| Transcript |
POLLS con'd from p. 3
Armstrong was a two-term member of
the Brazoria County School Board, while
Garcia's credentials consist of civic
activities and a stint as president of an
elementary school's Parent-Teacher Association.
THE LEGISLATURE
There are an awful lot of little Howard
Jarvises running around the state of Texas
this year. They frequently bump into
each other. And in many races voters
hear Jarvis in stereo. Everybody wants
to limit and/or reduce taxes and/or the
bureaucracy.
But then it's really no wonder. The
state's coffers will be bulging with an
estimated $2 billion budget surplus
when the biennial circus opens in Austin
in January. And the tax relief package
concocted by the special session is a
sham, but more about that later.
The two state senate seats up for election in Harris County this year offer only
unopposed incumbent Democrats,
Lindon Williams in District 6 and Chet
Brooks in District 11.
Here's a rundown of the contested
house races in the county:
DIST. 17: Incumbent Democrat Ed
R. Watson, faces Republican George M.
Gray, a conservative trying to label his
foe a "labor liberal." Watson is president
of an Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers
Union local, if not exactly a liberal,
and has worked for tighter regulation of
utilities.
DIST. 78: This is a tough one to call.
Joe Allen, a six-term incumbent moderate
Democrat of Bay town, faces a stiff challenge from a young Republican who is
already drawing the attention of national
party leaders. Ed Emmett, 29, of the
Kingwood area drew an endorsement
from the Harris County Women's Political
Caucus.
DIST. 79 is a solidly liberal enclave,
mostly in Montrose, that has been well-
served for six years by Democrat Ron
Waters, who has recently moved uptown
to the Heights. He has token opposition
from Republican Art Dula and Daniel R.
Bustamante of La Raza Unida party.
DIST. 82: Incumbent John Whitmire,
a moderate Democrat and brother of city
Controller Kathy Whitmire's late husband, vies with Republican Bill Hanna,
who makes his money fixing up old
houses and selling them.
Hanna is a good taxes and red tape
conservative and Whitmire agrees limiting
taxes is the number one priority.
DIST. 83 is a bastion of conservativ-
ism, mostly in River Oaks. Republican
incumbent Chase Untermeyer, a protege
of George Bush, competes with Cyril J.
Smith Jr., the Democrats' sacrificial
lamb in silk-stocking territory.
"I'm more fiscally conservative," says
Smith, former head of a savings and loan
association.
Untermeyer, a former Houston
Chronicle reporter, is a Harvard graduate,
a member of the Houston Area Urban
League and the Rice Design Alliance and
serves on Mayor Jim McConn's panel that
is trying to draw up a plan to get urban
development dollars out of Jimmy
Carter.
DIST. 84: Democrat Herman Lauhoff,
a two-termer, helped get the city charter
change raising city council members'
salaries from $3,600 to $17,000 annually,
so perhaps someone other than a wealthy
real estate developer can afford to serve.
That made Don Whitefield so mad he
decided to challenge the incumbent on
the GOP ticket.
Lauhoff enjoys the support of the
black Harris County Council of Organizations and the Harris County Women's
Political Caucus.
ANITA
RODEHEAVER
DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR
COUNTY CLERK
Native Houstonian
17 Ms Years Experience As
Executive Assistant to County Clerk
VOTE - NOV. 7, 1978
GENERAL ELECTION
(Pol. Advertising Paid for by Anita Rixkluavrr Campaign. Aniia Rodrtu-avrr Treasurer. 4.514 Mouniwood.
Houston. Texas 77018 - 686-9765)
DIST. 90: A thoroughly undistinguished Republican incumbent, Brad
Wright, is pitted against Democratic
challenger, Dick Jenkins, in Kay Bailey's
old district, taking in parts of southwest
Houston, Bellaire and West University
Place.
Jenkins, who has a master's degree in
economics, thinks tax relief should be
directed toward the elderly and people
on fixed incomes. The district is almost
solid GOP territory, but with a strong
progressive turnout Jenkins could win.
DIST. 91: Four-term Republican incumbent W. J. "Bill" Blythe Jr. is different — right down to his haircut. It's
a crew cut. His own brand of conservatism didn't stop him from sponsoring the
state mass transportation bill that was the
foundation for Houston's new Mass
Transit Authority.
