Democrat Wins Texas Runoff Vote : GOP Loses Bid for a Congressional Victory in Rural South

Democrat Jim Chapman won a narrow victory Saturday in a runoff election in the 1st Congressional District, defeating Republican Edd Hargett in his bid to become the district’s first Republican congressman in this century.

Chapman received 52,670 votes, or 50.9%, to Hargett’s 50,737, or 49.1%, according to final results from the district’s 20 counties.

Hargett had been considered the favorite, despite the district’s history, because he had polled 42% of the vote among an eight-candidate field in the June election, forcing the runoff. Chapman had come in second, with 30%.

“The Republican Party fired its best volley, a $1.5-million volley, and they came up short. This wasn’t just the Republican Party of Texas--it was Ronald Reagan, George Bush, all of them,” a jubilant Chapman, 40, said.

The Republicans had mounted a major effort here to try to prove that they can win in the rural South. Hargett had outspent Chapman in campaign funds by 4 to 1, according to Democratic estimates, and attracted major GOP figures, including the vice president, to campaign for him.

“We fought a great fight and just came up a few centimeters short,” Hargett, 38, said. “We did make history.”

GOP officials had hoped that a victory by Hargett would have led to a permanent party realignment across the South and in this area, jokingly called “yellow dog Democrat” territory because of an apparently outdated political adage that voters would elect a yellow dog before they would elect a Republican. The district has not elected a Republican congressman in 114 years.

Demonstrates Two Things

In Washington, Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. said: “The election results demonstrate two things. First, the talk about realignment is still only a Republican dream. And second, Democrats will continue to win when we campaign on moderate, mainstream issues that ‘connect’ with the concerns of the average voter.”

However, Chapman, a conservative lawyer and former district attorney from Sulphur Springs, had all but disavowed the national Democratic Party.

Hargett Switched Parties

Hargett, 38, of Linden, an engineer who played in the 1968 Cotton Bowl for Texas A&M;, had switched to the GOP and entered the race at the urging of Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), another former Democrat.

Nevertheless, Hargett rarely mentioned his party affiliation while campaigning. His posters identified him only as a candidate in the East Texas tradition and, when someone pasted the word “Republican” on some of them, the doctored signs were quickly removed.

Chapman will succeed former Rep. Sam B. Hall Jr., a Democrat who stepped down to accept a federal judgeship.

State officials said they hoped a legal cloud hanging over the election would not discourage voters from casting their ballots.

If the U.S. attorney general grants approval of the election date by Aug. 15, the election results will stand. If not, the results could still be voided.

Under the federal Voting Rights Act, Texas and other Southern states are required to obtain clearance from the Justice Department for certain election procedures to avoid discrimination against minorities.

But Gov. Mark White and state Atty. Gen. Jim Mattox, both Democrats, contend that the governor had the power to set the June 29 election and Saturday’s runoff dates without seeking approval from the department.

The department disagreed, and its stand was upheld in court. A three-judge federal panel has given the state until Aug. 9 to apply for approval of the election date.