Texas Democrats Worried by Strong GOP Effort to Wrest Away Congressional Seat

ATHENS, Tex. —  The Democrats in these parts are a worried bunch.

This is East Texas, with green rolling hills, piney woods and an abundance of poverty, a land where staunch loyalty to the Democratic Party is so ingrained that there has not been a Republican congressman elected since Reconstruction. Not a single Republican holds elected office in the entire 20-county 1st Congressional District.

But the Republicans think they may have found an opening, a chink in the Democratic armor, in a special congressional runoff election that is scheduled for Aug. 3. If they win, the victory is almost certain to be heralded as proof that Democrats are turning to the Republican cause and that, for the GOP, winning in the rural South is now more possible than ever before.

Ball Rolling

“It’s an important race, no doubt about it, and we have an excellent chance to win it,” said Steve Lotterer, a spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee. “A victory here would be a continuation of the ball rolling in our direction.”

And, if the Republicans lose, they believe, little harm will have been done, aside from spending an estimated $1 million in a fruitless campaign, because they will have only to shrug their collective shoulders and say their party never did well in East Texas anyway.

The election, maneuvered into place by the presidential appointment of conservative four-term Democratic Rep. Sam B. Hall Jr. to a federal judgeship, clearly has the Democrats of the district fretting. They fear that their 105-year control of the congressional seat is in jeopardy.

“It means everything as far as I’m concerned,” said Athens lawyer Bill Kugle, who volunteered the use of his office for a phone bank to help get out the Democratic vote. “This is just critical. There’s never been a Republican elected from East Texas, and it would be a tragedy if it happened now.”

Former Quarterback

The Republican cornerstone is candidate Edd Hargett, who once made his living chucking footballs for the New Orleans Saints (437 passes attempted, 205 completed). Hargett, now an engineer in his hometown of Linden and once a Democrat himself, was hand-picked by U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, also a Democrat-turned-Republican, as the man to change the political makeup of the district and give the Republicans an off-season boost.

Hargett is considered the favorite by virtue of his 42% showing in a field of eight candidates in the initial election on June 29. The Democratic challenger is former prosecuting attorney Jim Chapman, who polled 30% of the vote.

As a practical matter, the Republicans could not have picked a better spot to center their energies. Once the domain of the legendary Democratic populist, Rep. Wright Patman, the 1st District is a place where it is difficult to tell the Republicans and Democrats apart. In fact, although the voters have maintained their Democratic loyalties for local candidates, they voted overwhelmingly for Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Chapman calls himself a “conservative Democrat,” which is a way of dissociating himself from any stance of the national party that even hints of liberalism. To win here, you must be a Democrat who is against abortion, for school prayer and against gay rights.

‘Fiercely Independent’

“East Texas is fiercely independent and conservative,” Chapman said. “It does not agree with the national Democratic platform. It causes local Democrats lots of trouble here. I’m a Democrat who shakes his head when he sees the Democratic platform.”

As a result of that conservatism, both Hargett and Chapman have few differences on the issues. Instead, they have spent a good deal of their time telling the voters they stand for the traditional values of East Texas. Each says his opponent will be beholden to party bosses if elected.

Chapman tends to emphasize his 99% conviction rate when he was a prosecuting attorney, the kind of boast normally reserved for a Republican.

And Hargett will admit that he is a Republican only when absolutely pressed. In Athens, when someone pasted the word “Republican” on Hargett’s posters, which had identified him only as a candidate in the East Texas tradition, the doctored signs were immediately removed.

‘Ripple Effect’

Hargett said that he will leave it to others to decide how critical the race is, but he did predict a possible “ripple effect” if he wins. “I think there will be some people who will change parties, and it would also encourage other candidates to run,” he said just before giving a speech to supporters at the Sulphur Springs High School cafeteria. In that speech, Hargett again failed to mention his party loyalty, concentrating instead on his image as “just a good old country boy.”

Bob Goswick, who works for the telephone company in nearby Mount Pleasant, was in the audience. In talking about how his party affiliation had changed over the years, he said: “My parents and grandparents were strictly Democrats, because ‘Republican’ was a dirty word. . . . But the Democratic Party is not the same party. I think the Republican Party is more conservative and more what the old Democratic Party used to be.”

As the race enters its last week, both sides say that it will go down to the wire. One complication is that the U.S. Justice Department has sued Texas, charging that the election is illegal and contending that state officials failed to comply with voter regulations. However, both parties here still expect the election to take place on schedule and are going all out to win.

Bush Campaigned

In the final weeks, luminaries from both sides have been making special appearances--including Vice President George Bush on Hargett’s behalf--and more are on the way. The race seems destined to include one last round of name-calling.

At the Chapman campaign headquarters in Sulphur Springs, Democratic political consultant George Shipley predicted victory and said that he wanted to win, not because of the realignment question, but because he did not want to give Gramm the pleasure of a Republican victory.

“There’s a question of principle here,” he said. “It’s not a question of realignment, but whether Phil Gramm will be allowed to manipulate this entire election for his own aggrandizement.”