western art; it will also be the site of the second Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Wright raised $1.2 million and won with 60%. In the House he steadily consolidated his position
plant to make paper money. Fort Worth had its beginning as a cow town, where stockmen drove
until, by the middle 1980s, it seemed highly unlikely that anyone else would succeed O'Neill. By
their herds to the railhead, when it pushed west from Dallas; today it has a high-tech economy.
1985, when O'Neill announced his retirement, Wright was able to announce that he had a
with big employers like General Dynamics and Texas Instruments and Tandy Radio Shack. It
majority of votes; Dan Rostenkowski and John Dingell, aggressive and ambitious men who
has long been seen as a defensive rival looking over its shoulder at Dallas; now it is entitled to
admitted they'd like the job themselves, declined to run, knowing the vote count.
stand up on its own. Other cities have their claims, but the visitor from abroad who wants to see
In his first term as Speaker, Wright showed a command over the technical content of
às much as possible of what is quintessentially American would be well advised to fly to the
legislation and he worked capably with committee and subcommittee chairmen to schedule
Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport and head west to Fort Worth.
legislation in a way that gave the Democratic House a chance to make a strong positive record.
Fort Worth's political heritage is Democratic, and for 34 years by the man who became the
Working as O'Neill did only with Democrats, uninterested in the votes across the aisle, Wright
18th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jim Wright. In 1954, when Wright was first
put together clean water and highway bills which were quickly passed over President Reagan's
elected to Congress after a primary victory over anti-labor Democrat Wingate Lucas (who died
reto. He helped fashion a responsible trade bill and attached the ultimately successful (and
the week before Wright announced his resignation), this was still a dusty blue-collar town. in
politically useful) factory closing notice provision to it. The House he led passed a catastrophic
contrast to white-collar Dallas, which was electing its first Republican congressman the same
health insurance program, drug and homelessness laws, a farm credit bill, and a welfare reform
year. Much of Fort Worth still has that air, as sympathetic legislatures have shorn some of the
bill that all represented constructive approaches to nagging national problems. Under his
nore Republican parts of Tarrant County away from Wright's 12th District; currently
leadership Congress for the first time in nearly 40 years passed every appropriations bill in time
Arlington and some affluent suburbs to the north are in the 26th District, and some of the
leavily Republican neighborhoods in southwest Fort Worth are in the 6th District which
dazzling, record.
for the new fiscal year. Technically, politically, in legislative substance, it was a fine, perhaps a
tretches south all the way to Houston. That leaves the 12th District with almost all of Fort
On foreign policy, an area he had not been involved in previously, he literally took over U.S.
Worth's blacks and Hispanics, with most of its blue-collar voters, and with ordinary white
Central American policy. Wright speaks Spanish, he has long travelled in Central America, and
Texans living in neighborhoods sprinkled with shopping centers, small Mexican and barbecue
like most House Democrats he voted against opposed military aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
estaurants, and Southern Baptist and fundamentalist churches.
After contra aid was ended in 1987, he began negotiating directly with the Sandinistas, the
As Speaker and before, Wright was a man of tense ambition and mellifluous charm. 2
Reagan Administration, and Central American leaders like Costa Rica President Arias. The
politician of mostly unchanging principles over a 40-year public career but with a tendency
result was that the United States accepted the Arias plan, which produced an end to contra
ometimes to flinch under pressure. For years, he seemed to shift because the world shifted
activities and called for, though it threatened no sanctions to obtain, freedoms of expression and
around him: in the 1950s, this admirer of Franklin Roosevelt was the most liberal member of the
free elections in Nicaragua. The young Democrats who had come to office in the 1970s had felt
Texas delegation, a young national Democrat among a group of old and mostly conservative
then that Congress should have ended the Vietnam war by denying the Johnson and Nixon
nominal members of the party; by the late 1960s, he was being scorned by party liberals for his
Administration funds to fight it. Now, under Wright's leadership and with the votes of most
upport of public works projects and the Vietnam war. But public works and an interventionist
House Democrats, Congress was ending the contra war by denying the Reagan and then the
oreign policy had been the heart of Roosevelt's policies. On his way up, as well as on the may
Bush Administrations funds to fight it. For many younger House members, notably David
lown, Wright had some severe political setbacks. He lost renomination to the legislature in 1948
Bonior of Michigan, whom Wright appointed Chief Deputy Whip, this was a noble cause and
then his opponent was murdered days before the primary. He ran for Lyndon Johnson's Senate
effectiveness. me which cemented them to their leader. For everyone, pro or con, it was a sign of Wright's
eat in 1961 and came in third-tantalyzingly close to the second place which would have not
im in a runoff with John Tower which he probably would have won. He tried for the Senate
gain in 1966, going on television to ask for $10 contributions, but he didn't get enough to make
bner in an institution which places a premium on camaraderie and, though his ycomen efforts to a
Yet Wright's work also showed some of his characteristic defects. He was temperamentally
statewide race. By the early 1970s, this Texan who surely hoped he might follow I vndem
consult his collengues often resulted in legislative success, his occasional failures to do so
ohnson to the White House was reduced to hoping that he might eradicate his 1961 campaign
resulted in political setbacks. His proposal for a tax rate increase in the 100th Congress
ebt and succeed some day to the chairmanship of the House Public Works Committee
embarrassed his fellow Democrats; his flinching on the pay raise issue at the beginning of the
Then in 1976, he ran for House Majority Leader. He began the race with support from the
101st Congress infuriated them. He infuriated the Republicans even more by his aggressive
1188
TEXAS
TEXAS
1189
partisan tactics and increasing resort to steamroller tactics. Some of the Republican complaints
optimism. Like the rural Texas from which many Fort Worth citizens come, Fort Worth ha
were disingenuous: majorities always employ procedural devices in ways minorities always find
been shifting towards Republicans in the 1980s: Fort Worth's Tarrant County was actually l'
unfair. But Wright, through his usually ironclad control of the Rules Committee, did use closed
more for Ronald Reagan than Dallas County in 1984, and that same year Tarrant joined Dalla-
rules preventing amendments much more often than Tip O'Neill did; he did contrive to keep
in electing the Republican slate to county-wide offices-a revolution in local politics. In 1986
Republicans from having an up-or-down vote on their alternatives on major issues like contra
Tarrant was only 2% less for Republican Governor Bill Clements than Dallas, and in 1988 not
aid; he did declare the House adjourned and then open up what he called a new legislative day
only Tarrant County but also the 12th district voted for George Bush over Michael Dukakis. But
one afternoon; he did have his key aide John Mack, convicted in 1973 of beating a young woman
Bush's margin in the 12th was small, and as Wright announced his resignation, the Republicans
with hammer blows to the head, escort Texas Congressman Jim Chapman to the floor in
were searching for a candidate and the major Democratic contenders appeared to be state
October 1987 to switch his vote and give Wright a 206-205 victory on a budget issue. One must
Senator Hugh Parmer of Fort Worth and Pete Geren, a lawyer who ran against 6th District
go back at least to the 1920s to see such hard-nosed partisan tactics employed habitually by a
Congressman Joe Barton in 1986.
Speaker of the House.
One must go back even farther also to find a speaker embroiled with the kind of ethical
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 631,500, up 19.4% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,715, up 4.7% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 73% family, 41% with children, 59% married couples; 36.0% housing units rented:
problems facing Wright in early 1989. In fact, he is the first Speaker ever to resign because of
median monthly rent: $204; median house value: $33,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 374,842; 15% Black.
such problems. In 1988, when Newt Gingrich filed charges against Wright before the Ethics
9% Spanish origin.
Committee, Gingrich was a Republican backbencher with a reputation as a not very reliable
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
gadfly and Wright was at the peak of his power as speaker. Democratic members could not
98,449
(53%)
Dukakis (D)
87,316
imagine any more dire result than a partisan tussle that would be little noticed outside their
(47%)
chamber and on which they would win as they had won most partisan tussles within the House in
Rep. Jim Wright (D)
the 1980s. But in March 1989 the Ethics Committee announced it found reason to believe
Wright violated the rules of the House by taking gifts from his longtime business associate,
Elected 1954; resigned June, 1989; b. Dec. 22, 1922, Ft. Worth:
George Mallick, on the grounds that Mallick had an interest in legislation; and that his unusual
home, Ft. Worth; Weatherford Col., U. of TX; Presbyterian:
married (Betty).
royalty and marketing arrangements for his book The Reflections of a Public Man was an
attempt to evade the House limits on outside earned income.
Career: Army Air Corps, WWII; Partner, trade extension and
Against both these charges Wright had defenses which were not frivolous: that Mallick had no
adv. firm; TX House of Reps., 1947-49; Mayor of Weatherford,
interest in legislation beyond what any citizen has and that royalty income, which is allowed by
1950-54; Pres., TX League of Municipalities, 1953.
the rules, is royalty income even if the arrangement is unusual. And the Ethics Committee
Offices: 1236 LHOB 20515, 202-225-5071. Also 9A10 Lanham
refused to charge him with violations for his frequent and vehement interventions with federal
Fed. Bldg, 819 Taylor St., Ft. Worth 76102, 817-334-3212; and 536
regulators on behalf of Texas savings and loan operators-interventions which, together with his
B Seminary Dr., Ft. Worth 76115, 817-334-4845.
effective opposition to FSLIC recapitalization bills, may end up costing the taxpayers $100
billion to bail out the S&Ls bankrupted by improvident and crooked owners. But as the
elaborate ethics process dragged on, and as more charges and facts surfaced (including a
graphic Washington Post article on the story of the woman John Mack attacked in 1973).
Wright's position became politically untenable. Jack Brooks, Charles Wilson, and other Texans
tried to rally members behind him; Majority Leader Thomas Foley and Whip Tony Coelho
Election Results
defended him publicly and privately. But few Democrats felt for this competent but personally
1988 general
distant man the loyalty they felt, for instance, to the warm and gregarious O'Neill; and, while
Jim Wright (D)
135,459
(99%)
($940,760)
1988 primary
Jim Wright (D), unopposed
Democrats were ready to take seriously Wright's arguments that he hadn't violated the rules.
1986 general
Jim Wright (D)
84,831
(69%)
very few relished the prospect of defending on the stump in 1990 all the things he had done.
($1,098,252)
Don McNiel (R)
38,620
(31%)
($269,946)
As the early months of 1989 dragged on, Wright fought bravely, smiling and maintaining his
innocence. Complaints were heard from many quarters that little legislation was being passed.
but in fact the budget resolutions and appropriations bills were moving forward, committees
were marking up legislation, and Wright himself during all his troubles continued to play the
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT
pivotal role on Central American policy, negotiating the Bush Administration's total surrender
Heading west in Texas, the population thins out, the land becomes browner, till you can travel
on contra aid. The sad irony is that genuine legislative competence which he always wanted to be
through a whole county where only a few hundred people-plus quite a few more head of
the hallmark of his speakership seemed likely to be obscured by controversy over matters which
cattle-live. And then you go up nearly 1,000 feet of elevation, up the steep gullies that surround
Wright surely believes are at most peripheral to his public duties. But by May 1989 it was clear
the rivers which are most of the year just a tiny trickle, till you come to the tilted tableland that is
even to Wright that he could not prevail, and, after Tony Coclho abruptly announced his own
the High Plains of west Texas. The winds here sweep down from the Rockies, the land is barren
resignation following charges that seemed far less serious, Wright spoke emotionally to the
except where it is irrigated, often with the now dangerously depleted waters of the Ogallala
House, defending himself, and announcing his resignation:
Aquifer, but here and there in this demanding environment-sticky-hot in the summer, swept by
Republicans looking ahead to the special election to replace him had some reason for
north winds from Canada in much of the winter-comfortable cities have been built to house the
1190
TEXAS
TEXAS
1191
people and businesses that bring forth oil and natural gas and helium and other elements from
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 551,700, up 4.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,840, up 7.7% 1970-80
the earth.
Households (1980): 75% family, 39% with children, 66% married couples; 30.0% housing units rented:
The 13th Congressional District of Texas, the northernmost district in the state, spans all this
median monthly rent: $166; median house value: $28,800. Voting age pop. (1980): 376,878; 7% Spanish
territory. Its easternmost part, around Wichita Falls, is part of the agricultural land of the Red
origin, 5% Black, 1% Asian origin.
River Valley. It is dusty land, with empty skylines, afflicted with the woes-low crop and land
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
121,111
(63%)
prices, worse export markets, banks failing because of bad loans-characteristic in the middle
Dukakis (D).
68,739
(36%)
1980s of the Farm Belt. This is white Anglo Texas: few blacks got this far west and few Mexican-
Americans go this far north. Population has been declining here not only in the rural counties.
Rep. William C. Sarpalius (D)
but also in the district's second largest city, Wichita Falls, whose population fell below 100,000
Elected 1988; b. Jan. 10, 1948, Los Angeles, CA; home, Amarillo:
in 1980. Wichita Falls was the home base of John Tower, but historically this area, like the entire
TX Tech. U., B.A. 1972, W. TX St. U., M.A. 1978; Methodist:
Red River Valley, has been one of the heartlands of the Democratic Party, and some of the
divorced.
sparsely populated counties to the west still vote heavily Democratic.
