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Waving American flags and sport-
ling stickers, area Republicans gath-
lered Tuesday night at the College
Station Hilton to support their can-
| didates.
In addition to a handful of local
politicians, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton and
|U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm attended the
gathering.
When it was clear Texans had
voted him to a second term “in a
landslide of historic proportions,”
Gramm, his wife and two sons with
him, addressed the cheering crowd.
“If there is one constant in a great
democracy, it is that no political
leader can have more influence in
Washington than they have support
back home,” Gramm said.
“Tonight the people of Texas
have given me a bigger shovel to do
more work on behalf of the working
men and women of Texas, and I am
grateful for that opportunity.”
Gramm also addressed the fact he
is an incumbent in an increasingly
anti-incumbent country.
“Tonight all over America, people
are saying, ‘Throw the rascals out,’”
he said, referring to the slogan to
Democratic
wins inspire
new hopes
By SEAN FRERKING
j Of The Battalion Staff
Victories by Ann Richards and
other Democrats statewide, coupled
with close losses in several local elec
tions, prove the party made progress
here and throughout Texas, the lo
cal Democratic Party chairman said
Tuesday night.
Bill McGuire said although seve
ral Democrats lost in local elections,
he believes the dose results show
Brazos County residents are begin
ning to question the strength of the
Republican Party.
“People are starting to say, ‘Hey,
isn’t this the same old thing we heard
before?’ and they are* oeginning to
realize we (the Democrats) are deal-
) ing with the real issues,” McGuire
said while watching election returns
| at the Ramada Inn, headquarters for
; the Brazos County Democratic
: Party.
Reactions to a ballot controversy
; started the night’s activities with
some confusion. The governor’s
: race, however, soon captured the in-
, terest of most of the 150 supporters.
When CBS News announced
Richards as the projected winner for
§ governor, the crowd cheered for
more than five minutes.
Merinda Condra, president of
Aggies for Ann Richards, said she
believes one reason the race was so
I exciting was because many Texans’
{ true characters emerged during
elections.
“With Ann’s election victory, the
people of Texas finally have said
\ that no amount of money can buy
the governor’s office,” said Condra,
: a junior political science major at
Texas A&M.
She said Richards and other Dem
ocratic candidates won because they
dealt with campaign issues.
“Ann stuck with her beliefs, and
| voters knew where she stood,” Con-
I dra said. “Her stand on the issues
clearly was the reason she won.”
Another Richards’ supporter
agreed with Condra and said it was
I time one party addressed issues crit-
I ical to Texas and Brazos County.
Stephen Medvic, president of Ag-
I gie Democrats, said he believes Rich
ards’ victory also can be credited to
her opponent’s political inexperi
ence.
“With all of Clayton Williams’
gaffes, I’m really not surprised Ann
vote all incumbents out of office. “I
am grateful the people of Texas do
not consider me one of the rascals.
“In fact, tonight the people of
Texas said they considered me to be
part of the solution, not part of the
problem.”
The senator said his large margin
of victory proves the “tough issues”
can be solved in Washington and
people are willing to sacrifice for the
future.
Gramm concluded his address
with his vision of the future.
“Phil Gramm is talking about
dreams, talking about visions — and
they’re right. I’m talking about a
very unique dream called the Ameri
can Dream.
“I want an America where fami
lies are limited only by the size of
their dreams,” he said.
Before the final results were in.
Barton, from Ennis, expressed opti
mism in his race and those of other
Republicans.
“It’s going to be tight,” he said.
“The Republican Party has defi
nitely come of age in this election
statewide. It is still to be determined
whether we are clearly the majority
party.”
Barton said that the main goals
during his next term include passing
the balanced budget amendment,
the war on drugs and the supercon
ducting super collider.
He also said the United States
needs to find alternative sources of
energy, especially in light of the Per
sian Gulf crisis. Barton serves on the
energy and commerce committee.
“We need to develop some addi
tional resources,” he said. “We can’t
continue to depend on larger and
larger oil imports. I think nuclear
power has a bright future in this
country if we can get some of the
technical problems resolved.”
Brazos County Republican Chair
man Rodger Lewis said he was re
lieved the campaign almost was over.
“There’s so much work that goes
into the campaign,” he said.
“They’ve (the candidates) had their
lives on the line for the last year.”
Texas A&M Student Body Presi
dent Ty Clevenger also was at the
Hilton and said he was glad to see
the campaign end.
“I think it’s probably one of the
dirtiest, most negative campaigns I
can recall,” he said. “I’m sick of hav
ing to put up with the barrage we’ve
been under the last few months.
“We’ve been made fun of on na
tional television (and) our whole
election has become a total disgrace.
This election has been a mess.”
FREDRICK D. JOE/The Battalion
Democrats cheer the victory of Ann Richards as the results are
shown at the Democratic Headquarters in the Ramada Inn.
Richards won the election with 49.6 percent of the votes.
won,” Medvic said. “I think we saw
the real Clayton Williams during the
campaign. He just couldn’t hide his
true nature for that long.”
