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Angelo joined the Young Republicans while a student at LSU. In Midland, he continued his association with the Republican Party. In 1968, Angelo made the first of two unsuccessful runs as a Republican candidate for the Texas State Senate, having lost to Democrat W. E. "Pete" Snelson, then of Midland. Snelson had unseated long-term Senator [[Dorsey B. Hardeman]] of [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] in the Democratic primary. In that same 1968 general election, [[Tom Craddick]] of Midland, was elected at the age of twenty-five to the Texas House of Representatives. In 2003, Craddick began a six-year stint as House Speaker, the first Republican speaker since [[Reconstruction]]. Craddick still serves as the senior member of the Texas House, but he was toppled as Speaker in 2009 by a combination of [[Moderate Republicans]] and Democrats, who were organized by the still-sitting Speaker, [[Joe Straus]] of [[San Antonio]]. Craddick and Angelo have been neighbors since the early 1970s. The two oilmen are godparents to the other's children.<ref name="hathorn"/>

Angelo joined the Young Republicans while a student at LSU. In Midland, he continued his association with the Republican Party. In 1968, Angelo made the first of two unsuccessful runs as a Republican candidate for the Texas State Senate, having lost to Democrat W. E. "Pete" Snelson, then of Midland. Snelson had unseated long-term Senator [[Dorsey B. Hardeman]] of [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] in the Democratic primary. In that same 1968 general election, [[Tom Craddick]] of Midland, was elected at the age of twenty-five to the Texas House of Representatives. In 2003, Craddick began a six-year stint as House Speaker, the first Republican speaker since [[Reconstruction]]. Craddick still serves as the senior member of the Texas House, but he was toppled as Speaker in 2009 by a combination of [[Moderate Republicans]] and Democrats, who were organized by the still-sitting Speaker, [[Joe Straus]] of [[San Antonio]]. Craddick and Angelo have been neighbors since the early 1970s. The two oilmen are godparents to the other's children.<ref name="hathorn"/>

The 96-0 Reagan landslide made impressive headlines and followed thereafter with four more at-large Reagan delegates chosen at the state convention. Angelo said the victory was possible because the party was allowed to write its own rules.  Some 420,000 voted in the Republican primary in which Reagan polled 278,300 votes to Ford's 139,994. In the Democratic primary, two candidates easily outpolled Reagan, and a third nearly matched him. Jimmy Carter received 736,032 votes; U.S. Senator [[Lloyd Bentsen]], a favorite son for President and a candidate for senatorial reelection, polled 343,033 votes, and [[George Wallace]], the [[governor]] of [[Alabama]], drew 270,798 votes. Carter, Bentsen, and Wallace hence polled some three times as many votes as Reagan and Ford combined.<ref>[[Austin]]: Texas State Archives, 1976 Republican presidential primary returns.</ref> The 1976 primary was the first election in Texas in which counties with at least 5 percent [[Mexican American]] ethnicity were required to use bilingual ballots.<ref name="laredo">''Laredo Morning Times'', May 2, 1976.</ref>

The 96-0 Reagan landslide made impressive headlines and followed thereafter with four more at-large Reagan delegates chosen at the state convention. Angelo said the victory was possible because the party was allowed to write its own rules.  Some 420,000 voted in the Republican primary in which Reagan polled 278,300 votes to Ford's 139,994. In the Democratic primary, two candidates easily outpolled Reagan, and a third nearly matched him. Jimmy Carter received 736,032 votes; U.S. Senator [[Lloyd Bentsen]], a favorite son for President and a candidate for senatorial reelection, polled 343,033 votes, and [[George Wallace]], the [[governor]] of [[Alabama]], drew 270,798 votes. Carter, Bentsen, and Wallace hence polled some three times as many votes as Reagan and Ford combined.<ref>[[Austin]]: Texas State Archives, 1976 Republican presidential primary returns.</ref> The 1976 primary was the first election in Texas in which counties with at least 5 percent [[Mexican-American]] ethnicity were required to use bilingual ballots.<ref name="laredo">''Laredo Morning Times'', May 2, 1976.</ref>

While he co-managed the Reagan campaign, Mayor Angelo was chosen to be a national committeeman, a position that he retained for twenty years. After Reagan became president, Angelo tried again for the Midland-based state Senate seat, but he lost in 1982 to the Democrat William “Bill” Sims of San Angelo in Tom Green County, 52,868 (47.9 percent) to 57,522 (52.1 percent).<ref>State of Texas, Archives Division, General election returns for state Senate, November 2, 1982.</ref> This race occurred about a decade before the region between Midland and San Angelo moved strongly into the Republican camp. In that same year, [[Bill Clements]] of Dallas, the first Texas Republican governor of Texas] since 1873, and Houston oilman George Strake, Jr., the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor and later the state party chairman, were crushed in an avalanche of Democratic votes. It was the last year through at least 2018 that the Democrats in Texas would win all of the statewide races, including judgeships. Angelo noted that the poor Republican prospects in Texas in 1982 were attribted to a downturn in the national economy, as Democrats rebounded nationwide in President Reagan's first mid-term election.  

While he co-managed the Reagan campaign, Mayor Angelo was chosen to be a national committeeman, a position that he retained for twenty years. After Reagan became president, Angelo tried again for the Midland-based state Senate seat, but he lost in 1982 to the Democrat William “Bill” Sims of San Angelo in Tom Green County, 52,868 (47.9 percent) to 57,522 (52.1 percent).<ref>State of Texas, Archives Division, General election returns for state Senate, November 2, 1982.</ref> This race occurred about a decade before the region between Midland and San Angelo moved strongly into the Republican camp. In that same year, [[Bill Clements]] of Dallas, the first Texas Republican governor of Texas] since 1873, and Houston oilman George Strake, Jr., the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor and later the state party chairman, were crushed in an avalanche of Democratic votes. It was the last year through at least 2018 that the Democrats in Texas would win all of the statewide races, including judgeships. Angelo noted that the poor Republican prospects in Texas in 1982 were attribted to a downturn in the national economy, as Democrats rebounded nationwide in President Reagan's first mid-term election.