Texas House Race Is High-Stakes Fight

By JESSE KATZ

Jan. 22, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CROCKETT, Texas —

When he announced last fall he would not seek reelection after almost 24 years in Congress--and nearly as many public indiscretions--Democratic Rep. Charles Wilson thanked his supporters for being “the most tolerant and forgiving constituency in the world.”

With a high-stakes partisan battle now underway to succeed the flamboyant Wilson, his comment may be the only sure assessment of this rural East Texas district, which kept returning him to office even as his lifestyle clashed with its Bible Belt values.

Wilson is one of 13 Southern House members who have decided either to retire or to run for higher office this year, and leaders of both political parties view the race to replace him in Texas’ 2nd Congressional District as one of the most crucial in the nation.

That’s because if Democrats are to have any hope of regaining a House majority, they must first hold on to open seats in the South, where once-ostracized Republicans have been making unprecedented inroads.

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Bill White calls Wilson’s district “a battleground . . . a test of just how far the so-called Republican realignment can go.”

He said he believes that Democrats can halt the GOP tide by stressing economic issues over social concerns, taking advantage of the region’s mistrust of policies that appear to benefit Big Business.

“People feel a little betrayed by the fact that they’re being presented with the bill for the ‘contract with America,’ ” said White, a former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration.

His Republican counterpart, Tom Pauken, argues the opposite, insisting that the GOP agenda appeals to what he calls a “Joe Six-Pack, traditional values, Reagan-style conservative district.”

The prevailing political philosophy in East Texas, he insists, “is moving our way.”

Just a decade ago, that would have been laughable, so few were the number of Republicans in this remote and forested region near the Louisiana border, known as the Piney Woods. Home to a few hot spots of Ku Klux Klan activity, the district nonetheless supported Democratic presidential candidates Michael S. Dukakis in 1988 and Bill Clinton in 1992--even over a fellow Texan, George Bush.

Here in Crockett (pop. 7,405), named after Davy, who stayed for a few days on his way to the Alamo, no Republican had ever been elected--not in more than a century--until local attorney Chris Von Doenhoff won the 1994 race to head the County Board of Commissioners. Although voters do not register by party affiliation in Texas, GOP leaders estimate that 46% of this East Texas congressional district is now Republican.

“Years and years back, being a Republican put you at a supreme disadvantage,” said Von Doenhoff, sitting in the ivory-colored courthouse that anchors a quaint square. “But all that’s changed. People will at least listen to you now and judge you on your own merits.”

Indeed, few of the local elected officials, including Von Doenhoff, are staunch ideologues. Even as Republicans continue to make strides, Crockett remains a neighborly kind of place, where grass-roots appeal tends to outweigh strict party allegiances.

“We just don’t draw those lines here,” said Max Grubb, president of the Chamber of Commerce.

That may help explain why Wilson lasted so long, despite a series of scandals--including drunk driving, bounced checks and globe-trotting escapades that earned him the nickname “Good Time Charlie.” Although his hawkish anti-communism helped win favor, his most important asset seemed to be his down-home manner, which defused what he once called his “sloppy and eccentric ways.”

“We know the boy,” said Eliza Bishop, the county’s silver-haired historical director. “So what if he’s liberal. We more or less looked at him as one of us.”

It is a perspective that has frustrated some Republicans. In a recent pamphlet, the county’s GOP committee urges voters to put the party before the person.

If the GOP had a charismatic front-runner, that advice would probably carry greater weight. But with five Republican candidates in the March 12 primary, there is still no clear favorite. The best-known, Donna Peterson, has lost this race three times, and some GOP strategists worry that her chances have not improved.

The Democrats, meanwhile, have an advantage in Jim Turner, a state senator from Crockett, who is running unopposed. A former Army captain who teaches Sunday school, Turner’s get-tough legislation earned him an award in 1995 from the state’s law enforcement leaders.

“In a rural district like this, you win elections by looking people in the eye and shaking their hand,” said Turner, who hands out a booklet of family recipes on the campaign trail. “You’re only going to get votes if people feel comfortable with you, if your values are their values.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Looking for Trends

Can freshman Republicans who stormed into the House in the 1994 elections remain in office, particularly in districts with a Democratic tilt? Will moderate Republicans who have thrived in Democratic-leaning districts overcome discontent with the GOP’s agenda? And can Republicans capitalize on their growing Southern strength to win seats that Democrats are giving up? Here is a look at three districts where these questions come into play.

Texas’ 2nd: Open Southern Seat

Veteran Democrat Charlie Wilson decided not to seek re-election, turning his district into a crucial political battleground. The district is socially conservative but has a strong populist streak, making it a key barometer of the GOP’s ascent in the South.

THE DISTRICT: A rural East Texas district dotted with oil wells and rough farmland.

White: 77%

Black: 17%

Other: 3%

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‘92 PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Clinton: 43%

Bush: 35%

Perot: 22%

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‘94 CONG. VOTE

Charles Wilson (D): 56%