Medvic, a senior political science
major at A&M, also worked to elect
Jim James, Democratic candidate for
District 14 state representative.
Although James lost to Republi
can Steve Ogden by 2,000 votes,
Medvic said he believes Democrats
are gaining ground in Brazos
County.
“I think people are taking notice
that Jim dealt with the issues,” Med
vic said. “In a typically Republican
county, we did very well.”
James, Class of ’76, said even
though he lost the election, he is ex
cited about progress made by the
Democratic Party in Brazos County.
“Sure I’m disappointed I lost, but
we ran on the issues,” James said.
“However, I’m ecstatic Democrats
won almost every high office in
Texas.
“Ann’s victory almost makes this
loss OK. It’s almost OK.”
Speaking to campaign workers,
McGuire said the Democratic Party
will make further gains during fu
ture elections.
“Whafs important is that we won
some of the biggest offices in the
state,” Mcguire said. “Sure, we lost
some of these races, but once the
people of Texas see what the Demo
cratic Party is all about, we’ll start
winning even more of these elec
tions.”
Constitutional amendment passes,
tnson Ji updates appointment effectiveness
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AUSTIN (AP) — Texas voters approved Tuesday a
constitutional amendment that aroused little notice un
til GOP gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams
couldn’t recall its provisions.
The amendment, which deals with the timing of Sen
ate confirmation of gubernatorial appointments, won
approval with 66 percent of the ballots in favor and 34
percent opposed.
The amendment, the only one on the ballot, allows
appointees named in between legislative sessions to
serve until the next regularly scheduled session.
In an interview on KERA-TV in Dallas, Williams was
asked how he voted on the amendment, but stumbled
over his answer and eventually said he didn’t know
much about it.
Democratic challenger Ann Richards immediately
seized on the performance as evidence Williams, a Mid
land oilman-rancher, did not have the experience to be
governor.
Following the interview, Richards rapidly closed
what had been a double-digit gap, and came away with
a victory over Williams Tuesday.
The process of considering gubernatorial appoint
ments was thrown into limbo six months ago by an at
torney general’s opinion that jeopardized more than
200 nominees to various boards and commissions.
The Texas Constitution says the Senate, which meets
only every two years, must review gubernatorial ap
pointments and confirm or reject them.
But the governor often makes appointments when
the Legislature is not in session, and the Senate tradi
tionally has let the appointees continue serving until the
next regular legislative session.
Attorney General Jim Mattox threw tradition out the
window last spring with an opinion saying that the Sen
ate must act on the appointments at its first opportu
nity, including special legislative sessions.
If the Senate fails to confirm an appointment at the
next legislative session, the nomination is considered re
jected, Mattox said.
Sen. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, chairman of the com
mittee that advises the full Senate on appointments,
proposed the constitutional amendment, saying it is
needed to clarify the status of appointments.
Without the amendment, decisions by boards affect
ing prisons, electric rates, air pollution penalties and
other functions of state government could have been
challenged in court and put on hold, he said.
JAY JANNER/The Battalion
Phil Gramm meets with a supporter after being Tuesday. Gramm easily defeated Democratic
re-elected to a second term as a U.S. senator challenger Hugh Parmer.
GOP candidates falter
Declining Republican Party
support trickles down ranks
By BILL HETHCOCK
Of The Battalion Staff
Brazos County Republicans be
lieve a weak showing at the top of
the ticket hurt Republicans running
for state offices, the president of
Texas A&M College Republicans
said Tuesday night.
Scot Kibbe said he thinks Republi
can candidates peaked too early this
year.
He said declining popularity of
high-visibility Republicans such as
President Bush and gubernatorial
candidate Clayton Williams caused
some voters to lose faith in the Re
publican Party.
Bush’s public-approval rating
dropped when he broke his “no new
taxes” pledge. Polls also show the
president lost favor because of a per
ceived weakness in dealing with
Congress over the latest budget
agreement.
Williams’ popularity suffered af
ter he refused to shake Democratic
opponent Ann Richards’ hand and
when he showed uncertainty about
an amendment to the Texas Consti
tution, analysts say. A recent admis
sion he did not pay income tax in
1986 also hurt his campaign.
“It started in Washington with
Bush’s popularity falling,” Kibbe
said. “And the last couple of weeks,
Williams has always been on the de
fensive.”
He said Democratic candidates
had more momentum going into
election day.
“It all comes down to momen
tum,” he said. “There’s no question
the Democrats had the momentum
in the final weeks, and that’s very
hard to overcome.”
However, Kibbe said he is pleased
with Republican state representative
candidate Steve Ogden’s win.
“On a night when Republicans
weren’t doing terribly well as a
whole, we were pleased to see Steve
have the showing he did,” Kibbe
said.
Ogden beat Democrat Jim James
in the race for the District 14 state
representative seat.
