The Dirty Thirty - 35 years ago, 30 legislators in Texas stood tall

[Neil Lisst]

Hey Texans! Let's talk about the greatest goal line stand in Texas since the Alamo - the famous Dirty 30 and what they did in 1971.

Bob Gammage, who is now running for Texas governor, was one of those men and women who stood tall for Texas when the kind of Abramoff graft and corruption was ruling the Texas legislature.

I want to invite all you Texans to join in, tell your memory of those events and the people you might have known or heard about who were involved.

[Neil Lisst]

1. Sissy "Francis" Farenthold - Dirty 30 member

Sissy was one of my favorites. I met her the next year, in 1972, and established a good rapport with her. When she ran for governor against old Dolph "Texas passes" Briscoe, I was in her camp.

I had great hopes for her, but she faded from the scene after losing the gubernatorial race. I had some business with her son in the 1980s, and used that as an opportunity to hook up with her just to shoot the breeze. She's got to be around 70 now. I wonder where she is. Anyone know?

[Neil Lisst]

2. John Hannah - Dirty 30 member

John Hannah was a state representative from East Texas, a true populist. He was tied into the Charlie Wilson-Arthur Temple, Jr.-Arthur "Buddy" Temple political forces, and clearly the most liberal of the bunch.

He was elected District Attorney in 1972, and went on to become a Secretary of State for Texas and finally, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas.

John died a couple of years ago. He was a good judge, and a good man.

[Neil Lisst]

4. Bob Gammage - Dirty 30 member

Bob Gammage. He's a superstar. What hasn't he done?

Bob came out of Pasadena, Texas, a suburb of Houston on the industrial southeast side of the Houston area. He was a state rep, then a state senator, then a congressman, then on a state court of appeals, and finally on the state supreme court.

I'll never forget a radio ad he ran in the mid-1970s. I'm not going to mention his opponent by name, but old timers will probably recall who he was talking about when he said "the only thing my opponent has ever done for blacks is have them valet park his car when he meets his contributors at River Oaks Country Club."

[Neil Lisst]

6. No one remembers the Dirty Thirty from Texas?

I know there are some middle-aged Texans out there. I can hear you breathing.

[XOKCowboy]

3. I Googled Dirty Thirty and Molly Ivins and came up with this..

Sounds like a a good tale of Texas politics and I figgered who better to hear tell the tale but Molly? It's from May 25, 2001

http://www.mollyivins.com/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=81

Redistricting! You're Gonna Laugh!
We Promise!

BY MOLLY IVINS

Rep. Delwin Jones of Lubbock, who is approximately the age of the earth's crust, is once again chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, which is like reporting, "This just in: news still bad." Once every ten years, when the only elected representatives we've got re-draw the lines of the districts from which they are elected, statehouse reporters vainly try to interest the public in this sleeper, in all senses, of a subject. I'm going to tell you a funny redistricting story, so don't go to sleep.

"Dell-win" as he is pronounced in West Texas, was chairman of the House Redistricting Committee back in 1971 (he was a Democrat then: weren't they all?), when a motley crew of 30 liberals and Republicans rose in rebellion against a corrupt House speaker. The Speaker's henchmen christened them "the Dirty Thirty," and the redistricting bill was their chosen instrument of revenge. Even by the standards of the day, when "one cow-one vote" was the operative principle in the "rule-dominated" Lege (that's "rural" to you new Texans), the 1971 map was a classic of the gerrymandering art. There were districts that looked like giant chickens, districts that looked like coiled rattlers and districts that sprouted peculiar zits that popped out to include the home of one liberal incumbent in the district of another.

In the process of screwing all the Speaker's enemies, the redistricters inadvertently screwed a few of his friends as well, one of whom was Rep. Bill Finck, a cigar manufacturer from San Antonio. Brother Finck rose to protest the butchering of his district. "Lookahere, Dell-win," he began plaintively. "Look at what y'all have done to my dis-strict. You have drawn a great big, ol' ball at the one end, then it runs in a little-bitty ol' strip for 300 miles, and then there's a great big ol' ball at the other end. The damn thing looks like a pair of dumbbells." Finck's voice rose in pain. "Now the courts say the districts have to be com-pact and con-tiguous. Is this your idea a com-pact and con-tiguous?"

Dell-win pondered deeply at the front mike. At last he replied, "Whale, in a artistic sense, it is."

Hope ya don't mind this ex-Okie intruding on your thread. :)

[Neil Lisst]

5. Molly Ivins knows the story well. She's a great source.

It went much deeper, involving an insurance man named Frank Sharp, and a lot of Abramoff like money lavishing the lege.

[CTyankee]

7. Was this the Killer Bees thing?

I have a T shirt from that episode. The state reps who disappeared and the gov. sent the TExas Rangers after them to round them up for a vote. They were holed up in an apartment over somebody's garage. The brother of one of the reps got chased over a backyard fence by a Ranger, was caught but let go.

My cousin was working in Austin at the time. I went to visit her at the time this had just happened. Her teenaged son had the T shirt and I begged him for it. I remember the whole thing as being very funny.

I think I still have the T shirt and it's in very good condition.

[Neil Lisst]

8. The Killer Bees was another incident, a few years later.

But it was similar.

In fact, when Dem legislators fled the state a couple of years ago to try to stop the DeLay machinations to gerrymander, they were following in the footsteps of the Dirty Thirty and the Killer Bees.

Bonus question:

Who was Eldridge Gerry, class?

[CTyankee]

9. He was the man for whom the name "Gerrymander" was named

But, oh the Killer Bees, they were something! Hiding out in a garage apartment in Austin, listening to all of those snores, it must have been quite an adventure. Bless them all!

Do you think that the whole primary thing was worth it? I wonder.

Oh well, as a 2nd generation Texan in my family I have a legit stake here.

Cheers from New Haven!