ustxtxb_obs_1977_06_17_50_00027-00000_000.pdf

Political Intelligence Houston Mayor Fred Hofheinz’ June 8 announcement that he wouldn’t run for a third two-year term was an honest-to-God shocker. Just days before, city hall reporters had been thinking out loud about the mayor’s reelection strategy for the fall. In a public statement, the 39-year-old Hofheinz said that the pressure of running the nation’s fifth largest city had taken its toll and that another term in office might do him in. “I believe that mayors can serve too long. The time has come for Houston to have fresh momentum,” he said. Many others think it is time Hofheinz’ political career had some fresh momentum, too. Hofheinz’ decision to put mayoral politics behind him has encouraged talk that he is getting ready for a run at John Tower’s Senate seat next year. The rumors have more than a little plausibility: few Democrats are thought to have a better chance of defeating Tower, who’s been in the Senate since 1961. Meanwhile, there has been no shortage of bodies willing to take Hofheinz’ place in city hall. Two previously 445-4.4 Fred Hofheinz announced mayoral candidates, former district atty. Frank Briscoe and former councilman Jim McConn, were elated to learn that they would be running for an open office. Houston police chief and Hofheinz ally B. G. “Pappy” Bond abruptly quit his post and joined the race. In the “I’m-thinking-about-it” category are Republican councilman Louis Macey, former state district judge Andrew Jefferson, a liberal black, and Steve Oaks, former chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party who says he might return from his new law practice in Washington to run for mayor. Bond could inherit much of the Hofheinz vote, but he is unpopular in Houston’s minority communities, his police department’s many recent reforms notwithstanding. Jefferson, who managed the mayor’s last campaign, is thought to be the man most attractive to Hofheinz supporters. As a strong black candidate with a realistic chance of winning, he might be able to unite the city’s non-white voterssomething that has rarely been done in the past. Ailing Two senior members of the Texas Congressional delegation, Rep. major surgery this year, setting off a good bit of speculation about their political futures. Poage is expected to call it quits after forty years in the House, and eleventh district hopefuls are already lining up for his seat. Conservative Tiger Teague had his left foot amputated in January, but his staff and other sixth district sources say he will probably run for a seventeenth term. Poage, the oldest member of the House at 77 and second in seniority onmalignancy removed from his colon last month. Doctors termed the operation a success, but weeks in the hospital followed and Poage had to deny rumors that he would retire before his term was up. Few, however, think Poage will be in Washington next January. Plenty of folks would like to take his place. Texas House members Lyndon D-seat, and more competition is likely from former state Rep. Lane Denton, Marlin banker Marvin Leath and oilman Jack Burgess. Teague, 67, survived a stroke in 1975, but after the amputation of a foot badly injured in World War II, some are wondering if he can stand up to the strain of another campaign. “We were all feeling sorry for him,” says a staff aide, “but after having that foot hurt him for thirty years, he was sort of glad to get rid of it.” Usually a landslide winner, Teague got one of the closest races of his career in the 1976 primary from Ron Godby, who may run again for the sixth district seat Poage Teague next year. Another possible candidate is conservative Texas A & M economics professor Phil Gramm, who was trounced by Lloyd Bentsen in last May’s Senate primary. Campbell Taggart, the $700 million-a-year baking firm based in Dallas, was in the news twice in May. First, CT’s Rainbo subsidiary in El Paso signed a consent decree served up by the U.S. Justice Department, which earlier had charged Rainbo and two other Texas firms \(Mead Foods of Amarillo and ing on bakery items. A consent decree is a bit of judicial hocus-pocus that spares everyone the burden of trialessentially, the corporation under investigation does not have to admit that it has been doing a bad thing not to do the bad thing in the future, and it usually pays damages for the bad thing it does not admit doing. In this case, CT laid out $36,667. Second, the bread giant \(which markets its goods under the Colonial, Earth Grains, Hillbilly, Kilpatrick’s, nounced that it was going into the restaurant business. It has bought El Chico, the $40 million-a-year Dallas Mexican food firm that has 86 restaurants and markets a line of canned and frozen products in grocery stores. The Kickapoo bill A bill granting recognition as Texas Indians to the Kickapoo tribe of Eagle Pass \(Obs., June 17, 1977 27