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==State Senator==

==State senator==

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In 1978, Short was elected state senator to succeed Kent Hance of Dimmitt in Castro County, who was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] to fill the seat vacated by the retiring George Herman Mahon (1900-1985) of [[Lubbock]]. Hance, then a Democrat, defeated the [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate, [[George W. Bush]], who had beaten [[Jim Reese]], the former mayor of [[Odessa, Texas|Odessa]], in a runoff election.<ref>State of Texas, 1978 election returns.</ref> Meanwhile, Short's House seat was won by the Democrat Jim Rudd of Brownfield.

In 1978, Short was elected state senator to succeed Kent Hance of Dimmitt in Castro County, who was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] to fill the seat vacated by the retiring George Herman Mahon (1900-1985) of [[Lubbock]]. Hance, then a Democrat, defeated the [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate, [[George W. Bush]], who had beaten [[Jim Reese]], the former mayor of [[Odessa, Texas|Odessa]], in a runoff election.<ref>State of Texas, 1978 election returns.</ref> Meanwhile, Short's House seat was won by the Democrat Jim Rudd of Brownfield.

Short was appointed by then Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby, the presiding officer of the state Senate, to serve on the Finance Committee. Short worked to increase funding for the nursing school at [[Texas Tech University]] in Lubbock. He pushed for passage of bills to require [[cotton]] buyers to register with the state and to permit oversized modular trucks hauling cotton to be ginned to continue using the highways, as such operations are seasonal in nature. He was the vice chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and in the 1981 legislative session worked to thwart passage of seven land-use bills.<ref name=short>Statement of E L Short of Tahoka, Texas, November 18, December 14, 2010.</ref>​

Short was appointed by then Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby, the presiding officer of the state Senate, to serve on the Finance Committee. Short worked to increase funding for the nursing school at [[Texas Tech University]] in Lubbock. He pushed for passage of bills to require [[cotton]] buyers to register with the state and to permit oversized modular trucks hauling cotton to be ginned to continue using the highways, as such operations are seasonal in nature. He was the vice chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and in the 1981 legislative session worked to thwart passage of seven land-use bills.<ref name=short>Statement of E L Short of Tahoka, Texas, November 18, December 14, 2010.</ref>​

''Texas Monthly'' [[magazine]] named Short to the list of the "Ten Worst Legislators" in the 1981 session. Others negatively cited were Democrat Carlos Truan of [[Corpus Christi]] and Republican [[John Leedom]] of Dallas, the author of the "Texas Rainy Day Fund." Rated among the best in 1981 were future [[U.S. Representative]] Lloyd Doggett of Austin, one of the Senate's more [[liberal]] members, Speaker Bill W. Clayton of Springlake in Lamb County, and [[Ray Farabee]] of [[Wichita Falls]], all Democrats.<ref name=texmo>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/magazine/bestworst|title=The Best and Worst Legislators since 1973|publisher=texasmonthly.com|accessdate=December 14, 2010}}</ref> The magazine said that Short repeatedly told colleagues that he would support their pending legislation but failed to follow through. ''Texas Monthly''  said that Short was "without malice or guile" and might make a good alderman in Tahoka but was unsuited for legislative business.<ref name=texmo/>​

''Texas Monthly'' [[magazine]] named Short to the list of the "Ten Worst Legislators" in the 1981 session. Others negatively cited were Democrat[[Carlos Truan]] of [[Corpus Christi]] and Republican [[John Leedom]] of Dallas, the author of the "Texas Rainy Day Fund." Rated among the best in 1981 were future [[U.S. Representative]] Lloyd Doggett of Austin, one of the Senate's more [[liberal]] members, Speaker Bill W. Clayton of Springlake in Lamb County, and [[Ray Farabee]] of [[Wichita Falls]], all Democrats.<ref name=texmo>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/magazine/bestworst|title=The Best and Worst Legislators since 1973|publisher=texasmonthly.com|accessdate=December 14, 2010}}</ref> The magazine said that Short repeatedly told colleagues that he would support their pending legislation but failed to follow through. ''Texas Monthly''  said that Short was "without malice or guile" and might make a good alderman in Tahoka but was unsuited for legislative business.<ref name=texmo/>​

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/>​