Up on the High Plains, the economy is different: it is based on minerals. The 13th District's
Career: Agribusiness; Teacher, 1976-79; TX state Senate, 1981-
88.
largest city is Amarillo, the home of former oilman and now corporate raider T. Boone Pickens,
the helium capital of the world, and just 15 miles west of the Pantex plant that builds America's
Offices: 1223 LHOB 20515, 202-225-3706. Also 817 S. Polk,
nuclear bombs, It has churches whose members believe that the end of the world is near and
Amarillo 79109, 806-371-8844; 1000 Lamar, Ste. 208, Witchita
nuclear destruction will come soon, and Stanley Marsh III who planted a row of 10 Cadillacs
Falls 76301, 817-767-0541;
nose down in his "Cadillac ranch." Settled partly by people from neighboring northwest
Committees: Agriculture (23d of 27 D). Subcommittees: Con-
Oklahoma and western Kansas, the Panhandle has always been one of the most Republican
servation, Credit, and Rural Development; Cotton, Rice and Sugar:
parts of Texas. Opposition to energy price regulation has strengthened this area's Republi-
Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition; Wheat,
canism, and in national elections it almost seethes hostility toward the Democrats.
Soybeans and Feed Gráins. Small Business (23d of 27 D). Sub-
committee: Procurement, Tourism, and Rural Development. Select
Politically, this is a split constituency, cobbled together from two districts after the 1980
Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (18th of 18 D).
Census: the Democratic Red River Valley and the Republican High Plains. It has shifted
between the parties twice, in 1984 and 1988. The first time, Democratic Congressman Jack
Group Ratings and Key Votes: Newly Elected
Hightower was beaten by Beau Boulter, a Republican of the religious right, and beaten 53%-
Election Results
47%. Boulter was reelected in 1986, partly because a month before he had tacked onto the $560
1988 general
William C. Sarpalius (D)
98,345
(52%)
($384,738)
billion continuing resolution $700,000 for the Lake Wichita-Holliday Creek flood control
Larry S. Milner (R)
89,105
(48%)
($476,220)
project. In 1988, he gave up what was looking like a safe seat for a predictably uphill race
1988 primary
William C. Sarpalius (D)
37,745
(58%)
against Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who not only won, but held Boulter to a 51%-49% margin in his
Ed Lehman (D)
16,629
(26%)
home district.
1986 general
Beau Boulter (R)
84,980
(65%)
($744,332)
The new congressman is Democrat Bill Sarpalius, who has beaten both of the leading
Seal (D)
45,907
(35%)
($52,914)
Republicans who ran against him. One was Bob Price, elected congressman from the High
Plains in 1966 and defeated by Hightower in 1974; Sarpalius beat him for the Amarillo state
Senate district in 1980. This time Price lost the Republican nomination to Amarillo businessman
Larry Milner, whom Sarpalius also beat. Sarpalius has a gripping personal history: he came to
FOURTEENTH DISTRICT
the High Plains as a child, stricken with polio, abandoned by his father, sent with his brothers by
Going south from Houston, on the flat coastal plains along the Gulf of Mexico, you come to some
his alcoholic mother to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch near Amarillo. He went to Texas Tech, taught
of the hottest and most humid places in the United States. These cottonlands were settled well
agriculture, went into the farm business, and ran for office. In Austin, he was a crusader against
after the more temperate-climated northeast Texas, and they have always been dedicated to
drunk driving; back home he broke his back while driving an all-terrain vehicle in 1986, and was
market-oriented rather than subsistence farming; the lifeline here is the railroad, with the cotton
beaten and had his jaw broken in an Amarillo bar in January 1988, but in neither case was he
gin beside it. The coastline, though it has plenty of inlets, never had any important ports in the
drinking. Milner charged Sarpalius with being a liberal and talked taxes and gun control:
stretch between Houston and Corpus Christi, until the discovery of oil in this part of Texas made
Sarpalius talked agriculture and natural gas, topics more adapted to the district. Milner won
it worthwhile to build channels to ship the oil out. "A curious mixture of cultures lingers here,"
54% in the High Plains; Sarpalius won 62% in the Red River Valley and the grazing counties to
says the WPA Guide: "traces of the plantation era with its tangible evidences-rambling white
the west, and was elected with 52%.
houses set in groves of moss-draped oaks, old-time Negroes, and cotton; some of the glamour of
With a seat on the Agriculture Committee as a new farm bill is being written, an arresting
the days of the cattle kings, who erected mansions; and combined with this, the thrift and
biography and considerable political acumen, Sarpalius seems to have a good chance to make
customs of descendants of European immigrants. In this region of canebrakes, oil wells, rice,
this once Republican district a safe Democratic seat.
pecans. and hump-backed Brahmas, the land is black, rolling and open except along streams and
where small groves of oaks make islands of darker green in a usually verdant picture."
This is the land of the 14th Congressional District of Texas, an area made up of rural
countrysides, small towns and a couple of small cities, along the Gulf coast and inland toward the
1192
TEXAS
TEXAS
1193
old Texas German country, which includes just the outer edges of the sprawling metropolitan
Election Results
areas of Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. These cotton lands, settled well after
1988 general
Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
111,395
(53%)
($600,114)
the Civil War, don't have many blacks (11% districtwide); the percentage of Mexican-
Mac Sweeney (R)
96,042
(46%)
($645,988)
Americans (20% districtwide) is about average for Texas. You don't find many Mexicans until
1988 primary
Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
59,213
(72%)
you get down to Victoria and the south. This is mostly white Anglo country, ancestrally
Michael L. Herzik (D)
22,770
(28%)
Democratic except for a couple of counties settled by Texas Germans, who were pro-Union in
1986 general
Mac Sweeney (R)
74,471
(52%)
($883,081)
the Civil War and have remained Republican ever since.
Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
67,852
(48%)
($429,672)
The 14th District has been represented by some odd congressmen: one was beaten in 1978
after a woman staffer charged him with sexual improprieties; his conservative successor retired
after he was arrested on homosexual charges in 1979; Bill Patman, son of the longtime populist
FIFTEENTH DISTRICT
chairman of the House Banking Committee, won in 1980 and 1982 but was beaten in 1984 by
the oddest of the lot, Republican Mac Sweeney. Sweeney, who had held some position on the
"Starting virtually as a wilderness at the turn of the century," the WPA Guide wrote 50 years
Reagan White House staff, was guilty of resume inflation, of making inaccurate charges against
ago about the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, it "has experienced an almost phenomenal
Patman, of mailing out campaign literature under the frank after criticizing Patman for doing
development. Along this fertile plain, at intervals approximating seven miles, are thoroughly
so, of claiming to have co-sponsored bills he hadn't yet co-sponsored, of being almost invisible in
modern towns whose populations range from 3,000 to 12,000. Between them vast citrus groves
the House and in committees on which he was nominally serving. Sweeney won the seat by
crowd close to the highway. Along the main roads the glossy fronds of date palms, frequently so
blindsiding Patman and held it in 1986 against a politically inexperienced opponent, Democrat
luxuriant that they serve as windbreaks for citrus groves, contrast with the lighter green of the
Greg Laughlin. But voters catch on to this kind of thing, and in 1988, Laughlin came back and
orchards, the dusty emerald of salt cedars, and the duller tones of the unusually tall, slender
won the seat with 53% of the vote-more than either of Sweeney's two winning percentages.
Washingtonia robusta palms; the latter are strung out in long lines across the landscape, often
Laughlin won in the Democratic heart of the district; his percentages were lower, and he lost 2
marking the boundaries of property or the windings of irrigation canals." To this valley pioneers
couple of counties, at the edges in places with metropolitan overspill. He has committee
came, like Lloyd Bentsen Sr., who arrived after World War I with five dollars in his pocket and
assignments-Public Works, Merchant Marine-that suggest he will be a nuts and bolts
became one of the biggest Valley landowners, remaining active in his business until he died in an
politician. But it's possible that the Republicans will try to win this one back, in which case it
auto accident in 1989 at age 95.
would be seriously contested in 1990 as it has been in each election of the 1980s.
But the neat towns settled by migrants from the North did not supply most of the labor in this
southernmost part of the United States mainland; the workers mostly came from Mexico, or
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 604,200, up 14.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,920, up 26.0% 1970-80
were from Hispanic families settled on the north side of the Rio Grande for generations. Off the
Households (1980): 77% family, 42% with children, 67% married couples; 28.0% housing units remed
paved streets, and in settlements in the counties to which the big citrus developments had not
median monthly rent: $153; median house value: $34,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 368,619: 17%
penetrated, "Mexicans here cling to the customs of their homeland across the river. One- and
Spanish origin, 11% Black.
two-room jacales made of willow branches, daubed with mud or thatch, make rooms for the
humbler folk; milk goats, dogs and cats, chickens and children swarm over these casitas. The
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
121,903
(57%)
Dukakis (D)
90,108
(42%)
border in those days was a porous thing, with no patrolling or border stations to speak of; and the
Valley was a kind of border zone between the underdeveloped Mexican economy and the
advanced economy of the United States."
Rep. Gregory H. Laughlin (D)
It still is, with the proviso that all three economies have grown and produce levels of affluence
Elected 1988; b. Jan. 21, 1942, Bay City; home, W. Columbia: TX
today unforeseen by all but a few visionaries 50 years ago. It is still possible to find some
A&M U., B.A. 1964, U. of TX, LL.B. 1967; Methodist: married
backward dwellings in the Valley, but most residents live an air-conditioned life, and if wage
(Ginger).
levels are the lowest in the United States, so is the cost of living. People and money still ebb and
Career: Asst. Dist. Atty., Harris Cnty., 1970-74; Atty., Bd. of
flow across the border, depending on currency exchange rates; when the peso collapsed in 1982,
Dir., St. Bar of TX, 1981-84; Pres., TX Aggie Bar Assoc., 1984-85
Valley retail sales plummeted and Valley bank deposits surged to record levels. Population
figures have bounced all around, rising sharply in the late 1980s.
Offices: 1022 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2831. Also 312 S. Main St.
Victoria 77901, 512-576-1231; and 221 E. Main St., Ste. 20R
Once upon a time in the small counties of south Texas local ranchers and oil men wielded
Round Rock 78664, 512-244-3765.
absolute political power. The Parr family of Duval County, for example, held back their returns
in the 1948 Senate runoff and then reported 4,622 votes for Lyndon Johnson and 40 votes for his
Committees: Merchant Marine and Fisheries (24th of 26 DI
Subcommittees: Coast Guard and Navigation; Merchant Marine
opponent-a margin similar to that by which Johnson had been trailing in the first primary. But
Panama Canal and Outer Continental Shelf. Public Works and
those days are pretty much gone. The Hispanic voters in small counties are heavily Democratic:
Transportation (30th of 31 D). Subcommittees: Aviation: Surface
Starr County voted 85% for Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen (his official Texas residence is
Transportation; Water Resources.
bere) in 1988. But in the larger counties there is more two-party voting these days, and Dukakis
swept the Valley in the 1988 presidential primary not because of connections with local bosses
but because he spoke Spanish and ran TV ads heavily on local stations.
Group Ratings and Key Votes: Newly Elected
The 15th Congressional District of Texas includes much of the Lower Rio Grande Valley,
19
1194
TEXAS
TEXAS
1195
"including Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata Counties along the river. It goes north almost as far as San
Rep. E (Kika) de la Garza (D)
Antonio, although most of its population is along the border. This is the descendant of a district
Elected 1964; b. Sept. 22, 1927, Mercedes; home, Mission; Edin-
that in 1948, 1950 and 1952 elected Lloyd Bentsen Jr., to the House, before he went to Houston
burg Jr. Col., St. Mary's U., LL.B. 1952; Roman Catholic; married
to make his fortune and got elected to the Senate in 1970. The current congressman from the
(Lucille).
15th District is Eligio (Kika) de la Garza. He came up from poverty, served 12 years in the
Career: Navy, WWII, Army, Korea; Practicing atty., 1952-64:
legislature and was a favorite of the big landowners who was sometimes attacked by Austin-
TX House of Reps., 1952-64.
based liberals and militants. His voting record for years was rather conservative; he is somewhat
Offices: 1401 LHOB 20515, 202-225-2531. Also 1418 Beech St.,
liberal on economic issues and always supported civil rights, but he tends to be hawkish on
McAllen 78501, 512-682-5545; and Alice Fed. Bldg., Rm. 210, 401
foreign policy and rather conservative on cultural issues. This is out of line with many
E. 2d St., Alice 78332, 512-664-2215.
professional Hispanics but meshes well with the views of Mexican-American voters, who tend to
Committees: Agriculture (Chairman of 27 D).
be pro-military and culturally traditional. Generally, de la Garza is an earnest, pleasant man,
who takes the trouble constantly to learn new languages and to surprise foreign visitors by
speaking to them in their native tongue.
