Changes

In 1965, Little and another Republican representative from Montgomery, [[Alfred Goldthwaite]], who had defected the previous year from the Democrats, fought George Wallace's move to permit governors to succeed themselves, a change finally adopted for the 1974 election.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-i1HBMC6qsEC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136|author=Jeff Frederick|title= Stand Up for Alabama: Governor George Wallace|publisher=[[University of Alabama]] Press |date=2007 |page=119|isbn=9780817315740|accessdate=August 30, 2021}}</ref>

In 1965, Little and another Republican representative from Montgomery, [[Alfred Goldthwaite]], who had defected the previous year from the Democrats, fought George Wallace's move to permit governors to succeed themselves, a change finally adopted for the 1974 election.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-i1HBMC6qsEC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136|author=Jeff Frederick|title= Stand Up for Alabama: Governor George Wallace|publisher=[[University of Alabama]] Press |date=2007 |page=119|isbn=9780817315740|accessdate=August 30, 2021}}</ref>

Little, Collins, Posey, and Goldthwaite all left the legislature in 1966, when James D. Martin, by then a one-term member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Alabama's 7th congressional district]], since disbanded, lost badly in the race for [[governor]]. Martin was defeated by Lurleen Wallace, and the Republican [[John Grenier]] of [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] similarly failed to unseat Democratic U.S. Senator [[John Sparkman]] in a high-profile race. The defeats of Martin and Grenier set back the Republican attempt to gain a permanent foothold in Alabama after nearly a century of one-party Democratic hegemony. ''The Montgomery Advertiser'' described the state party's bleak prospects: "The flimsy house that Barry [Goldwater] built collapsed except for a few boards here and there. ... The Republicans have little more than the bare foundations of a party."<ref>Billy Hathorn, "A Dozen Years in the Political Wilderness: The Alabama Republican Party, 1966–1978", ''Gulf Coast Historical Review,'' Vol. 9, No. 2 (Spring 1994), p. 29.</ref>

Little, Collins, Posey, and Goldthwaite all left the legislature in 1966, when James D. Martin, by then a one-term member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Alabama's 7th congressional district, since disbanded, lost badly in the race for [[governor]]. Martin was defeated by Lurleen Wallace, and the Republican [[John Grenier]] of [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] similarly failed to unseat Democratic U.S. Senator [[John Sparkman]] in a high-profile race. The defeats of Martin and Grenier set back the Republican attempt to gain a permanent foothold in Alabama after nearly a century of one-party Democratic hegemony. ''The Montgomery Advertiser'' described the state party's bleak prospects: "The flimsy house that Barry [Goldwater] built collapsed except for a few boards here and there. ... The Republicans have little more than the bare foundations of a party."<ref>Billy Hathorn, "A Dozen Years in the Political Wilderness: The Alabama Republican Party, 1966–1978", ''Gulf Coast Historical Review,'' Vol. 9, No. 2 (Spring 1994), p. 29.</ref>

In 1968, Little was the party finance chairman when the state [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] failed to mount a serious effort on behalf of the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]-[[Spiro Agnew|Agnew]] ticket, which had no chance in Alabama against George Wallace's presidential candidacy under his American Independent Party. Nor could Perry Oliver Hooper, Sr. (1925-2016), of Montgomery gain momentum in his race for the U.S. Senate seat that Lister Hill vacated, a position won overwhelmingly by [[James B. Allen]] of Gadsden, a former two-term lieutenant governor. Of the lack of a Nixon campaign in Alabama, Little said, "We couldn't afford it" because of the decision to concentrate on the successful third-term bids of three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama, all first elected in the Goldwater sweep of the state in 1964: [[Jack Edwards]] of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] and William Louis "Bill" Dickinson (1925-2008) of Montgomery, both conservatives, and John Hall Buchanan, Jr. (1928-2018), a [[Moderate Republican from [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]]. For years no matter how poorly the state GOP fared, Alabama still had the three Republican U.S. representatives who gained footholds in their districts.<ref>"A Dozen Years in the Political Wilderness: The Alabama Republican Party, 1966–1978," p. 30</ref>

In 1968, Little was the party finance chairman when the state [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] failed to mount a serious effort on behalf of the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]-[[Spiro Agnew|Agnew]] ticket, which had no chance in Alabama against George Wallace's presidential candidacy under his American Independent Party. Nor could Perry Oliver Hooper, Sr. (1925-2016), of Montgomery gain momentum in his race for the U.S. Senate seat that Lister Hill vacated, a position won overwhelmingly by [[James B. Allen]] of Gadsden, a former two-term lieutenant governor. Of the lack of a Nixon campaign in Alabama, Little said, "We couldn't afford it" because of the decision to concentrate on the successful third-term bids of three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama, all first elected in the Goldwater sweep of the state in 1964: [[Jack Edwards]] of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] and William Louis "Bill" Dickinson (1925-2008) of Montgomery, both conservatives, and John Hall Buchanan, Jr. (1928-2018), a [[Moderate Republican from [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]]. For years no matter how poorly the state GOP fared, Alabama still had the three Republican U.S. representatives who gained footholds in their districts.<ref>"A Dozen Years in the Political Wilderness: The Alabama Republican Party, 1966–1978," p. 30</ref>