Changes

After a term in the Senate, Short was narrowly unseated in the 1982 Democratic primary by John T. Montford, then the district attorney of Lubbock County. Short carried twelve of the fourteen counties in the district, losing only Lubbock and Borden, a small rural county. Montford then defeated [[Jim Reese]], the unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate from both 1976 and 1978.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Jim Reese of Odessa and the Republican Party in the Permian Basin,"  ''The West Texas Historical Association Year Book'' (now known as ''West Texas Historical Review''), Vol. LXXXVII (October 2011), p. 141.</ref> Short speculates that he would have defeated Montford had rains not suppressed the Ector County turnout, which was extremely low that year, and had not some conservatives in Odessa voted instead in the Republican primary, which then had a relatively small rate of participation. Though Short had worked successfully on the Senate Finance Committee to obtain funding for the Odessa branch of the Texas Tech Medical School, his effort did not yield the political dividend in the primary that he had contemplated.<ref name=short/>​

After a term in the Senate, Short was narrowly unseated in the 1982 Democratic primary by John T. Montford, then the district attorney of Lubbock County. Short carried twelve of the fourteen counties in the district, losing only Lubbock and Borden, a small rural county. Montford then defeated [[Jim Reese]], the unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate from both 1976 and 1978.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Jim Reese of Odessa and the Republican Party in the Permian Basin,"  ''The West Texas Historical Association Year Book'' (now known as ''West Texas Historical Review''), Vol. LXXXVII (October 2011), p. 141.</ref> Short speculates that he would have defeated Montford had rains not suppressed the Ector County turnout, which was extremely low that year, and had not some conservatives in Odessa voted instead in the Republican primary, which then had a relatively small rate of participation. Though Short had worked successfully on the Senate Finance Committee to obtain funding for the Odessa branch of the Texas Tech Medical School, his effort did not yield the political dividend in the primary that he had contemplated.<ref name=short/>​

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In the Montford-Reese [[general election]] contest, Short endorsed neither candidate.<ref name=short/> Short, considered a [[conservative]] Democrat, later switched affiliation to the [[Republican Party|GOP]] but after his time in elective politics had passed. In 2001, he donated $1,000 to the [[Republican National Committee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=​http://www.city-data.com/elec2/elec-TAHOKA-TX.html|title=Tahoka, Texas Political Contributions by Individuals|publisher=city-data.com|accessdate=September 15, 2010}}</ref>​

In the Montford-Reese [[general election]] contest, Short endorsed neither candidate.<ref name=short/> Short, considered a [[conservative]] Democrat, later switched affiliation to the [[Republican Party|GOP]] but after his time in elective politics had passed. In 2001, he donated $1,000 to the [[Republican National Committee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=​http://www.city-data.com/elec2/elec-TAHOKA-TX.html|title=Tahoka, Texas Political Contributions by Individuals|publisher=city-data.com|accessdate=September 18, 2019}}</ref>​

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