Year of the Texas Woman

Year of the Texas Woman?

Sissy Farenthold, Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, and the 1972 Election in Texas

Blake Ellis, Ph.D.

40 Years Later: Wendy Davis

“Stand With Texas Women” Seemed to Come Out of Nowhere . . . But Did It?

Texas Politics in 1972:• In the 1950s and 1960s, Texas elections were usually

dominated by three important groups: Conservative Democrats, Liberal Democrats, and Republicans.

• Conservative Vote: Usually about 60 percent • Liberal Vote: Usually about 40 percent

1972 Presidential Election:

• In Texas, Conservative Richard Nixon defeats liberal George McGovern 66 percent to 33 percent.

Sissy Farenthold for Governor

Governor Preston Smith and Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes

• Preston Smith: Conservative Democrat, Elected Governor in 1968 and 1970.

• Ben Barnes: Conservative Democrat, Youngest Speaker of the House in Texas history, Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1968 and 1970.

Sharpstown: Touched Many Texas Politicians

The “Dirty Thirty”• A group of thirty Texas

legislators that kept the Sharpstown scandal in the headlines, pressuring Governor Preston Smith to investigate the issue and encouraging reform of Texas’s laws to prevent future scandals.

• The group believed it should run a candidate in the 1972 governor’s race, and its members settled on Corpus Christi state representative Frances “Sissy” Farenthold.

1972 Governor’s Race: “Establishment” Candidates• Governor Preston Smith (Conservative Democrat)

• Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes (Conservative Democrat)

• State representative “Sissy” Farenthold (Liberal Democrat)

• Former state representative Dolph Briscoe (Conservative Democrat)

Frances “Sissy” Farenthold

• Rallied the “Yarborough Democrats,” appealing to liberals, labor unions, African Americans, Latinos, gays and lesbians, and young people.

Democratic Primary Results (1972)

• Dolph Briscoe: 44 percent • Sissy Farenthold: 28 percent • Ben Barnes: 18 percent • Preston Smith: 9 percent

• Runoff Election Results:

• Dolph Briscoe: 54 percent • Sissy Farenthold: 46 percent

• Dolph Briscoe defeated his Republican opponent in the fall to become governor of Texas.

1964: 24th Amendment Outlaws the Collection of Poll Taxes for Federal (Supreme Court Later Applied the Amendment to All Elections)

Supreme Court Rules FOR “Single-Member Districts” (1963)

• Result of these changes: • African American voter

registration in Texas increases:

• 1960: 227,000• 1966: 400,000

Barbara Jordan (left) wins a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966.

Barbara Jordan: First African American Woman Elected to the US House (1972)

• As time passed, more and more African American Texans won important seats, from the Texas House and Texas Senate to city council, mayor, and the US Congress.

Ann Richards, Governor

Ann Richards, Waco High Graduate (1950)

Ann and Dave Richards

Sarah Weddington

• 1964: Enrolled in the University of Texas School of Law (one of only 5 women in a class of 120).

• 1967: Faces an unplanned pregnancy the same year she graduated from law school

• 1970: Files suit against Dallas County in the case that eventually becomes Roe vs. Wade

1972: Ann Richards Manages Sarah Weddington’s Campaign

• Sarah Weddington served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

• She is pictured here with former law school classmate (one of the 5) and future US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

1976: Ann Richards Runs for Travis County Commissioner• First woman to serve in

that position

• Her political strategy is the same as the one she used to win Sarah Weddington’s race: • Turn out the UT vote • Turn out women • Turn out minorities

Texas Politics Before 1972

• Liberal Democrats: • Labor Unions • Minority Voters • College Campuses/Students • Highly Educated Professionals (Ideological Liberals)• Increasingly visible LGBT Community

• Conservative Democrats: • Rural Voters • Suburban Voters• Almost Exclusively White

1990 Governor’s Race: Final Results• Ann Richards (D): 1,925,670 (49.47 percent)

• Clayton Williams (R): 1,826,431 (46.92 percent)

1972 Electoral Map (17 EVs)

2012 Electoral Map (332 EVs)

Texas Governor’s Races Since Bush/Richards (1994) • 1998: • Republican: 68 percent • Democrat: 31 percent

• 2002: • Republican: 58 percent • Democrat: 40 percent

• 2006: • Republican: 39 percent • Democrat: 30 percent

• NOTE: Another Republican ran a third-party campaign, winning 18 percent of the vote.

• 2010: • Republican: 55 percent • Democrat: 42 percent