De la Garza has been chairman of the House Agriculture Committee since 1981-a troubled
time for that assignment. He got the chair when Thomas Foley moved up in the leadership. As
chairman, de la Garza has superintended the committee's work on two major farm bills, in 1981
and 1985 These have been melancholy duties: even as spending on farm programs went up to
Group Ratings
unprecedented heights, crop prices, land values and farm exports were declining disastrously.
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
For years the Democratic Party has knitted together Farm Belt politicians who want to use
1988
50
55
61
45
38
20
10
63
50
16
government to bolster the family farmer and urban politicians who want to use government for
1987
56
-
60
57
-
5
-
-
27
11
other purposes, and they have voted for each others' programs. Now, on both sides, they know
National Journal Ratings
that government must pay less. The 1981 farm bill, in a way quite unanticipated by anyone,
boosted costs enormously, so much so that de la Garza and everyone else knew that the 1985 bill
1988 LIB- 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
56%
-
44%
73%
-
0%
would have to skin them back, and it did. In the years since, he has done craftsmanlike work, as
Social
60%
-
39%
45%
-
54%
on the 1988 drought relief bill and a 1988 pesticide bill which, characteristically, did not include
Foreign
72%
-
28%
49%
-
51%
provisions sought by lobbies on either extreme. De la Garza will be working on yet another farm
bill in 1989; his expectation early in the year was that it would result in still further cuts in
Key Votes
spending. No opposition has arisen to his chairmanship, and he has been reelected by
I) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
overwhelming margins in the 15th District.
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
-
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice
-
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
--
Election Results
1988 general
E (Kika) de la Garza (D)
93,672
(94%)
($219,469)
Gloria Joyce Hendrix (Lib.)
6,133
(6%)
1988 primary
E (Kika) de la Garza (D), unopposed
1986 general
E (Kika) de la Garza (D)
70,777
(100%)
($141,973)
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 638,100, up 21.0% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,203, up 38.4% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 84% family, 54% with children, 71% married couples; 27.8% housing units rented:
median monthly rent: $126; median house value: $23,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 329,023; 66%
SIXTEENTH DISTRICT
Spanish origin, 1% Black.
North America's largest border city, perhaps the largest border city in the world, is the city
known as El Paso in Texas and Juarez in Mexico. "El Paso lies directly under the crumbling face
of Comanche Peak," the WPA Guide wrote 50 years ago, "spreading out fan-shaped around the
foot of the mountain. In some directions, irrigation has made bright green gardens of the
residential section; in others, as in the Chihuahuita district and toward the west, the scene
consists chiefly of brick and adobe houses. Fashionable residences, largely of a modified Spanish
or Pueblo architecture, lic near the mountains, their roofs bright against gray rocks. The city's
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
108,744
(63%)
international tone is evident everywhere; on the streets, which bear English and Spanish names,
Bush (R)
64,034
(37%)
and where fluent Spanish is spoken by Texans as well as Mexicans; in the schools, which face the
problem of teaching more than 900 children who daily cross the bridge from Juarez by special
1196
TEXAS
TEXAS
1197
arrangement with the immigrant authorities; in such segregated districts as Chihuahuita, where
the sights and sounds, manners and folkways of Mexico are found." Today El Paso still is a
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 610,900, up 15.8% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,401, up 29.9% 1970-80.
bicultural, bilingual city, but it is vastly larger. In 1940, there were 97,000 people in El Paso and
Households (1980): 81% family, 53% with children, 66% married couples; 39.3% housing units rented:
39,000 in Juarez; in the late 1980s there were over a half million people in El Paso and more
median monthly rent: $158; median house value: $36,800. Voting age pop. (1980): 341,560; 55%
than-no one really knows how much more than-one million in Juarez.
Spanish origin, 4% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Other American border cities owe their prominence to factors other than their position on a
dotted line on the map: San Diego to the Navy, Detroit to autos, Buffalo to grain-shipping and
1988 Presidential Vote: Dukakis (D).
69,550
(52%)
steel. El Paso and Juarez would be little more than a crossroads, a pass through the mountains,
Bush (R)
63,062
(47%)
without the border. What has grown up here is a huge metro area that lives off labor that is very
low-wage by United States standards and attracts workers with wages that are very high by
Mexican standards. They live in physical isolation-a kind of heavily populated island in the
Rep. Ronald D. Coleman (D)
midst of a vast sea of sand: it is more than 600 miles east to Dallas-Fort Worth and 400 miles
Elected 1982; b. Nov. 19, 1941, El Paso; home, El Paso; U. of TX,
west to Phoenix; Albuquerque and Chihuahua are 260 miles north and 230 miles south,
B.A. 1963, J.D. 1967; U. of Kent, England, 1981; Presbyterian;
divorced.
respectively. Government puts in some money in El Paso-there are big military bases here-
while Juarez's economy increasingly depends on the maquiladora plants which enable U.S. and
Career: Army, 1967-69; Teacher, El Paso pub. schs., TX Schl.
foreign (especially Japanese) firms to assemble products in Mexico but sell them duty-free in the
for the Deaf; Asst. El Paso Cnty. Atty., 1969; First Asst. El Paso
U.S. market! To a north-of-the-border eye, life for most people in El Paso and Juarez looks pretty
Cnty. Atty., 1971; TX House of Reps., 1973-82.
mean. Yet the huge migration from other parts of Mexico is mute evidence that this represents a
Offices: 416 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4831. Also Fed. Bldg., 700
significant improvement for these people.
E. San Antonio St., El Paso 79901, 915-534-6200; and U.S.P.O.
The 16th Congressional District of Texas is made up of El Paso and several desert counties to
Bldg., Rm. 304, Pecos 79772, 915-445-6218.
the east; 90% of the 16th's votes are in El Paso County, while Loving County, out in the desert, is
Committees: Appropriations (31st of 35 D). Subcommittees: For-
America's lowest populated county with only 91 people in 1980 (but 108 registered voters in
eign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs; Military
1988: it's growing), and the town of Langtry, where Judge Roy Bean once held court as the only
Construction.
law west of the Pecos. Politics here is very much divided on ethnic lines: most Anglos vote
Republican in any contested race, most Mexican-Americans vote Democratic. The census-
takers say there is an Hispanic majority here, but many are not citizens. For years, the border
has been porous, and many workers cross it every day to go to work, in both directions.
Group Ratings
The congressman from the 16th District is Ron Coleman, a Democrat with an aggressive
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
personality, an old-fashioned Texas Anglo personal style, and a voting record which means that
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
1988
80
81
88
73
44
17
3
50
29
most of his votes come from Hispanics. In a House where Members try to please everyone in
7
1987
84
-
87
71
-
4
-
-
13
8
their districts, Coleman is not afraid to antagonize some in his-which may just be good politics,
since the district is polarized anyway. He was the attorney for the strikers in the big Farah strike
National Journal Ratings
of the 1970s, and he served 10 years in the legislature, where he didn't mind tangling with the
conservative House speaker. He gets along better with the Democratic leadership in Washing-
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
Economic
ton, though he's not always a reliable vote for them. In his first term, Coleman had a seat on the
67%
-
33%
73%
-
0%
Social
81%
-
Armed Services Committee and he now serves on the Military Construction Appropriations
19%
66%
-
32%
Foreign
51%
-
48%
subcommittee, where he has been able to funnel projects to the Fort Bliss Military Reservation,
57%
-
42%
one of the mainstays of El Paso's economy. He competed with Mike Andrews of Houston to be
Key Votes
the Texas candidate for a vacant Democratic seat on Ways and Means after the 1984 election,
but the seat ultimately went to someone else. But Coleman converted the loss to a victory, by
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
getting a seat on Appropriations instead; his first subcommittee assignment there was Military
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
Construction, whose potential for district service need not be explained.
7) Handgun Sales
-
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
With his rather controversial politics, Coleman had some difficulty winning this seat when
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
conservative Democrat Richard White retired in 1982; his task was complicated by the presence
of a Mexican-American candidate in the initial Democratic primary. But Coleman had a strong
Election Results
enough base to lead with 33% in the first primary, and he had enough Mexican-American
1988 general
Ronald D. Coleman (D), unopposed
($317,444)
turnout to beat a conservative Democrat in the runoff and to get 54% against a Republican
1988 primary
Ronald D. Coleman (D), unopposed
heavily supported by the national party in the general. The trajectory of his electoral
1986 general
Ronald D. Coleman (D)
50,590
(66%)
($511,094)
performance has been upward, to 57% in 1984 when Ronald Reagan was carrying the district,
Roy Gillia (R)
26,421
(34%)
($538,622)
66% in 1986 and an unopposed 100% in 1988, when the 16th went for Michael Dukakis.
1198
TEXAS
TEXAS
1199
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 580,900, up 10.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,913, up 9.3% 1970-80.
SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT
Households (1980): 76% family, 38% with children, 67% married couples; 27.3% housing units rented:
median monthly rent: $144; median house value: $25,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 380,499; 9% Spanish
Stretching endlessly from Fort Worth west to the horizon and beyond are the west Texas plains.
origin, 3% Black.
thousands and thousands of acres of rolling grazing land punctuated occasionally by oases of
1988 Presidential Vote:
irrigated farmland (often in those circles that show the reach of the sprinklers). This is primarily
Bush (R)
118,173
(58%)
Dukakis (D).
cattle country, although there is some oil here and some raising of cotton and grain. On the
85,322
(42%)
interstate straight west of Fort Worth the largest town is Abilene, with a high concentration of
Rep. Charles W. Stenholm (D)
bankers, lawyers and professionals. Settled by Confederate veterans always suspicious of eastern
bankers and Yankee businessmen, never much concerned about civil rights one way or the other
Elected 1978; b. Oct. 26, 1938, Stamford; home, Avoca; TX Tech.
(for there are very few blacks this far west), this was one of the Democratic heartlands of
U., B.S. 1961; M.S. 1962; Lutheran; married (Cynthia).
Ámerica for many years, right up through the 1970s. Right now, the 36 mostly sparsely
Career: Teacher, vocational educ., 1962-65; Exec. Vice Pres.,
populated counties west of Fort Worth that make up Texas's 17th Congressional District are
Rolling Plaines Cotton Growers, 1965-68; Mgr., Stamford Electric
fought-over political territory: still mostly Democratic in local and congressional elections
Coop., 1968-76; Farmer, 1976-78.
(thanks to the popularity of Congressman Charles Stenholm) and Republican typically in
Offices: 1226 LHOB 20515, 202-225-6605. Also 903 E. Hamilton
presidential contests and increasingly in statewide races.
St., Stamford 79553, 915-773-3623; and 341 Pine St., Abilene
Stenholm is one of several conservative Texas Democrats first elected in 1978 who have made
79604, 915-673-7221.
their mark in different ways-Phil Gramm is now a Republican senator, Kent Hance a
Committees: Agriculture (9th of 27 D). Subcommittees: Cotton,
Republican member of the Railroad Commission and Marvin Leath, who nearly got elected
Rice, and Sugar; Department Operations, Research, and Foreign
chairman of House Armed Services Committee. Stenholm has no taste for self-promotion and
Agriculture; Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry (Chairman); Tobacco
has made less of a splash in the outside world. Inside the House, he has made a difference in 2
and Peanuts. Veterans' Affairs (10th of 21 D). Subcommittee:
váriety of ways. Immediately on coming to Washington after working in Democratic Party
Hospitals and Health Care.
affairs in Stamford (the home town also of Democratic mega-leader Robert Strauss) and
running the Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Association, he complained correctly that conserva-
Group Ratings
tive Democrats weren't getting good committee assignments and that Democratic leaders, used
ADA
ACLU
COPE
to 2 to 1 majorities, didn't care much about them. After the Democrats' big losses in 1980.
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
1988
20
17
19
27
31
78
Stenholm and others got Jim Wright to put Phil Gramm on the Budget Committee, supported
58
100
77
54
1987
12
-
17
50
-
74
-
-
Gramm and voted for the Reagan budget and tax cuts (they became known as the Boll Weevils)
80
59
and formed a group called the Conservative Democratic Forum, which Stenholm still serves as
National Journal Ratings
chairman. After the Democrats' rebound in 1982, the Boll Weevils had to decide whether to stay
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB- 1987 CONS
Democrats or leave the party; Stenholm was one of those who stayed. He threatened
Economic
31%
-
67%
36%
-
63%
momentarily to run against Speaker O'Neill in 1985, then desisted and got O'Neill to promise to
Social
12%
-
87%
18%
-
81%
give Democrats like him full representation in the Caucus. Since then Stenholm, with his
Foreign
27%
-
71%
24%
-
76%
pleasant personality and straightforwardness, has managed to find at least a little common
Key Votes
ground with the Democratic leadership which had, by this time, great incentive to get along with
I) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
him.