Rob Giesecke, Ogden’s campaign
manager, said he believes specific
proposals by Ogden on issues such
as education and ethics reform led to
his victory.
A last-minute attempt by James to
play up the abortion issue proved
unsuccessful, he said.
“That was clearly an act of desper
ation on his part,” Giesecke said.
He said Ogden’s pro-life stance
might have caused him to lose votes
among Texas A&M students. How
ever, when James focused on the
abortion issue, many Bryan voters
were turned off, Giesecke said.
“His abortion ads probably cost us
some in the student boxes, but w’e
still won by a comfortable margin,”
he said. “There was a backlash to
those ads that hurt James. I think it
cost him votes in Bryan.”
Giesecke said Ogden had a diffi
cult time winning since Republicans
weren’t attracting votes in more visi
ble races.
“There were no coattails for us at
all tonight,” he said. “We had to do it
almost all on our own.”
Giesecke said Democrats seemed
to make more headway statewide
than Republicans. He said he thinks
this will be a big factor in redistrict-
in &-
“I definitely think we’ll see dis
tricts drawn that favor Democrats,”
he said.
Democratic judge’s approach
targeted A&M students’ votes
By LIBBY KURTZ
Of The Battalion Staff
Democratic Judge Sarah Ryan saw' her campaign
strategy beginning to work Tuesday night as she se
cured 52 percent of the vote, becoming judge for 2nd
County Court-at-Law.
Two months ago, Ryan said Democrats at Texas
A&M need to develop a strategy if they want to over
come A&M’s anticipated Straight-Republican vote.
David Branham, Ryan’s husband and campaign
manager, said he’s pleased with the support his wife re
ceived from Brazos County voters.
“We felt the local Republicans might take A&M vot
ers for granted,” Branham said. “We decided to tailor
her campaign to A&M students. She’s a former A&M
instructor, and our daughter attends the University.
That in itself was a big plus.”
Branham said Ryan’s campaign also capitalized on
her experience and court records.
“Her experience speaks for itself,” he said. “We felt
Aggies would support her because of her fine public
service record.”
He said he believes the campaign for 2nd County
Court-at-Law is one of the best campaigns in Brazos
County.
“The campaign was well run,” he said. “We tried to
avoid nasty comments. We wanted a clean campaign
that centered around Ryan’s experience.”
Branham said although Ryan didn’t receive many
Republican votes, she did manage to capture some
votes her opponent tried to win.
Irma Cauley, a county coordinator for the Ann Rich
ards campaign, said Democratic victories can be attrib
uted to growing Democratic Party strength in Texas.
“I’m very excited for Texas,” Cauley said. “Demo
crats have and will continue to do great things for the
state.”
Cauley said she hopes Democrats will continue to
flourish in Texas.
“We owe our victories to the hard work and loyalty of
our supporters,” she said. “Richards proved herself to
Brazos County voters tonight. She was a valid candidate
who addressed all the issues. Average citizens can relate
to her, and she can relate to them.”
Brazos County Clerk Mary Ann Ward also attributed
her victory to A&M student support.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said. “My
17 years of experience from working in the clerk’s of
fice should prove to be beneficial when I take office in
January. I look forward to my new job as county clerk.”
Ward, a Democrat, captured 59 percent of the vote.
State history made with election of minorities
DALLAS (AP) — Democrat Mor
ris Overstreet on Tuesday became
the first African-American to win
statewide office in Texas since Re
construction with his election to the
Court of Criminal Appeals.
Overstreet, 40, a county court
judge from Amarillo, defeated Re
publican incumbent Louis Sturns to
win the 5th Place on the court.
Sturns, 41, who also is African-
American, was appointed by Gov.
Bill Clements on March 16 to fill the
seat. The vacancy was created by the
death of incumbent Judge M.P.
“Rusty” Duncan in a Feb. 28 auto
mobile accident.
Records from Reconstruction are
unclear as to whether any African-
Americans were elected to statewide
office during that period.
With his election as attorney gen
eral, Dan Morales became the sec
ond Hispanic voted into statewide
office in Texas. The first is Supreme
Court Justice Raul Gonzalez, elected
in 1986 and again in 1988 after first
being appointed to the post.
Morales, 34, is a state representa
tive from San Antonio. In the Legis
lature, he headed the House Crimi
nal Jurisprudence Committee.
He said he is “gratified” to be the
first Hispanic attorney general.
“I’m so pleased that our state has
now matured and developed politi
cally to the point where Texas voters
select their political leaders based
upon qualifications, experience and
records of accomplishment irrespec
tive of race and irrespective of eth
nicity,” he said.
“I think that Judge Gonzalez
showed that to be the case four years
ago when he was first elected. I am
simply following in the judge’s foot
steps. There will be others following
behind me.”
In addition, Ann Richards was the
first woman to be elected governor
of Texas in more than 50 years,
since Miriam “Ma” Ferguson.
She joined a cadre of female lead
ers in the Lone Star State, where
mayors of the four largest cities are
women.