ustxtxb_obs_1965_10_15_50_00008-00000_000.pdf

No Arguments “Meetings of the Democratic State Executive Committee have been little more than social affairs since Gov. John Connally won control,” writes Allen Duckworth in the Dallas News, of which he is the political editor. “Members ask what ‘the man’ wants and he passes the word and he has his way. ‘The man,’ of course, is Gov. Connally.” The last S.D.E.C. meeting at Amarillo, Duckworth says, “lasted about an hour. There was only one roll call, and that was to determine who was present. Will D. Davis of Austin was recommended by a subcommittee to be the new chairman, and Ray Pearson of El Paso to be the new secretary. They were recommended because Gov. Connally wanted them. There was no opposition. Their election was by voice vote.” Duckworth’s conclusion: “Controtroversy is frowned upon.” r staunch supporter of Connally’s program in the legislature and could work in perfect harmony with him. Spears believes more than $150,000 is necessary for his campaign but told a San Antonio Express reporter he is assured of adequate financing. He is assured labor’s support. Other candidates are expected in this race to succeed Carr. Frank Briscoe, Houston DA, keeps saying he is considering running; he is also thinking of Congress. V The Corpus Christi Caller-Times quot ed Oscar Dancy of Brownsville, Cameron County judge for more than 40 years, that he is considering running for lieutenant governor. . . . Agriculture Cmsr. John White has announced for a ninth term. . . . Ex-Gov. Allan Shivers says all state offices but governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general should be appointments for life. Shivers is for Connally for re-election. V The Texas Republicans’ inner fissure deepens. Thad Hutcheson, former Texas GOP chairman, told Young Republicans at U.T., according to the Daily Texan: “Essentially, the Republican Party has lost its right and posture to criticize effectively because of its introverted, ill-mannered, almost suicidal acts of the past,” refusal to accept the Goldwater defeat, and “the breakdown of the Republican Party and its leadership as an instrument of moderate, effective conservatism,” among other reasons. The UT Young Republicans’ paper ran a Buckley anti-Birch article under the headline, “Impossible to Defend Birch Leadership.” Meanwhile, Peter O’Donnell, the state GOP chairman now, was elected to head the association of Republican state chairmen of 12 Southern and border states, succeeding Wirt Yerger of Mississippi. GOP, Liberal Hopes V Even if the GOP loses Tower next year, some new Republican officeholders in Texas are most likely. It’s an off-year, contrasting to the year of the Johnson landslide. Republican Bob Price, a farmer out of Pampa, who got 46% of the vote against Cong. Walter Rogers in 1964 \(the highest Republican congressional percentage last George Bush runs for anything next year, it’ll be for Congress from Houston, his advisers say. V A rumor persists that President John son may get Cong. Albert Thomas, Houston, to run again, although Thomas’ cancer has caused him to miss most of the present Congress. If not, the Thomas seat will be sought by Rep. Bob Eckhardt and probably by V. V. Ramsey, county commissioner. Searcy Bracewell, former state senator and leader in the pro-sales tax fight, is considering running for Congress in Bracewell has become the conservative Democrats’ arch-planner in Houston. He is attorney for the school board and a crony of Ex-Gov. Shivers as well as close to Connally. He led the statewide sales tax committee along with Tom Sealy in 1961. If Briscoe ran for Congress he would run in this Bush-Bracewell district. The Texas Observer V Harris County Democratic Chairman Bill Kilgarlin, the former liberal state representative, is a definite candidate for Congress against Cong. Bob Casey in the county’s southern district. Kilgarlin has not yet announced, however. He will have labor backing and is said to have an assurance from the White House that it will not intervene in his contest with Casey. V A Fort Worth appreciation lunch for Don Kennard is a precursor of Kennard’s bid for Wright’s congressional seat. The Jacksonville Daily Progress predicts Cong John Dowdy, Athens, will give up if Sen. Martin Dies, Lufkin, announces against him. V Cong.-at-large Joe Pool, Dallas, a Democrat, is quoted by the Dallas Times-Herald calling for 40 or 50 more conservatives in the Congress, adding: “It makes no difference if they are Democrats or Republicans so long as they are against giveaway programs.” V A potentially rancorous situation is brewing in the new senatorial district, eleven, in Houston. This district has about 47% Negro voters; Yarborough beat McClendon here 3-1 and Bush 4-1. Barbara Jordan, Negro, who won this new district 2-1 in a previous legislative race, is a Senate candidate. Labor and the Houston coalition are in effect pledged to her. However, Rep. Charles Whitfield says he is going to run for the nomination against her. Whitfield says he is going to argue that his civil rights votes are as good as Miss Jordan’s would have been. He says Miss Jordan should run for the House. Off hand one would think Whitfield would have no chance in this district. He figures, however, that if he can get a third of the Negroes voting for him, he can make it. He says he’s definitely running. Whitfield told the Observer that he ran into Chris Dixie, temporary chairman of the Texas Organization of Liberal Democrats and a recent chairman of the Harris County Dem ocrats, on the street in Houston and told Dixie that every time Whitfield has got ready to move up, Dixie and his group had given him 17 reasons why he couldn’t. Whitfield said Dixie told him that he had only one reason, Whitfield asked what it was, and Dixie said, “Barbara.” Whitfield, confirming from Dixie that Dixie believed himself to be speaking the liberal-labor consensus in Houston, said he told Dixie that’s what he wanted to know, and the conversation ended. Whitfield said he will put “some moral questions” to the Negro community, evidently meaning that the issue will be whether a white marl can win in a district where Negroes are such a large proportion of the voters. Miss Jordan is philosophic about Whitfield’s candidacy, and has no intention of being turned back from the Senate race. District 11 includes some rednecks, and there is a possibility this contest could cause very deep tensions. It can be said with accuracy that the leadership of liberals and labor in Houston are furious with Whitfield. They believe that Miss Jordan is qualified to be senator and that Negroes are entitled to having a Negro in state office. They had wanted Whitfield to wait until Sen. Criss Cole, \(in whose district he lived before he moved into Miss Jorappointment, at which time Whitfield could have run for the Senate, but Whitfield moved his residence and has sent out letters to precinct chairmen saying he “plans to file” for the Senate. Since Houston’s liberal coalition has actively sought to discourage him, there is conjecture that he may have backing from elsewhere. V In labor-heavy senatorial district 7 in Houston, Rep. Chet Brooks has the inside track on the labor-liberal support. Rep. John Ray Harrison has said he wants to run; whether he would do so if the coalition endorsed Brooks is the question. Brooks says that if Harrison did run, “Bracewell would run in a ringer, figuring John and I would cut each other up.” V In Republican dominated senatorial district 15, Rep. Wallace Miller is the leading conservative Democratic prospect. Reps. Henry Grover and Don Garrison have been talking about running. The Republicans are in very strong position in this district. . . . Sen. Criss Cole, having drawn district 6 for himself, is regarded as invincible there. V In San Antonio, Reps. Jake Johnson and Bob Vale may be front-runners to succeed Sen. Spears. Reps. Bernal and Lee are mentioned. Maury Maverick, Jr., has thought of running, but may yield to arguments that a Latin-American should represent the district in question. In the city’s new senatorial district, Reps. Berry and Kothmann have announced. Rep. John Alaniz is expected to run for county commissioner. V Sens. Jack Strong, Longview, and Gal loway Calhoun, Tyler, are squaring off for a real fight. Smith Cty. Democratic chairman Joe Tunnell charged that in 1962 Calhoun refused to endorse Connally over GOP’er Jack Cox. Calhoun says Tunnell’s trying to drive conservatives away “to