9) SDI Research
FOR
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
He has also managed to do some constructive legislative work. On the Agriculture Commit-
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
tee, he has worked on farm credit, disaster relief and animal product safety; he chairs the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee. A staunch supporter of rural health care, he has
Election Results
been crusading to keep small town doctors in the medicare program and to get small defense
contractors relieved of the requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act. He favors a balanced budget
1988 general
Charles W. Stenholm (D), unopposed
($342,766)
constitutional amendment and an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit. He is not just trucking
1988 primary
Charles W. Stenholm (D), unopposed
to district sentiment: he voted in 1988 for the Brady Amendment, the seven-day waiting period
1986 general
Charles W. Stenholm (D)
97,791
(100%)
($217,744)
to buy handguns vociferously opposed by the National Rifle Association.
Stenholm seems temperamentally comfortable with being a Democrat, even as one who
dissents so often from the party's majority. It is an affiliation that has worn well on the plains of
EIGHTEENTH DISTRICT
Texas. A Republican congressman here might have vigorous competition from the Democrats
Stenholm has not had a Republican opponent since 1978 and he dispatched his only Democratic
What you see in Houston depends on your perspective. The gushing writer of the WPA Guide 50
primary opponent, in 1984, by an 88%-12% margin.
years ago saw "towering above the lush green prairie where its suburbs multiply like ripples in a
pond, Houston's sky line is that of a lusty growing giant; its factory smokestacks are as thick as
are the oil derricks in the fields nearby; its office buildings are more those of the North and East
1200
TEXAS
TEXAS
1201
than the usual product of a Texas city." But John Gunther a few years later found Houston, in
licensed pharmacist, the most prominent in American politics since Hubert Humphrey. He has
those days before the windows were sealed shut to keep in the air-conditioning, "the noisiest city
been mentioned as a possible candidate against Senator Phil Gramm in 1990, but that would
I have ever visited, with a residential section mostly ugly and barren, a city without a single good
seem to be a long shot; he would begin little-known statewide and without a large base, and his
restaurant, and of hotels with cockroaches." Central Houston today remains a place of contrast,
virtues are not ones that are easily communicated in 30-second spots-while in the 18th District
between the showy architecture of the downtown buildings, whose affluent daytime tenants
he can be reelected indefinitely.
escape home each night out Memorial Drive or the always-clogged Katy or Southwest Freeways.
But in the neighborhoods just to the south and east, blacks and Mexican-Americans live in
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 541,600, up 2.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,393, dn. 5.9% 1970-80
unpainted frame houses full of cracks wide enough to let in Houston's humid, smoggy air. The
Households (1980): 65% family, 39% with children, 46% married couples; 57.2% housing units rented:
Houston slums look like something out of the sharecropper 1930s, and they remind us that
median monthly rent: $185; median house value: $31,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 366,424; 39% Black.
although this was until recently one of our fastest-growing cities, its growth is based in large part
27% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
on the availability of cheap labor; there are income disparities here as vast as there are in
developing countries. Yet there is also upward mobility. Moving north from downtown, you find
1988 Presidential Vote:
solid working and middle-class neighborhoods, some even with a, touch of grandeur from when
Dukakis (D)
92,191
(74%)
Bush (R)
30,408
(25%)
their houses were built many years ago.
Central Houston makes up the 18th Congressional District of Texas, which goes east beyond
the Houston Ship Channel's Turning Basin, south to Loop 610, west to the edge of ultra-rich
River Oaks and Memorial Park and far north, in some places past the city limits, toward
Rep. Mickey Leland (D)
Houston Intercontinental Airport. The 18th is Houston's minority district. It was created after
Elected 1978; b. Nov. 27, 1944, Lubbock; home, Houston; TX
the 1970 Census for then state Senator Barbara Jordan, famed later for her performance in the
Southern U., B.S. 1970; Roman Catholic; married (Alison).
House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings and as one of the 1976 Democratic
Career: Instructor, TX St. U., 1970-71; Dir. of Spec. Dev. Proj.,
Convention's keynoters; within its current boundaries, in 1980, 41% of its residents were black
Hermann Hosp., 1971-78; TX House of Reps., 1973-78.
and 31% of Spanish origin, with very little overlap. The number of Mexican-Americans has been
Offices: 2236 RHOB 20515, 202-225-3816. Also 1919 Smith St.,
rising in the inner-city neighborhoods, as à result of heavy immigration in the 1970s; blacks have
Ste. 820, Houston 77002, 713-739-7339.
been moving outward, mostly to the north. Politically it is the most heavily Democratic district
Committees: Energy and Commerce (10th of 26 D). Subcommit-
in Texas.
tees: Energy and Power; Health and the Environment; Telecom-
The congressman from the 18th District since 1978 has been Mickey Leland, who has turned
munications and Finance. Post Office and Civil Service (5th of 15
out, contrary to expectations, to be an active legislator. Leland started off in politics as a dashiki-
D). Subcommittees: Compensation and Employee Benefits; Postal
clad militant; now he is a Giorgio Armani-clad committee chairman. In his first term, he
Operations and Services (Chairman). Select Committee on Hunger
snagged a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, the hot committee during most of the
(Chairman of 19 D).
1980s because of all the regulatory work it handles. He serves on the Telecommunications and
Health Subcommittees, where he has pushed for pet causes like getting more blacks on TV
programs and lifeline phone rates for senior citizens. Leland also serves on the Post Office and
Civil Service Committee, where he chairs the subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services.
Group Ratings
He was one of the few black politicians with the inclination and nerve to have backed Walter
Mondale over Jesse Jackson in the 1984 presidential primaries; in 1988 he backed Jesse Jackson.
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
1988
but he helped to smooth things over at the convention when he seconded the vice-presidential
100
95
96
91
75
0
9
0
27
6
1987
96
-
95
93
-
0
-
-
0
6
nomination of Lloyd Bentsen.
His most visible assignment in this and the last Congress was as chairman of the Select
Committee on Hunger which he helped create. He got it in place just as Americans began
National Journal Ratings
focusing on famine in Ethiopia and other African countries, and got Congress to spend $800
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
million for aid to sub-Saharan nations. But like most congressmen, he has been slow to criticize
Economic
92%
-
0%
73%
-
0%
the Marxist government of Ethiopia whose policies helped create the famine and exacerbated it:
Social
86%
-
0%
78%
-
0%
maybe he remained silent prudently, to get as much food as possible to the starving. He
Foreign
84%
-
0%
81%
-
0%
criticized the Reagan Administration harshly for not providing aid to the hungry in Sandinista-
held Nicaragua. He has worked on hunger at home too, passing a bill giving better tax treatment
Key Votes
to companies that contribute to food banks and establishing grants to study pediatric undernutri-
tion; he has also tried to provide more help for runaways and the mentally ill homeless.
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
Leland is an individual, even an eccentric, Congress's closest personal acquaintance of Fidel
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
Castro and a booster of the Houston economy. As a young man, he ran into the barriers of
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
segregation. Now, he not only serves but also exercises power in Congress. Incidentally, he is 8
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
1202
TEXAS
TEXAS
1203
Election Results
tion policy on occasion; otherwise he voted a pretty straight conservative line. In early 1989, he
Mickey Leland (D)
94,408
(93%)
($534,732)
played an apparently unintentional role in defeating Tower's nomination to be Secretary of
1988 general
J. Alejandro Senad (Lib.)
7,235
(7%)
Defense by testifying privately that Tower was frequently incapacitated by alcohol in the 1970s;
Mickey Leland (D)
38,963
(82%)
Combest's point was that he had improved and was not drinking so heavily in the 1980s, but Sam
1988 primary
Elizabeth Spates (D)
8,321
(18%)
Nunn and other Democrats took this as a sign that Tower was unfit for the office.
Mickey Leland (D)
63,335
(90%)
($207,419)
1986 general
In 1986, despite opposition from a veteran of the 1970s farmers' tractorcade to Washington,
Joanne Kuniansky (I)
6,884
(10%)
queasiness about the proposed nuclear dump in Deaf Smith County, and the general nationwide
Democratic trend, Combest increased his percentage from 58% to 62%; in 1988, he raised it to
68%, with 70% in Lubbock.
NINETEENTH DISTRICT
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 562,500, up 6.6% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,805, up 15.2% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 77% family, 45% with children, 68% married couples; 34.7% housing units rented;
Up on the High Plains of Texas, on land separated from the dusty cattlelands further east by
median monthly rent: $191; median house value: $33,200. Voting age pop. (1980): 360,942; 20%
rising gullies astride wide river courses, is some of the most productive cotton and wheat landie
Spanish origin, 5% Black.
the United States, centered around the city of Lubbock. This fertility is a triumphant workd
man: for this is irrigated land, which gets its water from the giant Ogallala Aquifer the
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
110,148
(67%)
undergirds so much of the western Great Plains, making this part of Texas a sort of green islant
Dukakis (D)
54,551
(33%)
in a, vast brown sea of arid grazing land, to the east, west, north and south. It was settled
Rep. Larry Combest (R)
relatively late, with most of the growth after World War II; Lubbock grew from 31,000 in 194
Elected 1984; b. Mar. 20, 1945, Memphis; home, Lubbock; W. TX
to 128,000 in 1960 and 173,000 in 1980 and by 1988 was estimated to be at 190,000. Int tis
St. U., B.B.A. 1969; United Methodist; married (Sharon)
1980s, there have been signs that the aquifer is going dry, and populations in the rural counts
Career: Farmer; teacher, 1970-71; Dir., U.S. Agric. Stabilization
have declined. But Lubbock, with an economy that includes Texas Tech University as wells
and Conserv. Svc., Graham, TX, 1971; Aide to U.S. Sen. John
agribusiness, and which has one of Texas's lowest unemployment rates, has continued to thrive
Tower, 1971-78; Founder and Pres., Combest Distributing Co.,
Lubbock also entered the national political lexicon in March 1989 when President Georg
1978-1985.
Bush, asked to comment on the drumbeat of press criticism in Washington, said, "I talked
Offices: 1527 LHOB 20515, 202-225-4005. Also 613 Fed. Bldg.,
fellow in Lubbock, Texas, the other day, and he said all the people in Lubbock think things
1205 Texas Ave., Lubbock 79401, 806-763-1611; and 419 W. 4th
going just great." In this Texan's administration, Lubbock has replaced Peoria (a victim into
St., Rm. 601, Odessa 79761, 915-337-1669.
1980s of the decline in farm prices and heavy manufacturing) as the metaphor for Middle
Committees: Agriculture (12th of 18 R). Subcommittees: Con-
America, and not altogether unfittingly. It is, like the country, ancestrally Democratic, and
servation, Credit, and Rural Development; Cotton, Rice, and
happy to be the beneficiary of federal largesse for years, especially when its congressma
Sugar; Tobacco and Peanuts. District of Columbia (3d of 4 R).
George Mahon, was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee (1964-79). But by
Subcommittees: Fiscal Affairs and Health; Government Opera-
1950s Lubbock was voting Republican in national elections and by 1970, in state contests
tions and Metropolitan Affairs (Ranking Member). Small Business
(9th of 17 R). Subcommittees: Environment and Labor; SBA, the
well.
The 19th Congressional District of Texas includes Lubbock and most of the agriculture
General Economy and Minority Enterprise Development. Select Committee on Intelligence (4th of 7
counties around it, just east of the New Mexican border. It also stretches north to Deaf Smit
R). Subcommittees: Oversight and Investigations; Program and Budget Authorization.
County, where the government wanted to dispose of nuclear waste in a cavern 2,600 feet deer
Group Ratings
the Palo Duro Basin, and south to the Permian Basin, where oil and gas reserves were to
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
developed in the 1950s. The 19th includes Odessa, the more roughneck of the two main Permit
1988
0
4
13
18
25
92
83
100
93
73
Basin towns, which houses many of the technically skilled men who do the gritty, sweaty worl
1987
0
-
11
7
-
89
-
-
93
73
making the oil rigs work and getting the oil to the surface; George Bush lived here briefly in 194
and 1949, when it emerged from World War II with just 3,000 people but was suddenly burst
National Journal Ratings
with oil rig workers.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
The 19th District, despite its Republican leanings, did not elect a Republican congress
Economic
21%
-
77%
11%
-
83%
until 1984; Mahon retired in 1978, and his successor was Kent Hance, then a Democrat In
Social
0%
-
95%
10%
-
85%
Lubbock, who beat George W. Bush, the President's oldest son, who was then an oilman In
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
Midland, 53%-47%. (Both men in early 1989 were thinking about running for governor in
as Republicans.) When Hance ran for the Senate in 1984, the 19th had another riproaring
Key Votes
and the winner of a tough primary, runoff and general election was Republican Larry Comb
I) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
-
Combest worked on farm issues for seven years on Senator John Tower's staff, and specialize
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
them in the House (though professionally he was an electronics distributor rather than a farm
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
There he started off with a good knowledge of farm programs and opposed Reagan Adminis
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
1204
TEXAS
TEXAS
1205
Election Results
longer period of time and beginning when there were much greater obstacles. The 20th District
1988 general
Larry Combest (R)
113,068
(68%)
($244,821)
that he represents today, thanks to the equal-population standard, includes only the central part
Gerald McCathern (D)
53,932
(32%)
($44,082)
of San Antonio, leaving the mostly Anglo northern fringes and suburbs as part of the 21st
1988 primary
Larry Combest (R), unopposed
District and the southern fringes and suburbs on three sides as part of the 23d; more than 60% of
1986 general
Larry Combest (R)
68,695
(62%)
($317,265)
the 20th District's residents in 1980 were Mexican-American. But when Gonzalez first ran for
Gerald McCathern (D)
42,129
(38%)
($112,732)
Congress in 1961, the 20th was all of Bexar County, including the then less heavily populated
but nonetheless conservative and rather anti-Mexican-American Anglo north side. It is hard to
summon back now the prejudice against Mexican-Americans that existed in Texas then, or to
imagine how it affected Gonzalez, who began serving on the San Antonio Council in 1953 and
TWENTIETH DISTRICT
was elected to the Texas Senate in 1956-especially when he had the nerve to run for governor
San Antonio sits at the frontier: not on the banks of the Rio Grande, but on that invisible line
in 1958 and in the special election (against John Tower and Jim Wright, among others) for the
separating territory that is on the one side mostly Hispanic and on the other mostly Anglo. It has
Senate in 1961. Gonzalez ran poorly in those races, but later in 1961, when Congressman Paul
been at the frontier for a long time: San Antonio was the most important town in Texas when it
Kilday, part of a long-successful San Antonio machine, was appointed to a federal judgeship, he
was part of Mexico, and it was here that Santa Ana and his troops wiped out Davy Crockett, Jim
got into the race for Congress-and won.
