Changes

   

   

Patrick was born to Dan Ervin Patrick (1912-1971) and the former Audie M. Van Brunt (1916-1997)<ref>Social Security Death Index</ref> in the unincorporated community of Delaney near Huntsville, the seat of Madison County. [[Orval E. Faubus]], the state's Democratic governor from 1955 to 1967, was also from Madison County. Patrick was personally friendly with both Rockefeller and Faubus, who were political rivals in Arkansas during the 1960s. When Rockefeller was governor, Representative Patrick frequently attended meetings in the governor's offices in both the state capitol in [[Little Rock]] and at WinRock Farms in nearby Morrilton in Conway County. And Patrick recalls having met Faubus many times over the years beginning when Patrick was still a young boy. "I loved him", says Patrick of Faubus.<ref name=statement>Statement of Danny Lee Patrick, June 2007</ref> Patrick supported Republican Governor Frank D. White's decision in 1981 to hire Faubus as the head of the Arkansas Veterans Affairs Department, an appointment that drew the opposition of several former Rockefeller Republicans, such as Leona Troxell of Rose Bud in White County.<ref>''Arkansas Gazette'', August 5, 1981; Troxell, later Leona Troxell Dodd was defeated in her 1974 race for [[Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas|lieutenant governor]] by the Democrat Joe Purcell, who was the acting Arkansas governor for six days in January 1979.</ref>  

Patrick was born to Dan Ervin Patrick (1912-1971) and the former Audie M. Van Brunt (1916-1997)<ref>Social Security Death Index</ref> in the unincorporated community of Delaney near Huntsville, the seat of Madison County. [[Orval E. Faubus]], the state's Democratic governor from 1955 to 1967, was also from Madison County. Patrick was personally friendly with both Rockefeller and Faubus, who were political rivals in Arkansas during the 1960s. When Rockefeller was governor, Representative Patrick frequently attended meetings in the governor's offices in both the state capitol in [[Little Rock]] and at WinRock Farms in nearby Morrilton in Conway County. And Patrick recalls having met Faubus many times over the years beginning when Patrick was still a young boy. "I loved him", says Patrick of Faubus.<ref name=statement>Statement of Danny Lee Patrick, June 2007</ref> Patrick supported Republican Governor Frank D. White's decision in 1981 to hire Faubus as the head of the Arkansas Veterans Affairs Department, an appointment that drew the opposition of several former Rockefeller Republicans, such as Leona Troxell of Rose Bud in White County.<ref>''Arkansas Gazette'', August 5, 1981; Troxell, later Leona Troxell Dodd was defeated in her 1974 race for lieutenant governor by the Democrat Joe Purcell, who was the acting Arkansas governor for six days in January 1979.</ref>  

To win his legislative seat, Patrick twice defeated the Democrat (and former "Faubus Republican") F. A. "Pat" Teague 1904-1975), a turkey farmer from Berryville in the newly-formed District 2 (Madison and Carroll counties). Teague was the previous incumbent for Carroll County. He was sixty-two years old in his 1966 race against the 25-year-old Patrick and had been an Arkansas delegate to the 1952 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]].<ref>The previous representative from Madison County was Democrat Ralph Buck (1912-1976).</ref> Patrick defeated Teague by only thirty-three votes in 1966 and by some three hundred ballots in 1968. In 1970, when Rockefeller was crushed for a third term, Patrick, then twenty-nine, was unseated by the Democrat Stephen A. Smith (born 1949), who received 54 percent of the vote.<ref>"Election Statistics, 1966, 1968, and 1970'' (Little Rock, Arkansas: Secretary of State)</ref>  

To win his legislative seat, Patrick twice defeated the Democrat (and former "Faubus Republican") F. A. "Pat" Teague 1904-1975), a turkey farmer from Berryville in the newly-formed District 2 (Madison and Carroll counties). Teague was the previous incumbent for Carroll County. He was sixty-two years old in his 1966 race against the 25-year-old Patrick and had been an Arkansas delegate to the 1952 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]].<ref>The previous representative from Madison County was Democrat Ralph Buck (1912-1976).</ref> Patrick defeated Teague by only thirty-three votes in 1966 and by some three hundred ballots in 1968. In 1970, when Rockefeller was crushed for a third term, Patrick, then twenty-nine, was unseated by the Democrat Stephen A. Smith (born 1949), who received 54 percent of the vote.<ref>"Election Statistics, 1966, 1968, and 1970'' (Little Rock, Arkansas: Secretary of State)</ref>