ustxtxb_obs_1968_03_29_50_00004-00000_000.pdf

Rockefeller’s announced withdrawal from the presidential race expect him to be working behind the scenes for the nomination via a draft. The Houston Post reports that a draft Rockefeller headquarters was opened in Houston within a few hours of the governor’s announcement of withdrawal last week. GOP Races A total of 287 Republicans are run nini for offices from congressman to governor down to county commissioner and justice of the peace in Texas. There were a few more Republican candidates in both 1962 and 1964 but, according to William H. Gardner in the Houston Post, “State headquarters insists the ‘caliber’ is better this year.” V A recent survey by nine Houston Chronicle reporters predicted that Paul Eggers of Wichita Falls will easily win the Republican gubernatorial nomination over John Trice of Dallas and Wallace Sisk of Houston. V Thirteen Republicans are running for Congress, including incumbents George Bush of Houston and Bob Price of Pampa. Five are running for the Texas Senate including incumbents 0. H. “Ike” Harris of Dallas and Henry Grover of Houston. Eighty-six Republicans are running for 72 House seats. Most of the House contests will be in urban areas and in the Panhandle, where Republicans have shown strength. Incumbent Malouf Abraham of Canadian is running without Democratic opposition. Three Negroes, three Mexican-Americans, and a woman are running for the legislature on the GOP ticket. Manuel A. Sanchez, a Brownsville businessman, is the Republican candidate f o r state treasurer. Eight Republicans are running for district judge, six for district attorney, twelve for sheriff, three for county judge, nine for assessor-collector, and seven for county attorney. Fifty-eight Republicans are in races for county commissioner, 15 for justice of the peace, 31 for constable, and five for drainage commissioner. V For the first time in this century, Republicans achieved a majority on a Texas county commissioners court when J. R. “Dee” Long was recently appointed to the Midland county court. George Wallace To get on the Texas ballot this No vember George Wallace’s American party must secure, by June 29, the signatures of 14,259 voters who do not participate in the Republican or Democratic primaries on May 4. To keep as many sympathetic voters as possible out of the primaries, American party leaders organized precinct, county, and state conventions this month, stamping the party’s name on voter registration forms of those who participated, thereby making such voters ineligible for the primaries. It is still uncertain how many persons registered with the party. County conventions attracted 800 in Houston, 150 in lier organizational meetings drew 40 in Corpus Christi, 300 in San Antonio. frog It was uncertain whether party lead ers could begin acquiring signatures before June 1, when primary runoffs will be held. The secretary of state’s office had advised the Wallace people to wait until June 2 before getting signatures. But Weaver Moore, party chairman, be lieves the advice was of uncertain legality and says he has been given conflicting or vague interpretations of the state election code by the secretary of state’s office. Moore, unwilling to have just two months, June and July, to get_’the needed signatures, went ahead with the March conventions. He hopes now to get the re mainder of signers on May 4 when the party will conduct precinct conventions. V The Constitution party has gone out of existence in Texas, for 1968 at least. It has melded with the American party and claims 18,000 voters pledged to Wallace. Bard Logan, until recently the state chairman of the Constitution party, is now Texas vice-chairman of the American party. V At the state convention in Austin Wal lace didn’t show up as planned because of the illness of his wife. Twentyseven of the 31 senatorial districts had delegates among the 800 who attended. Evidently, no delegates were present from the 27th district \(lower Rio Grande a vast region south and southwest of San Antonio which includes Leaaing figures at the state convention were arch-conservative leaders Gen. Edwin Walker and Dan Smoot, both of Dal las. V Democrats a n d Republicans take turns saying Wallace will hurt the other party, not theirs. There seems to be some embarrassment to admit publicly that one’s party attracts the sort of voters who like Wallace. A Republican poll indicates Wallace may get more than 10% of the Texas vote, or as many as 300,000 votes in the state, well above the margin separating the two big parties’ tickets in 1952 and 1960 in Texas. Wallace could be expected to make inroads into the Democrats’ traditional East Texas stronghold and the Republicans’ developing strength in West Texas. Former Texas Atty. Gen. Will Wilson, when still considering running for governor in January, told the Observer he believed Wallace could get 5% or 10% of the Texas voters. Congress’ Malaise V Texas’ two Republican Congressmen, George Bush of Houston and Bob Price of Pampa, were among 139 signers of a resolution urging Congressional review of the nation’s Vietnam policy. The resolution was introduced by Republican Paul Findley of Illinois and Democrat William L. Hungate, Missouri; 98 Republicans and 41 Democrats signed the resolution, representing districts in 32 states and 60 million citizens. Democratic and GOP House leaders did not sign the resolution, except for Cong. Charles E. Goodell, New York, chairman of the House Republican Committee on Planning and Research. The resolution reflects growing sentiment in Congress for a review of American policy in Asia and was phrased to appeal to both hawks and doves. Frank J. Horton, another New York Republican, told his House colleagues, “At no time … did Congress give the administration a blank check to conduct the war as a private preserve. It cannot be stressed too strongly that Congress did not intend in 1964, and does not intend in 1968 that the president be permitted to send additional thousands of Americans to fight, and perhaps to die, in a conflict no longer influenced by the House and Senate.” o PASO Endorses Kennedy Houston The endorsement convention of the Political Association of Spanish-Speaking because at 9 a.m. most of the delegates were clustered around television sets as Robert F. Kennedy anounced for the presidency. That afternoon, to shouts of 4 The Texas Observer “Viva Kennedy,” they voted 34 to 16 with two abstentions to endorse the New York senator’s attempt to win the Democratic nomination. The disputed Kennedy resolution pointed out that the organizational efforts of the Viva Kennedy Clubs of 1960 gave birth to PASO. The division within the Democratic party, the resolution said, has resulted in lagging concern for LatinAmericans as reflected in the lack of appointments of Latins to federal judicial positions. It called upon state PASO officials to secure Kennedy delegates to precinct, county, and state conventions. The resolution, written by Ernie Cortes, a community organizer in Beaumont and former student leader of the Valley Work