Bowie and 184 others at the Alamo in 1836. (Crockett was a Tennessee congressman from 1827-
In his early days in Congress, Gonzalez was the patron saint of Texas liberalism, as he
31 and 1833-35; if he had not lost his bid for reelection in 1835, he never would have left
compiled a record of support for the national administration and for civil rights. Later, in the late
Tennessee for Texas.) Today, San Antonio is Texas's third largest city, with more than 900,000
1960s and early 1970s, he alienated some liberals because he did not share their scorn for
people and a metropolitan population over one million. That's only one-third the size of
American foreign policy and heartily disagreed with the efforts of a few Hispanics to set up a
metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston, but San Antonio in the 1980s has been a boom town
separate La Raza Unida party. Gonzalez's stubbornness-or adherence to principle-seems
in its own right. The local economy is based not on oil but on government: this is one of America's
vindicated now; his refusal to campaign on ethnic appeals and insistence that Mexican-
prime military towns, with Kelly Air Force Base, Fort Sam Houston, Brooke Army Medical
Americans seek opportunity within the general framework of American society-assimilation
Center and two other Air Force bases, with tens of thousands of military personnel and
rather than polarization-is now clearly the wave of the future.
employees. Behind them as a local employer is the medical complex centered on the Health
Over the years Gonzalez developed a reputation of being prickly and quick to take offense,
Science Center. In the 1980s, Mayor Henry Cisneros tried to build on that base by linking San
though he can argue persuasively that his judgment has been vindicated over time. He made his
Antonio with Austin, 70 miles north, and promoting them together as high-tech centers; at the
biggest headlines when he resigned as chairman of the House committee investigating the
same time San Antonio has the advantages of the low wages of a border city.
Kennedy and King assassinations, because he disagreed with the approach of the lead
It also has the advantage of having its own special atmosphere. A block from the Alamo the
investigator, who himself was later discharged. He has had his successes: the poll tax, which he
Riverwalk along the little San Antonio River is lined with overhanging trees and with pleasant
opposed early, is long gone, and several housing programs which he backed early were passed.
shops and restaurants below street traffic. Nearby is the HemisFair, preserved from the 1968
But he also has a temper. In 1963, he took a swing at Texas Republican Congressman Ed
World's Fair here. San Antonio has ancient buildings from its Spanish days and old neighbor-
Foreman who accused him of being a Communist; in 1986 he punched a 40-year-old man in a
hoods redolent of the Texas Germans who were its chief Anglo citizens for many years. On the
San Antonio restaurant for the same offense-one which must particularly rankle a man who
west side, beginning with the bare-tabled Mexican restaurants in the market area, San Antonio
has served his country loyally for many years. In 1983 and 1987, he called for the impeachment
is a Mexican-American city with an Hispanic majority. There is all the potential here for angry
of President Reagan because of Grenada and Iran-contra respectively.
clashes between Hispanics and Anglos, and in partisan elections they vote quite differently.
In 1989 Gonzalez became chairman of the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee,
Yet the level of animosity between the two groups seems low, the range of opportunities open
thanks to the defeat of Fernand St Germain in 1988. At first there was some nervous talk among
now to Hispanics seems great, and such differences as do exist do not seem to end up as zero-sum
Democrats about the prospect of his chairmanship, particularly since the committee was
games in which one side or the other (or both) must lose. For that some credit should go to
confronted with the vast savings and loan crisis and Gonzalez has spent most of his efforts on the
political leaders, most notably Henry B. Gonzalez, congressman from the 20th District of Texas
committee on housing rather than banking issues (though he did a workmanlike job of chairing a
since 1961, and Henry Cisneros, mayor of San Antonio from 1981 to 1989. Cisneros has
subcommittee on international banking agencies); on banking he simply denounced the big
attracted the greater attention, as a Texas A&M and Harvard educated innovator who has
banks and high interest rates in old-fashioned populist language. His legislative output even on
stimulated economic development and started such projects as the Westover Hills development.
housing was not great in the 1980s, primarily because of the adamant opposition of the Reagan
where Pope John Paul II appeared in 1987, and Sea World that opened in 1988. He served on
Administration to new subsidy and public housing programs (though he did push through a bill
the Kissinger Commission on Central America in 1983 and was on the short list of possible
lowering some mortgage interest rates and continues to support generous federal housing
Democratic vice-presidential candidates in 1984. But in 1987, Cisneros announced his retire-
programs). But as time went on, Gonzalez began to seem a better choice. He clearly was utterly
ment from politics after the birth of a son with serious health problems, and in 1988, it was
independent of the savings and loan lobby (and of the Texas S&Ls) in contrast to St Germain.
revealed that Cisneros was having an affair with a rich Anglo woman. Still, even as he was
He is independent, as well, of the lobbies of the big banks, the securities industry, the investment
leaving office, he remained widely popular and admired for his public record and for his
bankers-who have been lobbying furiously on banking issues. He is far less autocratic than St
demonstration that a politician proud of his Mexican-American heritage could operate success-
Germain and scrupulous about letting other committee members have their chance to speak and
fully in mainstream politics and advance policies that would gain widespread support.
be heard. Even his detractors concede that his intellectual abilities are high. Much of the savings
In many ways, Gonzalez has been doing that too, sometimes in a less tactful way, but over a
and loan crisis can be traced to laws that were pushed through to the benefit of sharp operators
1206
TEXAS
TEXAS
1207
and crooks. No such law would ever be allowed through knowingly by Henry Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has become something of a civic institution in San Antonio and has no trouble
TWENTY-FIRST DISTRICT
winning reelection.
Slightly larger than Ohio, with a single county that is larger than Connecticut, 500 miles from
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 546,100, up 3.8% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,333, dn. 5.8% 1970-80.
end to end, the 21st Congressional District is a Texas-sized chunk of the landscape, geographi-
Households (1980): 75% family, 45% with children, 56% married couples; 42.5% housing units rented:
cally the largest district in the state. It includes most of Texas's sheep and goat ranching country
median monthly rent: $142; median house value: $23,500. Voting age pop. (1980): 358,798; 56%
and 200 miles of its border with Mexico. Demographically, it is a series of modern urban
Spanish origin, 9% Black, 1% Asian origin.
settlements across ranges of arid hills and miles of rugged desert. It begins in the Anglo
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D)
92,584
(67%)
neighborhoods on the north side of San Antonio and goes all the way to the Big Bend territory,
Bush (R)
44,444
(32%)
where 7,000-foot peaks tower up over stony desert where the Rio Grande in fact makes a big
bend. About half the people live in and around San Antonio: the 21st has the north side, where
few Mexican-Americans and most of the city's affluent Anglos live. Voters here in Bexar County
Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (D)
(pronounced as a drawn-out bear) cast 41% of the district's votes in 1988. Affluent Anglos in San
Elected 1961; b. May 3, 1916, San Antonio; home, San Antonio;
Antonio have voted heavily Republican since 1961, when Representative Henry Gonzalez was
San Antonio Col., U. of TX, St. Mary's U., LL.B. 1943; Roman
elected to replace Paul Kilday, the conservative Democrat whose machine controlled city
Catholic; married (Bertha).
politics. Then Bexar was Democratic; now the impact of the north side is great enough that the
Career: Army, Navy Intelligence, WWII; Bexar Cnty. Chf. Pro-
county has gone Republican in the last three presidential races and has even elected a
bation Officer, 1946; Dpty. Dir., San Antonio Housing Authority,
Republican sheriff in 1984.
1950-51; Mbr., San Antonio City Cncl., 1953-56, San Antonio
Just north and west of San Antonio you get into the Texas hill country, much of it first settled
Mayor Pro Tem, 1955-56; TX Senate, 1956-61.
by refugees from the failed German revolutions of 1848. They made good livings, even off
Offices: 2413 RHOB 20515, 202-225-3236. Also B-124 Fed.
barren soil, but they disliked slavery, instinctively favored the Union, and when Texas became
Bldg., 727 E. Durango St., San Antonio 78206, 512-229-6195.
one of the most heavily Democratic states in the Union after the Civil War they insisted on
Committees: Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (Chairman of
voting Republican in every election. They still do. The hill country around Fredericksburg and
31 D). Subcommittees: Consumer Affairs and Coinage; Domestic
Kerrville got electricity back in the 1930s thanks to Lyndon Johnson, whose LBJ Ranch is just at
Monetary Policy; Financial Institutions Supervision, Regulation
the edge of German country; the hill country now is the site of condominium developments for
and Insurance.
prosperous Texans who want a second home in a pleasant, quiet environment.
Beyond the hill country is flat plateau: ranch lands, oil fields, blank desert. Actually few
people live out on the land, and their cities are distinctive. One is Midland, the headquarters of
Group Ratings
the people who run the Permian Basin, the rich oil and gas terrain where George Bush made his
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
fortune in the 1950s and which, until the crash in oil prices, gave Midland one of the highest
1988
100
96
90
82
88
0
10
0
15
7
income levels in the country. Midland remains one of the most Republican cities in America.
96
90
86
9
-
7
9
-
1987
-
-
More typical is San Angelo, a center of sheep and cattle ranching as well as oil, one of the
nation's biggest producers of mohair, which is ancestrally Democratic, but in current practice
National Journal Ratings
Republican.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
The 21st District has been Republican in presidential elections for nearly 40 years and
Economic
87%
-
8%
68%
-
27%
Republican in House elections for a dozen. The current congressman, Lamar Smith, won the
-
Social
86%
0%
73%
22%
-
seat in 1986 when his predecessor, Tom Loeffler, gave up seats on three plum committees
Foreign
84%
0%
81%
-
0%
-
(Energy and Commerce, Appropriations, Budget) and the post of chief deputy whip to run for
governor; he got only 22% of the vote, a distant second behind 69-year-old William Clements,
Key Votes
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
but remains active in Texas and national-politics. Smith, who had served both in the legislature
and on the Bexar County Commission, and who is from an old San Antonio and south Texas
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
ranching family, had to win a tough primary race here, beating two other San Antonio-based
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
candidates 31%-25%-20%. In the runoff, in which Senator Phil Gramm took the unusual step of
endorsing him over a religious right conservative, he won 54%-46%. Smith had serious
Election Results
opposition in the general election as well, from Pete Snelson, an 18-year state senator from
1988 general
Henry B. Gonzalez (D)
94,527
(71%)
($174,470)
Midland. The Democrat did win a solid margin west of the German counties. But Smith won
Lee Travino (R).
36,801
(28%)
($58,217)
67% in the German counties and 74% in Bexar County for a convincing 61% victory. He had
1988 primary
Henry B. Gonzalez (D), unopposed
minimal opposition in 1988 and seems to have a safe seat for as long as he wants it.
1986 general
Henry B. Gonzalez (D)
55,363
(100%)
($133,055)
Smith seems to have been unusually busy in the House for a junior Republican. He pushed to
passage a bill adding 100,000 acres to the Big Bend National Park in the western part of the
1208
TEXAS
TEXAS
1209
district-one of the few freshmen to see his bill passed into law. He took part in the drug bill
Election Results
negotiations and worked to protect funding for local drug task forces. He pushed successfully for
1988 general
Lamar Smith (R)
203,989
(93%)
$18 million for gas and oil recovery research. He was one of the chief Republicans pushing to
($418,989)
James A. Robinson (Lib.)
14,801
(7%)
apply various ethics restrictions to Members of Congress. In 1989, he became ranking
1988 primary
Lamar Smith (R), unopposed
Republican on the subcommittee handling immigration, just as the Democrats dumped
1986 general
Lamar Smith (R)
100,346
(61%)
($1,062,154)
chairman Romano Mazzoli for Bruce Morrison of Connecticut.
