Changes

==Political career==

==Political career==

In 1906, Townsend received his LLB from the now William H. Bowen Law School of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In 1910, he  began a legal practice chiefly concerned with revenue bonds and that same year vacated the principalship in Little Rock and ran unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee for Arkansas superintendent of public instruction. He became an integral part of the GOP legal counsel active in the Lily White faction, which sought to recruit white [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] into the Republican Party, then previously the domain of the relatively few African American voters registered in the state. In 1914, Townsend joined Augustus Caleb Remmel, chairman of the Pulaski County Republican organization, to take control of the state party for the Lily Whites.<ref name=bio/> A. C. Remmel (1882-1920), known as "Gus" Remmel, was the father of later Republican figure Pratt C. Remmel, who was the mayor of Little Rock from 1951 to 1955, and ran in 1954 against the Democrat Orval E. Faubus for governor.<ref>Marvon Johansen Browning, "Pratt Remmel dies; GOP mayor of LR ran against Faubus", ''Arkansas Democrat'', May 16, 1991</ref>

In 1906, Townsend received his LLB from the now William H. Bowen Law School of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In 1910, he  began a legal practice chiefly concerned with revenue bonds and that same year vacated the principalship in Little Rock and ran unsuccessfully as the Republican nominee for Arkansas superintendent of public instruction. He became an integral part of the GOP legal counsel active in the Lily White faction, which sought to recruit white [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] into the Republican Party, then previously the domain of the relatively few African American voters registered in the state. In 1914, Townsend joined Augustus Caleb Remmel, chairman of the Pulaski County Republican organization, to take control of the state party for the Lily Whites.<ref name=bio/> A. C. Remmel (1882-1920), known as "Gus" Remmel, was the father of later Republican figure [[Pratt Remmel]], who was the mayor of Little Rock from 1951 to 1955, and ran in 1954 against the Democrat Orval E. Faubus for governor.<ref>Marvon Johansen Browning, "Pratt Remmel dies; GOP mayor of LR ran against Faubus", ''Arkansas Democrat'', May 16, 1991.</ref>

   

   

Townsend was the party's unsuccessful gubernatorial nominee in both 1916 and 1920, having been defeated by the Democratic nominees, Charles Hillman Brough and Thomas Chipman McRae, respectively. In the 1916 race, Townsend polled 43,963 votes (25 percent), compared to Brough's 122,041 (69.5 percent). Another 9,730 votes were cast for the [[Socialist]] nominee, William Davis.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' Vol. 2, 6th ed., p. 1601</ref>

Townsend was the party's unsuccessful gubernatorial nominee in both 1916 and 1920, having been defeated by the Democratic nominees, Charles Hillman Brough and Thomas Chipman McRae, respectively. In the 1916 race, Townsend polled 43,963 votes (25 percent), compared to Brough's 122,041 (69.5 percent). Another 9,730 votes were cast for the [[Socialist]] nominee, William Davis.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections,'' Vol. 2, 6th ed., p. 1601.</ref>

   

   

In the 1920 race, McRae polled 123, 637 votes (66.6 percent) to Townsend's 46,350 (25 percent). An Independent Josiah H. Blount, the principal of an African American school in Helena, Arkansas, defected from the GOP and received the remaining 15,627 (8.4 percent).  Blount was tied to the former Black-and-Tan faction of the GOP.<ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982'' (College Station, Texas: [[Texas A&M University]], 1983), pp. 25-30</ref> The gains predicted by Townsend and the Lily Whites never materialized, and the Black and Tans, as they became known in other southern states as well, were reconciled for several more decades with the regular GOP. In time though the Arkansas black voters swung solidly Democratic by the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=bio/>   

In the 1920 race, McRae polled 123, 637 votes (66.6 percent) to Townsend's 46,350 (25 percent). An Independent Josiah H. Blount, the principal of an African American school in Helena, Arkansas, defected from the GOP and received the remaining 15,627 (8.4 percent).  Blount was tied to the former Black-and-Tan faction of the GOP.<ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982'' (College Station, Texas: [[Texas A&M University]], 1983), pp. 25-30</ref> The gains predicted by Townsend and the Lily Whites never materialized, and the Black and Tans, as they became known in other southern states as well, were reconciled for several more decades with the regular GOP. In time though the Arkansas black voters swung solidly Democratic by the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=bio/>