ustxtxb_obs_1966_01_21_50_00013-00000_000.pdf

will not be opposed by telephone lawyer Ed Gossett. fro In Houston, Cong. Albert Thomas, of the eastern district, is reported in and out of the hospital, his illness very serious; he missed many crucial votes in the 1965 Congress. He may or may not run again ; reports are numerous that Mrs. Thomas may become his successor in Congress. Rep. Bob Eckhardt, who will seek Thomas’ seat if a vacancy develops, would not be deterred by Mrs. Thomas’ candidacy. Cty. Cmsr. V. V. Ramsey, another possible candidate if a vacancy developed, has said he would not run against Mrs. Thomas. t o of Republican George Bush has announced for Congress from the west side of Harris County; he might have to fight for the GOP nomination with Ross Baker, once a legislative candidate. For the Democratic nomination in this district, three contenders appear: Frank Briscoe, who has resigned as district attorney and is the Tory Democrats’ choice; David VanOrsdale, a senior budget accountant for Jefferson Chemical and a conservative Democrat whose platform includes “a gold moratorium law”; and John Wildenthal, former city attorney whose support of Sen. Ralph Yarborough in past campaigns has interested liberal Democrats. frof Briscoe was honoree at a $10 dinner attended by 760 persons. He was given a new station wagon ; the man making the presentation said this vehicle was being given to Briscoe by “2,000 or so friends.” loor From different sources the Observer received reports of “a deal” between Sen. Chick Kazen, Laredo, and Gov. John Connally. Kazen would run for Congress in the new South Texas district; Rep. Wayne Connally, Floresville, would not run for this job, but would run for a State \\Senate seat. In return for deferring to Kazen, Wayne would get the support of the Old Party in Laredo for the Senate. Kazen has announced for Congress; Wayne Connally for the State Senate. \(Rep. Honore Ligarde, Laredo, a possible for the same State Senate seat, is president of a newly-chartered bank and has therefore announced for reKarnes County judge, a moderate liberal, and now a U.S. attorney out of the San Antonio office, has been giving serious thought to running for Congress against Kazen. A San Antonio Democrat, van lines operator Randolph Sherwood, who tried to unseat Cty. Cmsr. Albert Pena but didn’t make the runoff, has also filed for the new South Texas congressional seat, proclaiming, “I’m prepared to spend a fantastic amount of money. Kazen will earn every vote he gets.” Pena has been urged to run, too. Labor leans toward Kazen as of now. goof Announcing in full-page ads that he’ll oppose Cong. John Dowdy, Athens, Sen. Martin Dies, Jr., Lufkin, referred four times to his father’s service in the Con gress; said, “My [legal] practice consists Jim Wright Fort Worth Cong. Jim Wright’s decision not to run for the U.S. Senate on grounds that he had not been able to raise enough moneyhe said more than half a milion dollars would be required for the race–suggests a rereading of his December telecast in which he explained the framework of his problem. “It takes a truly enormous amount of money to run for senator in Texas,” he said, and this puts a premium “not so much on understanding or ability as on money. It can just almost be said that high elective office is up for sale . to the highest bidder in the larger and more populous states of our union .. . “Just one first class letter to every family in Texas would costin production and postageapproximately $300,000 . . . One of the great big billboardsjust one in one of our big Texas citieswith no more than a touched-up picture and a slick slogan costs $550 a month . . . [T]his broadcast tonight is costing me a little over $10,000 and it’s being carried on just 18 of our state’s 50 stations. Maybe one-tenth of the people of Texas are listening. “But do you know what the most expensive thing in television is? It’s that little 20-second commercial spot that sneaks up on you before you have a chance to turn it off . . . If I were to undertake to buy this same amount of time that we’ve been talking tonight [half an hourEd.] . . . but buy it instead in 20-second spots; instead of costing me $10,000, it would cost me approximately $400,000 for the same total amount of time. Think of that the next time you see a quicky political spot .. . “One announced candidate for this U.S. Senate seat has been telling his financial backers that he is raising a political campaign fund of $1,300,000.” \(The only announced candidate, Waggoner Carr, said he to be a thoroughly cynical thing .. . “Think about it: a million dollars!” Wright continued. “That money hasn’t been coming at the rate of $10 apiece from each of 100,000 average Texans . . . It doesn’t even characteristically come in denominations of $100 from each of 10,000 Texans. The great bulk of a typical successful statewide campaign fund is made up of individual donations from $1,000 to $10,000from a very limited number of people. That’s the truth of the matter .. . “Across this broad land of ours, candidates for high elective office are discovering that the first thing they must do is .. . to talk privately with certain people about why their election would best serve the narrow economy interests of those particular people . . . [T]he base of the real power structure which pays the piper and calls the tune is entirely too narrow for a really healthy democracy . . . I will never be your senator if it means soliciting or accepting campaign donations from the vested interests or pressure groups which expect thereby to purchase a prior claim upon the senator for preferential services.” Wright asked 25,000 people to send him $10. On Jan. 8, he said he would not run for the Senate. Response had been good, he said, but not good enough. Slightly fewer than 7,000 people had responded, contributing or pledging $48,828.50 \(slightly less from his home area, north and central Texas, he said; he heard nothing from 87 counties. To run, to get enough of a hearing, he said, he would have to beg the public for money in successive telecasts or “meet privately with affluent individuals and organized groups,” and he would not do either; he would not run, and he was returning the $48,828.50 to those who sent i t. At the recent Texas Republican Executive Committee meeting in Austin, Albert Fay, member of the national GOP committee for Texas, said Tower’s re-election campaign would entail “vast sums of money.” In a closed-door session, Jon Ford reported in the San Antonio Express, the GOP leaders budgeted over $600,000 for it. In his state of the union address, the President said he would submit legislation “to revise the present unrealistic restrictions on contributions,” \(a phrase he did the law and levy severe penalties for failure to report contributions, and to give tax incentives to stimulate small contributions. Wright in effect saidgood. January 21, 1966 13 `THINK ABOUT IT’