Clay Smothers
Clay Smothers | |
---|---|
Texas State Representative for former District 33-G (Dallas County) | |
In office January 1977 – January 1981 | |
Preceded by | Richard S. Geiger |
Succeeded by | Steven D. Wolens |
Personal details | |
Born | Educator Radio personality | April 1, 1935
Claiborne Washington "Clay" Smothers (April 1, 1935 – June 11, 2004) was an American politician and commentator. He was a member of the
However, Smothers was a Republican in 1970, when he had run unsuccessfully in District 12 for the Texas House; he was defeated by the Democrat Sam Coats. In that same election
Background
Smothers was the fourth of five children born and reared in Malakoff in Henderson County in East Texas, where his parents, James William Smothers (1896–1975) and the former Alice Olenza Wingfield (1899–2000), ran the St. Paul Industrial Training School, the only African-American orphanage and school in Texas that operated without federal funds. The institution housed many homeless youth over the years.[3] It remains operational.[4]
Smothers graduated from the
Political life
National
In 1972, Smothers surfaced to national attention as an alternate delegate for then
Smothers warned the national Democrats meeting in
State
Smothers lost the runoff election for Dallas City Council Place 8 to Lucy Patterson in 1973.[9] The large number of Black voters at the polls are partially credited for Patterson's win, especially in South Dallas and Southeast Oak Cliff. Officials speculated that Black voters were responding to Smothers longstanding anti-busing position.[10]
Smothers was elected to the first of his two terms in the Texas legislature in 1976, when Jimmy Carter became the thus far last Democrat to win the electoral votes of Texas. After some four months in office, the Austin American-Statesman reported on May 20, 1977, that Smothers had been named "Freshman of the Year" of the 65th legislative session by his colleagues. However, that same year Texas Monthly magazine named him to its "Ten Worst List" of legislators.[2]
In his first House term, Smothers spoke against ratification of the proposed
In 1977, Smothers was one of eight House members named to the select committee
In 1979, Smothers opposed the bill to create Juneteenth as a Texas state holiday observing the end of slavery in the state. Smothers belittled the observance as mere "ceremoniously grinning and bursting watermelons on the Capitol grounds" and "a fraudulent holiday".[16]
In 1978, Smothers was awarded the American Patriots Medal by
Smothers supported
In 1980, Smothers ran as a Republican on the Reagan-Bush ticket for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 24th congressional district, but he lost to the Democratic incumbent Martin Frost. Smothers ran as an opponent of abortion and polled nearly 39 percent of the vote in the district, since reconfigured through redistricting.[17][18]
Later years
After his legislative service, Smothers resumed the management of the St. Paul Industrial Training School in Malakoff. In January 1982, he was briefly jailed for
Smothers died in 2004 at the age of sixty-nine, and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Park in Dallas, TX. The names of his children are unknown except for Clay, II, who died of lung cancer at the age of fifty-five in 2013; and Kinney Lee Fields, a 2016 Republican primary candidate for the District 3 seat on the Dallas County Commissioners Court .
References
- ISBN 080612878X
- ^ a b "Clay Smothers". Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Doris Eastman Harris, "Smothers ... New Voice of a Silent Majority", October 2, 1970". The Malakoff News. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "History of St. Paul Industrial Training School". stpaulscholarship.org. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c "66th Legislature, Resolutions - Congratulatory and Honorary". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ Jane Lee, "Black Delegate for Wallace to Speak Here", Lawrence, Kansas, Daily Journal, November 1, 1972, p. 1
- Milwaukee Journal, July 14, 1972, pp. 1-2
- ISBN 9781439165959
- ^ Tatum, Henry (April 18, 1973). "CCA Candidates Win". Dallas Morning News. p. 1. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
- ^ Tatum, Henry (April 19, 1973). Accessed 23 Feb. 2023. "Black Vote Influential". Dallas Morning News. p. 1. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
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value (help) - ISBN 9781400042623
- ^ "Child Pornography: Its Related Causes and Control". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "Elections - 66th R.S. (1979)". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "House Liquor Regulation Committee". October 11, 2013.
- ^ "Legislation authored by Clay Smothers". lrl.state.tx.us. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "Anne Dingus, "Once a Texas-only holiday marking the end of slavery, Juneteenth is now celebrated nationwide with high spirits and hot barbecue," June 2001". Texas Monthly. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "Smothers, Claiborne W. "Clay"". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "Smothers, Clay". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ "John H. Cox, "Clay Smothers jailed following altercation"". Malakoff News, January 21, 1982, p. 10A. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
19.
Obituary. "Claiborne Washington Smothers." The Dallas Morning News, June 15, 2004.