Pete Snelson (D)
63,779
(39%)
($345,117)
The People: Est. Pop. 1936: 661,900, up 25.6% 1930-86; Pop. 1980. 526.846, up 38.0% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 74% family, 39% with children, 65% married couples; 31.1% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $221; median house value: $47,700. Voting age pop. (1980): 381,130; 16%
TWENTY-SECOND DISTRICT
Spanish origin, 3% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Just three or four miles from downtown Houston, the Gulf plains began 50 years ago: "flat, open
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
192,335
(70%)
prairies unbroken except for the outline of timber on the horizon, and occasional clumps of live
Dukakis (D)
78,961
(29%)
oaks which make small green islands called mottes in Texas. Farming is diversified, although
cotton is the largest crop. Beef cattle are raised, and dairy farms are frequent. Well-wooded
Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R)
sections are found along the river bottoms, and in the early spring, when rainfall is abundant,
Elected 1986; b. Nov. 1, 1947, San Antonio; home, San Antonio;
bluebonnets cover the prairies." That was the scene where today you will find, at Post Oak and
Yale U., B.A., 1969, Southern Methodist U., J.D., 1975; Christian
Westheimer, the glitzy shopping centers that are the Fifth Avenue and 57th Street of the oil
Scientist; married (Jane).
kingdom. Along the Southwest Freeway, 30 and 60-story high-rises tower over the traffic jams,
and out into Fort Bend and Brazoria counties which are now choked with new subdivisions and
Career: Small Bus. Admin. official, 1969-70; Bus. and Fin. re-
porter, Christian Science Monitor, 1971-72; Practicing atty.,
office clusters, fields were once planted in the cotton that made the fortunes of the great
1975-76; TX House of Reps., 1981-82; Bexar Cnty. Commis-
Houston cotton traders and political operators Jesse Jones and Will Clayton, with the sun
sioner, 1982-85.
beating down mercilessly, the humidity fierce, the ground thick with bugs.
Offices: 422 CHOB 20515, 202-225-4236. Also 10010 San Pedro,
On this unforgiving environment was built the urban civilization that includes what is now the
Ste. 530, San Antonio 78216, 512-229-5880; 201 W. Wall St., Ste.
22d Congressional District of Texas. It includes monuments of greater Houston's development:
104, Midland 79701, 915-687-5232; 1006 Junction Hwy., Kerrville
the high-rises airily flanking the Southwest Freeway near the Galleria, the Sharpstown shopping
78028, 512-895-1414; and 33 E. Twohig, Ste. 302, San Angelo
center and subdivision put up by a local wheeler-dealer whose financial collapse and political
76903, 915-653-3971.
dealings brought down a governor in 1972, the newly-sprouted suburban towns of Sugar Land
Committees: Judiciary (11th of 14 R). Subcommittees: Adminis-
and Missouri City in Fort Bend County, the steamy Brazosport oil shipping complex around
trative Law and Governmental Relations; Crime; Immigration,
Freeport and Lake Jackson on the Gulf of Mexico. Air-conditioning-in malls, cars and
Refugees, and International Law (Ranking Member). Science,
homes-has made this civilization possible; insecticides have helped; the automobile ties it
Space and Technology (13th of 19 R). Subcommittees: Energy Research and Development; Natural
together (if the traffic would ever clear up). There were fewer than 100,000 people as World
Resources, Agriculture Research and Environment; Space Science and Applications. Select Committee
War II ended, in what now is the 22d District, less than 200,000 in 1960; as the Sharpstown
on Children, Youth, and Families (9th of 12 R).
scandal was breaking, there were 300,000 and, by the Census's 1986 estimate, there were
632,000.
Group Ratings
This is a heavily Republican district: you will be hard put to find many national Democrats
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
among the people who have come from other parts of Houston and Texas, the South and North
1988
5
9
14
27
19
100
78
100
92
65
and even foreign countries, and live now in the new and affluent subdivisions of Houston or
1987
4
-
6
21
-
96
-
-
93
75
Sugar Land or in the more widely-spaced subdivisions scattered farther out in Fort Bend and
National Journal Ratings
Brazoria; and even in local elections the historic Democratic leanings of the rural areas are
usually overwhelmed by the strong Republican allegiance of the newcomers. In the 1970s, the
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
22d, then mostly in Houston and with more black neighborhoods, had a series of turbulent
Economic
18%
-
81%
0%
-
89%
Social
0%
elections, in large part because of Republican Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian so pure that
-
95%
0%
-
90%
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
he was an isolationist abroad and Congress's foremost champion of the gold standard. But Paul
-
80%
ran for the Senate in 1984, coming in second behind Phil Gramm in the Republican primary,
Key Votes
and for President as the Libertarian party candidate in 1988, running a very distant third behind
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
George Bush and Michael Dukakis; the current congressman, Republican Tom DeLay, fits the
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
preferences of the newcomer majority here more casily.
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
Even so, DeLay has an interesting background. He was born in the border town of Laredo and
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice
-
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
spent much of his childhood in Venezuela, where his father drilled oil wells. In Sugar Land, the
son built a pest control business-environmentalists might not like that, but in Houston people
1210
TEXAS
TEXAS
1211
would rather control the bugs than preserve the environment-and was elected to the state
Key Votes
legislature in 1978, the first Republican from Fort Bend County. When Paul retired in 1984,
1) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
9) SDI Research
FOR
DeLay easily won the Republican primary and the general election: this is a safe seat for him.
2) Gephardt Amdt
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
DeLay's voting record is solidly conservative on practically every issue, but he seems also to have
3) Deficit Reduc
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
traditional political instincts. In his first term he was the freshman representative on the
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
Republican Committee on Committees, and in his second term he got a seat on the Appropria-
tions Committee. He defends the indemnification of chemical companies when pesticides are
Election Results
banned. He is proud of helping Houston get $64 million to build a busway on the Southwest
1988 general
Thomas D. (Tom) DeLay (R)
125,733
(67%)
($361,255)
Freeway, $50 million for Houston Metro Rail, Rice University got $1.6 million to study how to
Wayne Walker (D)
58,471
(31%)
($109,004)
improve mass transit, and Freeport, $15 million for harbor development and designation as a
1988 primary
Thomas D. (Tom) DeLay (R), unopposed
foreign trade zone. In 1989, DeLay served as campaign manager for Ed Madigan's unsuccessful
1986 general
Thomas D. (Tom) DeLay (R)
76,459
(72%)
($294,850)
run for minority whip.
Susan Director (D)
30,079
(28%)
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 632,700, up 20.1% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,602, up 76.9% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 67% family, 38% with children, 57% married couples; 46.8% housing units rented:
TWENTY-THIRD DISTRICT
median monthly rent: $271; median house value: $64,200. Voting age pop. (1980): 381,492; 12%
Spanish origin, 9% Black, 3% Asian origin.
Texas is border country from San Antonio south: a part of the United States which is culturally
neither entirely Anglo nor entirely Mexican, but a mixture-a volatile and constantly changing
mixture-of the two. Historically the picture here has been of desert-like rural counties where
1988 Presidential Vote: Bush
(R)
120,066
(62%)
big landowners rule the lives-and cast the votes-of their Mexican-American field hands. But
Dukakis (D)
70,739
(37%)
these small counties have no economic future and few resources, as the "brown power" militants
found out when they took over local government. The real economic growth comes in cities,
through the growth of metropolises like San Antonio and Austin and through the special
Rep. Tom DeLay (R)
advantages of the towns on the land border with the greatest economic disparities in the world.
Elected 1984; b. Apr. 8, 1947, Laredo; home, Sugar Land; U. of
Here the exchange rate, labor costs and flow of immigration change constantly. Laredo, down on
Houston, B.S. 1970; Baptist; married (Christine).
the border, had chain stores with some of the highest sales in the U.S. before the peso
Career: Owner, Albo Pest Control; TX House of Reps., 1979-85.
devaluation of 1982; by 1986, most were closed and others were quiet. But those developments
also made U.S. wages all the more attractive to residents of Mexico, stimulating twin-plant
Offices: 308 CHOB 20515, 202-225-5951. Also 9000 S.W. Free-
way, Ste. 205, Houston, 77074, 713-270-4000; and 500 N.
development here and there.
Shenango, Ste. 310, Angleton 77515, 409-849-4446.
The 23d Congressional District of Texas extends from the south side of San Antonio south to
Laredo and west to Eagle Pass, both on the Rio Grande. Most of the land area is in the border
Committees: Appropriations (20th of 22 R). Subcommittees:
counties, which in most elections are among the most heavily Democratic counties in the nation.
Military Construction; Transportation.
But some 64% of the votes are in San Antonio and surrounding Bexar County (pronounced with
something like the soft Spanish X, which sounds like an H to English-speakers). The district
includes the southern fringes of San Antonio, working-class neighborhoods near big military
bases where nearly half the residents are Mexican-Americans. But the district also includes
suburban territory east, west and north of the city. This takes in some of the most affluent
precincts in Bexar County, where, historically, mistrust of Mexicans and Democrats is high.
Group Ratings
The congressman from the 23d grew up in a small Mexican-American town, but he has made
his political career in San Antonio. He is Albert Bustamante, who served a few years on
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Representative Henry B. Gonzalez's San Antonio staff and then proceeded to make his political
1988
0
5
2
18
6
100
77
100
92
90
fortune. He was elected to the Bexar County Commission in 1972 and was elected county judge
1987
0
-
2
7
-
100
-
-
93
86
in 1978. In 1984, he decided to run for Congress in the 23d, and challenged the incumbent,
Abraham Kazen, who had 18 years of seniority but little in the way of accomplishments to show
National Journal Ratings
for it. There was an ethnic contrast-Kazen is Lebanese-American-but a more aggressive
incumbent could have held this seat, or would never have been seriously challenged. In the 23d,
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB- 1987 CONS
Economic
Bustamante won what will probably remain his crucial contest by a 59%-37% margin. This is a
0%
-
93%
0%
-
89%
Social
9%
-
89%
pretty solidly Democratic district, although George Bush carried it 50%-49%, and Bustamante
0%
-
90%
Foreign
0%
-
84%
0%
80%
should have no difficulty winning reelection.
Bustamante has a seat on the Armed Services Committee, the second south Texas Hispanic
1212
TEXAS
TEXAS
1213
on that body; he has looked after San Antonio's military bases and after military personnel and
Election Results
retirees, promising that no user fee for use of military medical facilities will be imposed on them.
1988 general
Albert G. Bustamante (D)
116,423
(65%)
($187,302)
On economic issues he is liberal and an ally of organized labor; on cultural and economic issues
Jerome L. (Jerry) Gonzales (R)
60,559
(34%)
($6,365)
he is more moderate. He was a swing vote on contra aid, opposing it in 1985 and voting for it in
1988 primary
Albert G. Bustamante (D), unopposed
1986, and he supported the immigration reform bill. He has been pushing hard and early for
1986 general
Albert G. Bustamante (D)
68,131
(91%)
($199,090)
drug interdiction funds for the border. But he has also gone farther afield, getting interested in
Ken Hendrix (L)
7,001
(9%)
the issue of nuclear plant safety before it got hot in 1988.
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 669,800, up 27.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,746, up 50.0% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 84% family, 56% with children, 70% married couples; 30.2% housing units rented;
TWENTY-FOURTH DISTRICT
median monthly rent: $163; median house value: $33,100. Voting age pop. (1980): 332,851; 51%
Spanish origin, 4% Black, 1% Asian origin.
Dallas is built on two sides of the Trinity River; on the southwest side, overlooking downtown
1988 Presidential Vote: Bush
(R)
94,826
(50%)
across the cement-lined river bed, is Oak Cliff. This is a kind of separate Dallas, just about as old
Dukakis (D)
93,074
(49%)
as the city, with some fine old Victorian gingerbread houses; there is more evidence here than on
the other side of the river of the kind of city Dallas was before steel-and-glass skyscrapers
towered over downtown and were scattered around freeway interchanges on the north side of the
Rep. Albert G. Bustamante (D)
city. The south side of Dallas, beyond Oak Cliff, is where most of the city's black residents live
Elected 1984; b. Apr. 8, 1935, Asherton; home, San Antonio; San
Antonio Col., Sul Ross St. U., B.A. 1961; Roman Catholic; married
and almost half of its much smaller number of Mexican-Americans. There is a feeling of
(Rebecca).
apartness here that became apparent in 1988 with criticism from blacks that Dallas police use
force too readily, and from police supporters who criticize blacks for condoning violent attacks
Career: Army, 1954-56; High sch. teacher and coach, 1961-68;
on policemen.
Aide to U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, 1968-71; Bexar Cnty.
Oak Cliff is the heart of the 24th Congressional District of Texas, the strongest national
Commissioner, 1973-78, Judge, 1979-84.