But Democratic challenger Steven
Fagerquist is liberal on social issues,
supporting both the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion rights.
DIST. 93: Milton Fox, a petroleum
engineer, is a conservative Republican
seeking his fourth term representing the
Spring Branch-Memorial district. He and
his Democratic opponent echo the district's Alief constituents' opposition to
annexation by Houston.
But Mary Woodall Creasy, daughter
of Judge Ben Woodall, is more moderate
and believes in energy conservation and
promoting solar energy.
DIST. 94: Three-term Republican Don
Henderson, a lawyer and vice president of
his family's Central Iron Works, vows to
limit state spending and fight annexation
by Houston in his Farm Road 1960 area
turf.
So does Democrat Kyle H. Brown. But
the Brown & Root Inc. employee also
thinks utility rates should increase with
usage (it's the other way around now).
DIST. 95: Incumbent Democrat Gene
Green says insurance is his specialty and
pledges to work for an end to revolving
door regulation by the State Insurance
Board, where some members come
from the industry, serve on the panel
and then return to the business.
The main concerns of Republican
O. L. "Buddy" Moritz seem to be annexation and prostitution in the north
Houston and Aldine district.
DIST. 97: First-term Democrat Ralph
Wallace, operator of a rent-a-cop service,
has drawn notice mainly for his tireless
and ineffectual crusade against kiddie
porn. He believes the solution to the
energy problem is to "let the free market
operate unimpeded." And his proposal
to prosecute employers of illegal aliens
mostly would mean trouble for Chicano
citizens.
His opponent in this East End race is
Republican J. L. Brisco, 53, an engineer
with a petro-chemical company. Brisco
believes a governor's committee of
"energy-experienced people" could best
help us to greater use of non-fossil fuel
energy sources — as long as "pseudo-
experts in Washington" leave us alone.
And he wants to abolish parole for felony
offenders.
DIST. 99: Six-termer Jim Clark, a
Pasadena Democrat, says he is neither
the best nor the worst legislator. The
former labor leader says he is "fairly
conservative" on money matters but
liberal on "people issues."
Challenger Jeff Calvert has been a
Democrat and a Libertarian and is now
the GOP nominee. Calvert would abolish
public education, most state regulatory
boards and most laws.
DIST. 100: A lively race in the Clear
Lake City area pits incumbent Democrat
Bill Caraway against free-spending Republican Randy Pennington. It appears that
Pennington was sent into battle (he
moved into the district from southwest
Houston just before the filing deadline)
by state GOP head Ray Barnhart, who
held the post until Caraway knocked him
off in 1974.
Limiting taxes is important to both,
and both still oppose Clear Lake's recent
annexation by Houston.
COUNTY RACES
COUNTY JUDGE Jon Lindsay is the
first Republican elected to the $49,400-a-
year administrative position since Reconstruction. Basically he is an honest hard
worker and is ideologically on the conservative side of moderate.
But his opponent, former state
representative Joe Pentony, is more
appealing to liberals. Although he did not
have the unanimous support of progressives in the primary, the psychology
professor at the University of St. Thomas
is sensitive to social issues and vows to
preside over mental illness commitment
hearings, something Lindsay has passed
to the probate judges, admitting he has
no expertise in the field.
Pentony also scores the incumbent
for having served while county taxes
were raised 16 percent. Lindsay says it's
not his fault a federal court has mandated
a costly new jail, forcing the boost.
Pentony says jail operations costs could
be lowered from Lindsay's projections if
the new jail were to contain only single-
prisoner cells, which the American Civil
Liberties Union seeks as more humane.
COMMISSIONERS. E. A. "Squatty
Lyons" is a 68-year-old Democrat who
has held the Precinct 4 post since 1943.
Republican Carl L. Huff, who is half
Lyon's age, is waging an uphill battle to
unseat the veteran. Huff is one of the few
Republicans to win endorsement from
the Harris County Women's Political
Caucus. He charges Lyons has tried to
circumvent equal employment
opportunity regulations and is a "tool
of the developers."
COUNTY TREASURER Hartsell Gray
is an Episcopal minister, former pipefitter
continued on following page
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8
HOUSTON BREAKTHROUGH
NOVEMBER 1978 |
