Changes

Reese and Angelo both ran for office one final time, for state senator in different districts in 1982, the most recent year in which Texas Democrats swept all statewide offices. Angelo filed in District 25, in which Wallace Eugene "Pete" Snelson (1923-2014) of Midland retired, and the Democrats nominated Bill Sims as his successor. Angelo had lost to Snelson in 1968 and lost again to Sims in 1982. Reese filed in District 28, which then stretched from Hereford on the north to Odessa on the south but did not include Midland County. Midland and Odessa are now combined in District 31, represented in 2012 by the [[Moderate Republican]] Kel Seliger, a former mayor of Amarillo, the winner of a special election for the seat in 2004.<ref>Senator Kel Seliger : District 31, Website: seliger.senate.state.tx.us., accessed November 11, 2010.</ref>

Reese and Angelo both ran for office one final time, for state senator in different districts in 1982, the most recent year in which Texas Democrats swept all statewide offices. Angelo filed in District 25, in which Wallace Eugene "Pete" Snelson (1923-2014) of Midland retired, and the Democrats nominated Bill Sims as his successor. Angelo had lost to Snelson in 1968 and lost again to Sims in 1982. Reese filed in District 28, which then stretched from Hereford on the north to Odessa on the south but did not include Midland County. Midland and Odessa are now combined in District 31, represented in 2012 by the [[Moderate Republican]] Kel Seliger, a former mayor of Amarillo, the winner of a special election for the seat in 2004.<ref>Senator Kel Seliger : District 31, Website: seliger.senate.state.tx.us., accessed November 11, 2010.</ref>

The District 28 seat<ref>Two previous District 28 state senators were Lubbock businessman and future Governor [[Preston Smith]], who held the seat from 1957 to 1963, and Smith's predecessor, Kilmer B. Corbin, a Lamesa and later Lubbock attorney who was the father of the actor Barry Corbin. Kilmer Corbin held the seat from 1947 to 1957, having been unseated by Preston Smith in the 1956 Democratic primary. List of Texas State Senators, Texas State Archives in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]].</ref> was at the time held by the conservative Democrat E L Short, a businessman, farmer, and rancher from Tahoka in Lynn County south of Lubbock. Short, who had served in the Far East with the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]] and had been the District 73 state representative from 1969 to 1979, when he succeeded Kent Hance in the Texas Senate, sought a second senatorial term in 1982 but was narrowly unseated in the party primary by John T. Montford, the Lubbock County district attorney. Short won twelve of the fourteen counties in the primary, but Montford's margin in Lubbock County propelled him to the nomination.<ref>Reese, p. 141.</ref>  Reese defeated a primary opponent but nevertheless lost to Montford in the general election. Short, who himself later became a Republican, remained neutral in the Reese-Montford contest. Montford was known at the time by the sobriquet "Maximum John" because of his aggressive prosecution as district attorney and the lengthy terms that he had sought in the sentencing of convicted criminals.<ref>Reese, p. 141.</ref> Montford left the state Senate in 1996 to become the chancellor of both Texas Tech and the newly established Texas Tech University System. Thereafter he became a business executive for numerous companies in San Antonio, includingAT&T.<ref>"John T. Montford (born 1942), a Powerhouse at Tech, in Politics," January 11, 2009, ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''  on-line, January 11, 2009 Accessed October 27, 2010: lubbockonline.com/stories/011109/loc375992637.shtml</ref><ref>Meanwhile, Ernest Angelo ran in District 25, which then reached eastward from Midland to San Antonio. He was defeated by the Democrat William "Bill" Sims of San Angelo. The seat was vacated by Pete Pete Snelson,, a decorated World War II veteran from his adopted city of Midland. Snelson was initially nominated in 1968, when he unseated in the Democratic primary the long-term incumbent, [[Dorsey B. Hardeman]] of San Angelo. William Sims and his wife, Sue, in 2011 still resided in San Angelo; they lost a 22-year-old grandson to cancer in 2010. Snelson then defeated Ernest Angelo in the 1968 general election, which coincided with the narrow Texas triumph of presidential nominee [[Hubert Humphrey]] over [[Richard M. Nixon]] and [[George Wallace]].</ref>

The District 28 seat<ref>Two previous District 28 state senators were Lubbock businessman and future Governor [[Preston Smith]], who held the seat from 1957 to 1963, and Smith's predecessor, Kilmer B. Corbin, a Lamesa and later Lubbock attorney who was the father of the actor Barry Corbin. Kilmer Corbin held the seat from 1947 to 1957, having been unseated by Preston Smith in the 1956 Democratic primary. List of Texas State Senators, Texas State Archives in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]].</ref> was at the time held by the conservative Democrat E L Short, a businessman, farmer, and rancher from Tahoka in Lynn County south of Lubbock. Short, who had served in the Far East with the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]] and had been the District 73 state representative from 1969 to 1979, when he succeeded Kent Hance in the Texas Senate, sought a second senatorial term in 1982 but was narrowly unseated in the party primary by John T. Montford, the Lubbock County district attorney. Short won twelve of the fourteen counties in the primary, but Montford's margin in Lubbock County propelled him to the nomination.<ref>Reese, p. 141.</ref>  Reese defeated a primary opponent but nevertheless lost to Montford in the general election. Short, who himself later became a Republican, remained neutral in the Reese-Montford contest. Montford was known at the time by the sobriquet "Maximum John" because of his aggressive prosecution as district attorney and the lengthy terms that he had sought in the sentencing of convicted criminals.<ref>Reese, p. 141.</ref> Montford left the state Senate in 1996 to become the chancellor of both Texas Tech and the newly established Texas Tech University System. Thereafter he became a business executive for numerous companies in San Antonio, includingAT&T.<ref>"John T. Montford (born 1942), a Powerhouse at Tech, in Politics," January 11, 2009, ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''  on-line, January 11, 2009 Accessed October 27, 2010: lubbockonline.com/stories/011109/loc375992637.shtml</ref><ref

Meanwhile, Ernest Angelo ran in District 25, which then reached eastward from Midland to San Antonio. He was defeated by the Democrat William "Bill" Sims of San Angelo. The seat was vacated by Wallace Eugene "Pete" Snelso (1923-2014), a decorated World War II veteran from his adopted city of Midland. Snelson was initially nominated in 1968, when he unseated in the Democratic primary the long-term incumbent, [[Dorsey B. Hardeman]] of San Angelo. William Sims and his wife, Sue, in 2011 still resided in San Angelo; they lost a 22-year-old grandson to cancer in 2010. Snelson then defeated Ernest Angelo in the 1968 general election, which coincided with the narrow Texas triumph of presidential nominee [[Hubert Humphrey]] over [[Richard M. Nixon]] and [[George Wallace]].</ref>

In 1982, much of Ector County was outside Senate District 28, which was dominated by the large voting bloc from Lubbock County.  "I was too hard-headed to accept the fact that Lubbock would control the [state senate] district," conceded Reese, after making his last bid for elective office in the race against Montford.<ref>Reese, p. 142.</ref>

In 1982, much of Ector County was outside Senate District 28, which was dominated by the large voting bloc from Lubbock County.  "I was too hard-headed to accept the fact that Lubbock would control the [state senate] district," conceded Reese, after making his last bid for elective office in the race against Montford.<ref>Reese, p. 142.</ref>