Texas Almanac, 1972-1973 Page: 525
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POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
Article XVI.-(Continued.); Article XVII
ture shall have authority to provide for a system of
retirement and disability pensions for retiring Texas
Rangers who have not been eligible at any time for
membership in the Employees Retirement System of
Texas as that retirement system was established by
Chapter 352, Acts of the Fiftieth Legislature, Regular
Session, 1947, and who have had as much as two (2)
years service as a Texas Ranger, and to their widows;
providing that no pension shall exceed Eighty Dol-
lars ($80) per month to any such Texas Ranger or his
widow, provided that such widow was legally married
prior to January 1, 1957, to a Texas Ranger qualifying
for such pension.
These pensions may be paid only from the special
fund created by Sec. 17, Art. VII for a payment of pen-
sions for services in the Confederate army and navy,
frontier organizations, and the militia of the State of
Texas, and for widows of such soldiers serving in said
armies, navies, organizations or militia.
[Note.-The foregoing Sec. 66 of Art. XVI, an
amendment, was added to provide for retirement pen-
sions for Texas Rangers and their widows. Submitted
by the Fifty-fifth Legislature (1957), adopted in an
election Nov. 4, 1958. (See also Art. VII, Sec. 17, and
Art. VIII, Sec. 1-e.)]ARTICLE XVII.-MODE OF AMENDING
THE CONSTITUTION OF THIS STATE
Sec. 1. How the Constitution Is to Be Amended.-
The Legislature, at any biennial session, by a vote of
two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, to
be entered by yeas and nays on the journals, may pro-
pose amendments to the Constitution, to be voted upon
by the qualified electors for members of the Legisla-
ture, which proposed amendments shall be duly
published once a week for four weeks, commencing at
least three months before an election, the time of
which shall be specified by the Legislature, in one
weekly newspaper of each county in which such news-
paper may be published; and it shall be the duty of
the several returning officers of said election to open
a poll for and make returns to the Secretary of State
of the number of legal votes cast at said election for
and against said amendment; and if more than one
be proposed, then the number of votes cast for and
against each of them; and if it shall appear from
said return that a majority of the votes cast have been
cast in favor of any amendment the said amendment
so receiving a majority of the votes cast shall become
a part of this Constitution, and proclamations shall be
made by the Governor thereof.POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
Texas Democrats continued their traditional
dominance of state politics in the 1970general elections,
beating back determined Republican bids for the U.S.
Senate and governorship.
Democrats also maintained firm control of the State
Legislature and the 23-member congressional
delegation.
Party Primaries
Democratic primary upsets of two long-time
political figures highlighted the May contests in 1970.
Lloyd Bentsen, a newcomer to statewide politics,
defeated veteran U.S. Sen. Ralph W. Yarborough by
814,316 to 726,447 votes. Sen. Yarborough had been
elected to the Senate in a special election in 1957 and
was re-elected in 1958 and 1964.
Another newcomer, Bob Armstrong, defeated 5-term
Land Commissioner Jerry Sadler in a 3-way race
without a runoff. Armstrong polled 704,931 votes to
incumbent Sadler's 436,547 and Fred Williams' 195,812.
Republicans had only two token statewide primary
races.
Below the state level, Democratic nomination is
tantamount to election in local offices in most Texas
counties.
Political parties are required under the Terrell
Election Law tot 1907 to hold statewide primaries if
their gubernatorial candidates polled 200,000 votes in
the previous election. Parties with gubernatorial
candidates polling between 10,000 and 200,000 votes can
nominate by either convention or primary. The Terrell
Law, with subsequent amendments, is the basic
election code in Texas.
Republicans have held primaries in Texas in 1926,
1930, 1934, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968 and 1970.
Since 1959, primaries have been held on the first
Saturday in May, with a runoff on the first Saturday in
June between the top two candidates if neither received
a majority in the first primary.
General Election
Democrat Lloyd Bentsen defeated Republican
Congressman George Bush for the U.S. Senate by a vote
of 1,226,568 to 1,071,234 and Gov. Preston Smith received
a second 2-year term by defeating his Republican
opponent, Paul Eggers, 1,232,506 to 1,073,831.
Smith carried 234 of the state's 254 counties in his
race and Bentsen carried 227. But neither won the
state's two most populous counties, Dallas and Harris,
where Republicans are making strong inroads.
Armstrong was the only other new statewide official
elected, easily defeating his Republican opponent.
Incumbents Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, Atty. Gen. Crawford
Martin, Comptroller Robert S. Calvert, Treasurer Jesse
James and Agriculture Commissioner John C. White
were re-elected handily. Martin attracted the most
votes, 1,614,149.
Republicans contested only 58 of 150 House seats and
five of 16 Senate seats in the State Legislature.Democrats maintained control by margins of 29-2 in the
Senate and 140-10 in the House.
Ten of the state's 23 seats in the U.S. House of
Representatives were contested by Republicans, but
they managed to retain only the three seats they
previously held.
Texas' only Republican governor, E. J. Davis,
served during the 1870-74 Reconstruction period, when
Republicans M. C. Hamilton and J. W. Flanagan also
represented the state in the U.S. Senate. It was not until
John Tower's 1961 election to the unexpired term of
Lyndon B. Johnson, (who resigned after election to the
vice-presidency of the United States), that the state sent
another Republican to the U.S. Senate.
Constitutional Amendments
Texans went to the polls in both 1969 and 1970 to
decide the fate of 16 amendments to the State
Constitution proposed by the Legislature in 1969. (See
Index, Constitution of Texas.)
In 1969, four of nine were approved. Most
controversial of those considered in the August election
were one increasing the state ceiling on welfare
spending from $60 million to $80 million a year, which
was approved, and increasing pay for members of the
State Legislature, which was defeated.
Five of seven amendments proposed in the 1970
general election were approved, including one
removing the constitutional prohibition against open
saloons, which was strongly opposed by church groups.
Four amendments were voted on May 18, 1971, three
of which were defeated. Only the amendment providing
for an additional $100,000,000 for water development
bonds and raising the interest rate on water bonds to 6
per cent was approved. (See "Texas Constitution"
introduction for amendments to be voted on later.)
Through May 1971, 320 amendments to the 1876 State
Constitution had been voted on statewide and 201
approved.
Voter Registration
Texas set a nonpresidential year record in 1970 when
4,149,250 citizens registered to vote.
In 1971, an off year with no statewide elections,
3,986,690 registered.
Through 1971, Texas required annual voter
registration, a vestige of the poll tax registration
method under which the state operated from 1837 to
1966, when free registration was initiated.
The Legislature in 1971 provided for a continuing
registration system, with automatic registration for
those participating in primaries or elections.
The largest number of poll taxes paid in Texas was
2,411,679 in 1964, when it was estimated that exemptions
increased the number of eligible voters to 3,014,597.
Additional information on Texas political parties
and primary and general election results for statewide
races appears on the following pages.
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Texas Almanac, 1972-1973, book, 1971; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113811/m1/529/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.