Changes

==Party leader==

==Party leader==

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Lowe was elected state party chairman in December 1974, when the Arkansas state Senator [[Jim Caldwell]], stepped down from the unpaid position, to which he had been elected in March 1973.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook'' (Republican newsletter), May 1973</ref> Lowe defeated three candidates, Dr. Robert Luther of Arkadelphia, who later served as the party executive director; Marshall Martin of  Benton in Saline County ,party chairman and a former aide to Governor Rockefeller, and Bob Scott of Little Rock, a moderate and former Rockefeller associate.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook,'' December 1974; ''Arkansas Gazette'' (now ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette''), December 8, 1974.</ref> Though considered a conservative, Lowe was friendly with [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Nelson Rockefeller]], Winthrop Rockefeller's older brother who had been nominated to fill the second slot by President [[Gerald Ford]], upon Ford's accession to the presidency after the resignation of President [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Lowe said that Nelson Rockefeller was popular among Arkansas Republicans because of "the feelings for his brother." Yet, Lowe said that a more conservative running mate might be needed for Ford in 1976, having foreshadowed the replacement of Nelson Rockefeller on the GOP ticket with [[Bob Dole]] of [[Kansas]].<ref>''Arkansas Outlook,'' October 1975.</ref>​

Lowe was elected state party chairman in December 1974, when the Arkansas state Senator [[Jim Caldwell]], stepped down from the unpaid position, to which he had been elected in March 1973.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook'' (Republican newsletter), May 1973</ref> Lowe defeated three candidates, Dr. Robert Luther of Arkadelphia, who later served as the party executive director; Marshall Martin of  Benton, the party chairman in Saline County and a former aide to Governor Rockefeller, and Bob Scott of Little Rock, a moderate and former Rockefeller associate.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook,'' December 1974; ''Arkansas Gazette'' (now ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette''), December 8, 1974.</ref> Though considered a conservative, Lowe was friendly with [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Nelson Rockefeller]], Winthrop Rockefeller's older brother who had been nominated to fill the second slot by President [[Gerald Ford]], upon Ford's accession to the presidency after the resignation of President [[Richard M. Nixon]]. Lowe said that Nelson Rockefeller was popular among Arkansas Republicans because of "the feelings for his brother." Yet, Lowe said that a more conservative running mate might be needed for Ford in 1976, having foreshadowed the replacement of Nelson Rockefeller on the GOP ticket with [[Bob Dole]] of [[Kansas]].<ref>''Arkansas Outlook,'' October 1975.</ref>​

Lowe described Winthrop Rockefeller as "a very unusual guy with the best interest of Arkansas and its people at heart. If he made a mistake, it was not because he wanted to do so."<ref name=lowe/> Lowe said that his early years as chairman came at a time when the Arkansas GOP was "about as flat on our back as a party could be. By 1980, we had come from one state legislator to a governor, [[Frank D. White]], and two members of the U.S. House", John Paul Hammerschmidt and Edwin Ruthvin Bethune, Jr.<ref name=lowe/>

Lowe described Winthrop Rockefeller as "a very unusual guy with the best interest of Arkansas and its people at heart. If he made a mistake, it was not because he wanted to do so."<ref name=lowe/> Lowe said that his early years as chairman came at a time when the Arkansas GOP was "about as flat on our back as a party could be. By 1980, we had come from one state legislator to a governor, [[Frank D. White]], and two members of the U.S. House", John Paul Hammerschmidt and Edwin Ruthvin Bethune, Jr.<ref name=lowe/>