Democratic district in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Its population was 32% black and 13%
Offices: 1116 LHOB 20515, 202-225-4511. Also Fed. Bldg., 727
Hispanic in 1980, its income rather low; its housing prices are relatively inexpensive. It does
E. Durango St., Rm. B-146, San Antonio 78206, 512-229-6191;
include some suburban territory, however: the modest suburb of Grand Prairie and somewhat
1300 Matamoros St., Rm. 115, Laredo 78040, 512-724-7774;
higher-income Irving, the home of the Dallas Cowboys' stadium. The 24th District's boundaries
Uvalde Cnty. Cthse., Uvalde 78801, 512-278-5021; Fed. Cthse.
Bldg., Rm. 103, 100 E. Broadway, Del Rio 78841, 512-774-6549;
were the key issue in the partisan fights over Texas's redistricting; the current lines were drawn
by Democrats in 1983 after a federal court intervened.
101 E. Dimmit, W. Annex, Crystal City 78839, 512-374-5200;
Dimmit Cnty. Cthse., Carrizo Springs 78834, 512-876-2323; and
The congressman from the 24th District is Martin Frost, who started his political career by
Maverick Cnty. Cthse., P.O. Box 995, Eagle Pass 78852, 512-773-
challenging an incumbent congressman and became one of the young congressmen closest to the
4110.
Democratic leadership of the House. In 1974 he ran against and in 1978 finally beat
Committees: Armed Services (23d of 31 D). Subcommittees: Military Personnel and Compensation;
conservative Democrat and former TV weathercaster Dale Milford, with the help of large
Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems. Government Operations (19th of 24 D). Subcommittees:
majorities from blacks. His rapport with black voters helped him again in 1982, enabling him to
Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs; Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources. Select
face down black primary opposition, when it looked like the district would have a black majority,
Committee on Hunger (14th of 19 D).
and then to beat a black Dallas councilwoman running as a Republican by a 73%-26% margin.
He has been easily reelected since.
Group Ratings
Frost's House career took off when then Majority Leader Jim Wright got him a seat on the
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Rules Committee in 1979, making him only the second Democratic freshman in the 20th
1988
70
81
95
82
50
8
5
40
21
11
1987
76
-
93
50
-
0
-
-
14
8
century to get a seat on Rules. Frost has generally not disappointed the Democratic leadership.
voting often but not always on the liberal side. He was disappointed, however, in his run for the
National Journal Ratings
chairmanship of the Budget Committee after the 1984 elections. He led the move to deny
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
waivers of the three-term rule to Jim Jones and Leon Panetta, thus barring them from the
Economic
84%
-
16%
73%
-
0%
leadership; on this he was serving not just himself, but also Tip O'Neill and Jim Wright, who
Social
70%
-
30%
62%
-
38%
mistrusted both men. But it was apparent that William Gray of Pennsylvania had the votes sewn
Foreign
60%
-
37%
59%
I
40%
up to be chairman, and so Frost withdrew.
Key Votes
On Rules, he was a close ally of Jim Wright and of the beleaguered Texas savings and loan
industry. On the committee in 1986, he helped kill a non-bank banks bill that would have
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
tightened lending and investment requirements on S&Ls, and in 1988, he helped kill a bill that
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
would have increased FSLIC capitalization $5 billion at the expense of the S&Ls. At the time
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
presumably Frost had no idea of the huge amount of money-estimated in 1989 at $100 billion
plus-that improvident and crooked S&Ls would cost the taxpayer.
1214
TEXAS
TEXAS
1215
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 626,700, up 18.9% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 527,267, up 14.2% 1970-80.
TWENTY-FIFTH DISTRICT
Households (1980): 77% family, 48% with children, 60% married couples; 40.9% housing units rented;
median monthly rent: $217; median house value: $37,900. Voting age pop. (1980): 352,993; 29% Black,
West from the scruffy towns where the Houston Ship Channel empties out into the bay near the
11% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin, 1% American Indian.
giant San Jacinto Battle Monument, through Pasadena where the now defunct country music
honkytonk Gilley's, with its mechanical bulls used to sit on Spencer Highway, out past the black
1988 Presidential Vote:
Dukakis (D).
97,357
(52%)
(47%)
neighborhoods near Houston's (comparatively) close-in Hobby Airport, to the Astrodome: this is
Bush (R)
87,616
working-class Houston. Some of the neighborhoods here are black, some are heavily Mexican,
but most are white, and the cultural tone is down home and southwestern. These areas, plus the
Rep. Martin Frost (D)
more affluent, and in some cases Jewish, neighborhoods west of Main near Rice University and
Elected 1978; b. Jan. 1, 1942, Glendale, CA; home, Dallas; U. of
the giant Texas Medical Center-out in territory where James Baker can remember his
MO, B.A., B.J. 1964, Georgetown U., J.D. 1970; Jewish; married
grandfather shooting quail on his acreage-make up Texas's 25th Congressional District.
(Valerie).
This was one of the three new Texas districts created after the 1980 Census, a political bonus
Career: Legal commentator, KERA-TV, Dallas, 1971-72; Prac-
to the Houston area for the demographic gains it made from the oil price rises of the 1970s, with
ticing atty., 1972-78.
the partisan benefit going, as the legislature intended, to the Democrats. Working-class
Offices: 2459 RHOB 20515, 202-225-3605. Also 400 S. Zang
Blvd., Ste. 1319, Dallas 75208, 214-948-3401; and 801 W. Free-
faithfully Democratic-this was a Dukakis, not a Bush, district in 1988-and if one of the
Houston, not only in black and Mexican neighborhoods, but in white as well, votes pretty
way, Ste. 720 Grand Prairie 75051, 214-262-1503.
effects of the new district lines was to strengthen Republican Jack Fields in the 8th District and
make the 22d District safely Republican, the other was to open up the 25th to an ambitious
Committees: House Administration (12th of 13 D). Subcommit-
young Democrat named Mike Andrews.
tees: Elections; Libraries and Memorials; Procurement and Print-
ing. Rules (4th of 9 D). Subcommittee: The Legislative Process.
Andrews had already run for Congress once, in 1980, in the 22d District against gold bug Ron
Paul (and 1988 Libertarian presidential candidate), where he won 49% of the vote after
spending $750,000. But he didn't capture the 22d without a fight. He was challenged by a
former Pasadena mayor in the primary who charged he was too liberal and then by a Republican
in the general who said he'd be a better supporter of President Reagan; Andrews spent $647,000
and won those races with 58% and 60%. As the size of his campaign treasury suggests, Andrews
Group Ratings
knows how to raise money from Houston's downtown business community even as he was
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
winning the primary endorsement of the 18th district's black congressman Mickey Leland.
1988
70
74
79
82
44
9
4
40
23
13
In the House, Andrews has shown considerable political adroitness and has an impressive list
1987
88
-
81
57
-
0
-
-
29
6
of accomplishments. He first won a seat on the Science and Technology Committee, where of
course he looked after the interests of the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake City, just at the
National Journal Ratings
southern edge of the district. He kept NASA from transferring several thousand jobs from there
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB- 1987 CONS
to Huntsville, Alabama, and he helped to keep alive the often beleaguered space station
Economic
87%
-
8%
73%
-
0%
Social
63%
-
36%
60%
-
39%
the year before by one vote.
program. In 1986, he moved to the Ways and Means Committee, a place on which he had lost
Foreign
55%
-
44%
55%
-
44%
On Ways and Means he has forged a reasonable working relationship with Chairman Dan
Rostenkowski despite their differing regional interests. Andrews naturally lobbies heavily for
Key Votes
lower energy taxes and claims credit for the repeal of the windfall profit tax (which had ceased
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
to produce any revenue, but would have been reimposed if oil prices went back up). He took
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
FOR
part in the welfare reform bill, successfully moving at one point to cut its cost by $500 million a
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
-
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
and pushing for mandatory withholding of child support from wages. At Rostenkowski's
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
AGN
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
because of its huge cost, and prevailing on the floor 243-169; this was not a particularly pleasant
he headed a task force working against Claude Pepper's long-term health care bill, opposing request, it
Election Results
duty. Andrews may have had a better time working successfully with Robert Mrazek of New
1988 general
Martin Frost (D)
10,841
(93%)
($438,949)
Leo Sadovy (Lib.)
10,841
also found time to become co-chairman of the Sunbelt Caucus.
York to preserve part of the Manassas, Virginia Battlefield from a proposed shopping center. He
(7%)
1988 primary
Martin Frost (D), unopposed
After fighting through two tough election seasons before he finally won the seat, Andrews
1986 general
Martin Frost (D)
69,368
(67%)
($709,864)
33,819
($23,676)
seems to have a secure hold on it: he was reelected without difficulty in 1984, 1986 and 1988.
Bob Burk (R)
(33%)
threat to him.
Given greater Houston's robust population growth, redistricting probably doesn't pose a serious
TEXAS
TEXAS
1217
1216
Est. Pop. 1986: 580,500, up 10.2% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,801, up 20.4% units 1970-80. rented:
The People: (1980): 74% family, 44% with children, 60% married couples; 41.6% housing 23% Black.
TWENTY-SIXTH DISTRICT
Households median monthly rent: $261; median house value: $46,700. Voting age pop. (1980): 366,175;
It is almost invisible as you drive the freeways amidst construction cranes and newly built
12% Spanish origin, 1% Asian origin.
offices, shopping centers and apartment complexes, but it was one of the major geographical
(51%)
barriers in American history-the Balcones Escarpment, the rim of higher west Texas land that
Dukakis (D)
84,886
1988 Presidential Vote:
80,566
(48%)
passes between Dallas and Fort Worth and extends southwest to Waco and Austin. East of the
Bush (R)
escarpment the land is low and green, often forested and sometimes swampy; west it is high and
brown, with little water and few trees. This is the boundary between East and West, the reason
why the first railroads here stopped at Dallas. It is still crucial territory today, the site, just west
Rep. Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D)
Elected 1982; b. Feb. 4, 1944, Houston; home, Houston; U. of TX.
in the 1980s.
of the huge Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport, of the fastest population growth in the country
B.A. 1967, Southern Methodist U., J.D. 1970; Episcopalian; mar-
This growth is all the more extraordinary because it has not been generated by the oil business;
ried (Ann).
Career: Law clerk, U.S. Dist. Judge, Houston, 1970-72; Asst.
more important in this area have been defense industries and DFW Airport and a certain
Dist. Atty., Harris Cnty., 1972-76; Practicing atty., 1976-82.
entrepreneurial drive. They have come together in Arlington, southwest of the Airport, which
thirty years ago was almost entirely vacant land: rolling hills with scrubby vegetation, and long
Offices: 322 CHOB 20515, 202-225-7508. Also 1001 E.
views from the escarpment over the plains to the skyscrapers of Fort Worth and Dallas. Now it is
Southmore, Ste. 810, Pasadena 77503, 713-473-4334; and Fed.
a city of more than 250,000 people, and not just a bedroom suburb of Fort Worth: it is the home
Bldg., 515 Rusk, Houston 77002, 713-229-2244.
of the Texas Rangers, of Six Flags Over Texas and of a branch of the University of Texas.
Committees: Ways and Means (21st of 23 D). Subcommittees:
Arlington is full of the people whose talents and skills have made the Dallas-Fort Worth
Human Resources; Select Revenue Measures.
Metroplex a ranking center of high tech and defense industries; it is progressive, with clean new
streets and commodious public services; it seems safe and secure against the urban ills that
afflict so many neighborhoods in so many of America's other major metropolitan areas. In
national politics, Arlington is heavily Republican, receptive to the message of free enterprise and
traditional moral values. It seems difficult, in this pleasant, hard-working America, to under-
stand that there are other parts of the country (and even a few whole states) which disagree.
Arlington forms almost half of Texas's 26th Congressional District, a new seat created after
Group Ratings
ADA
ACLU
COPE
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
the 1980 Census and made up of incipient or quasi-Arlingtons to the north, including several
CFA
LCV
66
73
31
29
34
70
62
30
suburbs of north Dallas and going up through formerly rural territory and the county seat of
1988
75
70
-
47
25
62
57
0
-
Denton almost to the Red River. Its first congressman, fittingly, was former Arlington mayor of
-
1987
58
-
26 years Tom Vandergriff, who ran as a conservative Democrat. But even with his local fame
and in a Democratic year, it took him $700,000 of his own money to win a 344-vote victory in
National Journal Ratings
1982; and it is not too surprising that he lost by 6,000 votes in the Republican year of 1984.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
The current congressman, Dick Armey, has made a surprisingly strong impression on public
60%
I
39%
-
Economic
50%
48%
49%
policy in his few years in Washington. Like Senator Phil Gramm, he was an economics professor
50%
-
58%
-
40%
Social
46%
-
53%
at a Texas public university who believed fervently in private free markets; unlike Gramm, he
-
Foreign
50%
50%
seems not to have been always ambitious for political office, but ran in 1984 only after his
interest was piqued by watching House sessions on C-SPAN. Even at North Texas State in
Denton, he was the odd man out as a free market advocate in a Keynesian department; in the
Key Votes
AGN
9) SDI Research
AGN
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
House he served on the liberal-dominated Education and Labor and Government Operations
1) Homelèss $
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
2) Gephardt Amdt
FOR
Committees. He spent his first years in the House as a "budget commando," staying on the floor
FOR
11) Aid to Contras
AGN
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
7) Handgun Sales
AGN
FOR
and offering budget-cutting amendments to almost all spending bills, a few of which actually
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
12) Nuclear Testing
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
passed; to save money, he slept the nights he was in Washington in the House gym and, when he
was forced to stop that, on his office couch.
Yet unlike some of his conservative allies Armey, a cheerful man originally from North
Election Results
113,499
(71%)
($318,970)
Dakota, seems to have genuine political skills. He can analyze not only issues but colleagues,
1988 general
Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D)
George Loeffler (R)
44,043
(28%)
figuring out what formulation of his principles he can sell to them. He has championed causes
1988 primary
Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D), unopposed
hich have gone farther than conventional wisdom at first expected, such as selling public
67,435
(100%)
($133,817)
Michael A. (Mike) Andrews (D)
housing to tenants, privatization of government operations like Amtrak's Northeast Corridor
1986 general
and the sale of government loan assets; and has opposed parental leave bills as "yuppie welfare."
1218
TEXAS
TEXAS
1219
He won a seat on the Budget Committee in 1987 and supported the first bipartisan budget
National Journal Ratings
resolution in many years.
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
the well-trodden route of reformers of various ideologies by proposing an apolitical base closing not
But his greatest achievement was the 1988 military base closing bill. In 1987 Armey pursued
Economic
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
7%
-
91%
Social
0%
-
89%
0%
-
95%
Foreign
0%
-
90%
commission. But Congress, as well as former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, were In 1988
0%
-
84%
0%
-
80%
ready to delegate power in this way, and Armey's plan was narrowly defeated in commission-its 1987.
Key Votes
he back again. After resolving disputes over the size and makeup of the and
12-member came composition was eventually agreed upon by senior members of the House 223-
I) Homeless $
FOR
5) Ban Drug Test
FOR
2) Gephardt Amdt
9) SDI Research
Senate Armed Services Committees and the Pentagon-Armey's bill passed the House chairman
AGN
FOR
6) Drug Death Pen
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
AGN
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
Les Aspin. The bill's success lay in the fact that the commission's list of recommended with
186, with the co-sponsorship not of some other bomb-thrower, but of Armed Services closings
7) Handgun Sales
FOR
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice FOR
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
12) Nuclear Testing
AGN
had to be approved or vetoed by the Congress all at once, with no changes or suggestions, list and
Election Results
congressional actions vetoable by the President. The commission did draw up the of
1988 general
Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R)
any Congress didn't veto it, producing the first base closings since 1977, and an advertised savings
194,944
Jo Ann Reyes (D)
(69%)
($314,903)
1988 primary
86,490
Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R), unopposed
(31%)
($189,780)
nearly $700 million a year.
This not be the last of Armey's achievements. He seems to suit this fast-growing economics district
1986 general
Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R)
101,735
(68%)
better may every two years, his ebullience matching its mood and his faith in market side of the
George Richardson (D)
($541,542)
47,651
(32%)
even reflecting its settled conviction based on observations of the bounteous world on either and with
($133,785)
Arlington about to eclipse nearby Fort Worth in number of voters he seems politically no
Escarpment. Armey won reelection in 1986 and 1988 by better than 2 to 1 margins, safe
TWENTY-SEVENTH DISTRICT
matter what happens in redistricting.
Est. Pop. 1986: 746,000, up 41.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,598, up 62.2% units 1970-80. rented:
Ranch and along Padre Island to the Mexican border is the 27th Congressional District of
Along the Gulf of Mexico from the port and industrial city of Corpus Christi down past the King
The Households People: (1980): 76% family, 45% with children, 67% married couples; 33.7% housing 4% Spanish
median monthly rent: $251; median house value: $57,400. Voting age pop. (1980): 372,244;
Texas. This is part of south Texas between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, the land in
contention in the Mexican war, which despite the U.S. victory is still inhabited mostly by people
origin, 3% Black, 1% Asian origin.
of Mexican ancestry. There is, however, plenty of variety here. Corpus Christi is an oil port, the
Bush
203,541
(68%)
1988 Presidential Vote:
(R)
most important one south of Houston, with big petrochemical plants and a causeway to the
92,508
(31%)
Dukakis (D)
beach. About half its citizens are Mexican-American, but they are less segregated and set
Half the 27th's people live in and around Corpus Christi.
than was once the case. Overall, they seem to fit in with the city's blue-collar, roughneck apart tone.
Rep. Richard K. (Dick) Armey (R)
Elected 1984; b. July 7, 1940, Cando, ND; home, Cooper Canyon
Most of the other half live in and around Brownsville and Harlingen in the Lower Rio Grande
Jamestown Col., B.A. 1963, U. of ND, M.A. 1964, U. of OK, Ph.D.
Valley. Harlingen became a figure of fun for many when backers of Ronald Reagan's Central
1969; Presbyterian; married (Susan).
when American policy suggested it would be the next place to be invaded. But the fun is less apparent
Career: Prof., W. TX St. U., 1967-68, Austin Col., 1968-72, N.
you're there: Harlingen is not about to be overrun by Nicaraguans, of course, but its
TX St. U., 1972-77; Chmn., Dept. of Economics, N. TX St. U.
position down on the border could be an uncomfortable one if a government hostile to the United
States should come to power in Mexico. Any Mexican development-the devaluation of the
1977-83.
Offices: 130 CHOB 20515, 202-225-7772. Also 1301 S. Bower
peso, unemployment in the northern Mexico states, the success or failure of maquiladora
Rd., Ste. 422, Arlington 76013, 817-461-2555; and 250 S
Stemmons, Ste. 210, Lewisville 75067, 214-221-4527.
American life, especially here, than any other foreign development short of war.
plants-changes life on the border, and a hostile Mexico could do more to damage the quality of
Committees: Budget (7th of 14 R). Task Forces: Budget Process
of Padre Island, for most of its length a national seashore, where the hot sands meet the almost
In between these two nodes are Texan versions of dreamland. Fronting the Gulf is the sandspit
Reconciliation and Enforcement; Economic Policy, Projections and
Revenues; Urgent Fiscal Issues. Education and Labor (8th of 13
R). Subcommittees: Labor-Management Relations; Labor State
developments, where residents can sit high in air conditioning and watch the beach shimmer in
steamy waters of the summertime Gulf. At its south end, there are extensive high-rise
the This heat. Inland are the vast grazing and oil lands of the King Ranch, long America's largest.
dards.
is.a solidly Democratic district, and the congressman, Solomon Ortiz, was chosen in the
Group Ratings
Democratic primary in 1982. There were five main candidates, and in the first primary their
ADA
ACLU
LCV
ACU
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
sheriff rotes fell in the narrow range between 14% and 26%. The high figure was won by Ortiz, then
COPE
CFA
1988
0
4
2
18
19
100
89
100
100
90
of Nueces County, known as a tough law enforcer. His major opponent was former
96
100
95
1987
14
Corpus Christi legislator Joe Salem. But Ortiz out-maneuvered him for support in the
0
-
2
Brownsville area; by making a local alliance there, he cinched the runoff. The general election
1220
TEXAS
TEXAS/UTAH
1221
was anticlimactic: the Republican candidate had been mayor of Corpus Christi some time
Key Votes
before, but had little personal support.
1) Homeless $
AGN
5) Ban Drug Test
Ortiz's voting record is liberal on economics, moderate on cultural and military issues-like
AGN
2) Gephardt Amdt
9) SDI Research
FOR
AGN
6) Drug Death Pen
FOR
Kika de la Garza's in the 15th. Many in Washington assume that a Mexican-American will vote
3) Deficit Reduc
FOR
10) Ban Chem Weaps
AGN
7) Handgun Sales
-
on the left wing of the Democratic Party, but Mexican-American voters are vociferously
4) Kill Plnt Clsng Notice AGN
11) Aid to Contras
FOR
8) Ban D.C. Abort $
FOR
patriotic and culturally traditional; and Ortiz seems to share their attitudes. He is a member of
12) Nuclear Testing
FOR
Merchant Marine and Fisheries and the Armed Services Committee, where he seems to fit in
Election Results
well with the generally hawkish majority. The successful legislation he has sponsored has local
1988 general
Solomon P. Ortiz (D), unopposed
angles: a technical bill on determining the taxes owed by oil refineries in foreign trade zones,
1988 primary
Solomon P. Ortiz (D), unopposed
($142,651)
delaying for a year the Endangered Species requirement that shrimpers use Turtle Excluding
1986 general
Solomon P. Ortiz (D)
64,165
(100%)
($138,793)
Devices, protecting the Flower Garden coral reefs 220 miles east of Corpus Christi in the Gulf.
Ortiz is reelected easily and has a safe seat.
The People: Est. Pop. 1986: 609,600, up 15.7% 1980-86; Pop. 1980: 526,988, up 23.7% 1970-80.
Households (1980): 80% family, 50% with children, 66% married couples; 37.8% housing units rented:
UTAH
median monthly rent: $171; median house value: $31,000. Voting age pop. (1980): 341,512; 55%
Spanish origin, 3% Black.
"Mormon Utah," wrote the WPA Guide 50 years ago (Utah has been mostly Mormon since
1988 Presidential Vote:
Bush (R)
76,313
(46%)
1847), "is primarily that fertile strip of occupied land, down through the north-central part of
Dukakis (D)
88,458
(53%)
the state, lying at the foot of the Wasatch Mountain rampart. Four-fifths of the population lives
here, in towns that vary from metropolitan Salt Lake City to humble villages that are
distinguishable as towns only by their general store and sturdy meeting house.' Even in this
Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D)
richest and oldest-settled area, the stamp of a pioneer culture is everywhere manifest. Grandsires
Elected 1982; b. June 3, 1937, Robstown; home, Corpus Christi:
built too sturdily, albeit of such materials as wood and mud, for the pioneer period to have lost its
Del Mar Col., Natl. Sheriffs' Training Inst., 1977; United Method-
substance. And these houses almost always are shadowed by trees. If houses could not stand as
ist; divorced.
monuments to a culture, trees, gardens, and sheer greenness could. The cities themselves, almost
Career: Army, 1960-62; Nueces Cnty. Constable, 1965-68,
universally set four-square to the directions, reflect an ideal of spacious and noble planning."
Commissioner, 1969-76, Sheriff, 1977-82.
Fifty years later, having grown from 550,000 people to 1.7 million, Utah's basic character
Offices: 1524 LHOB 20515, 202-225-7742. Also 3649 Leopard.
remains stamped as firmly as ever on the desert, mountain-shadowed, often surrealistic
Ste. 510, Corpus Christi 78408, 512-883-5868; and 3505 Boca
landscape of what would have been, without the Mormons, an uninhabited wasteland.
Chica Blvd., Ste. 438, Brownsville 78521, 512-541-1242.
Utah and Mormonism had their roots in a very different landscape more than 150 years
Committees: Armed Services (20th of 31 D). Subcommittees:
in a wave of religious enthusiasm, prophecy and utopianism that swept across the "burnt-over ago,
Military Installations and Facilities; Readiness; Seapower and
district" of Upstate New York in the 1820s and 1830s. There Joseph Smith, a young farmer,
Strategic and Critical Materials. Merchant Marine and Fisheries
experienced a vision in which the Angel Moroni, a prophet of the lost tribe of Israel (the
(15th of 26 D). Subcommittees: Coast Guard and Navigation;
American Indians), appeared and told him where to unearth several golden tablets inscribed
Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment. Select
with hieroglyphic writings. (So important is this revelation to the religion that forged documents
Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control (12th of 18 D).
showing that Smith was directed by a "white salamander" to the tablets resulted in extortions,
car-bombings, and finally the confession of forger Mark Hofmann in 1987.) With the aid of
Group Ratings
special spectacles, Smith translated the tablets and published them as the Book of Mormon in
ADA
ACLU
COPE
CFA
LCV
NTLC
NSI
COC
CEI
Saints. His Mormons, as they were called, attracted thousands of converts and created their own
1831. He later declared himself a prophet and founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
ACU
1988
55
38
87
55
44
26
5
70
29
14
communities; persecuted for their beliefs, they moved west to Ohio, Missouri, and then Illinois.
1987
60
-
85
43
-
17
-
-
33
14
In 1844, the Mormon colony at Nauvoo, Illinois, had some 15,000 members, all living under the
strict in theocratic rule of Joseph Smith. In secular Illinois politics, Nauvoo-then the largest city
National Journal Ratings
the state-held the balance of power between contending Democrats and Whigs. It was here
1988 LIB - 1988 CONS
1987 LIB - 1987 CONS
that Smith received a revelation sanctioning the practice of polygamy, which led to his death at
the hands of a mob in 1844.
Economic
84%
-
15%
66%
I
33%
Social
43%
55%
42%
-
57%
After the murder, the new president of the church, Brigham Young, decided to move the
Foreign
54%
46%
54%
45%
faithful, "the saints," farther west into territory that was still part of Mexico and far beyond the
pale of white settlement. Young led a well-organized march across the Great Plains and into the