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</ref>  Mahon replied that he had not voted to raise his own pay. The ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' later found that Mahon had voted for higher congressional pay and thus verified Reese's contention. Reese said he believed that Mahon simply forgot about the vote in question.<ref>Reese, pp. 135-136.</ref>

</ref>  Mahon replied that he had not voted to raise his own pay. The ''Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' later found that Mahon had voted for higher congressional pay and thus verified Reese's contention. Reese said he believed that Mahon simply forgot about the vote in question.<ref>Reese, pp. 135-136.</ref>

Reese greatly expanded the showing by [[Joe B. Phillips]] a dozen years earlier and finished with 72,991 votes (45.4 percent); Mahon prevailed with 87,908 ballots (54.6 percent) in a nationally Democratic year.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide'', p. 1305.</ref>  Reese said that he might have prevailed had all of Ector County then been within the 19th District. At the time, no more than a third of Ector County, which Reese swept, was within district boundaries.<ref>Reese, p. 136.</ref>

Reese greatly expanded the showing by Joe Phillips a dozen years earlier and finished with 72,991 votes (45.4 percent); Mahon prevailed with 87,908 ballots (54.6 percent) in a nationally Democratic year.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide'', p. 1305.</ref>  Reese said that he might have prevailed had all of Ector County then been within the 19th District. At the time, no more than a third of Ector County, which Reese swept, was within district boundaries.<ref>Reese, p. 136.</ref>

Years later, Reese described Mahon as "a fine gentleman" but claimed that the veteran congressman had long severed direct ties to the 19th District and retained his Washington residence after his retirement in 1979. At the time of the 1976 campaign, Mahon's district address was a post office box in the Lubbock federal building since named for Mahon.<ref>Reese, p. 136.</ref> In the summer of 1977, Mahon announced that he would not seek a 23rd term in Congress. Reese said that he believes that Mahon decided not to run again because he wished to avoid a second consecutive draining, competitive race against a Republican candidate. There was also the sense that Texas was either closely divided or leaning Republican in the mid-term elections of the Jimmy Carter presidency, as exhibited by the last reelection of Senator [[John Tower]]  and the first Republican gubernatorial victory since 1869, with the triumph of [[Bill Clements]]. As of 2016, Carter remains the last Democrat to have won the electoral votes of Texas, for Reagan's 1980 Texas triumph marked the first of a full generation of at least ten consecutive Republican presidential victories in the Lone Star State.<ref>Reese, p. 136.</ref>

Years later, Reese described Mahon as "a fine gentleman" but claimed that the veteran congressman had long severed direct ties to the 19th District and retained his Washington residence after his retirement in 1979. At the time of the 1976 campaign, Mahon's district address was a post office box in the Lubbock federal building since named for Mahon.<ref>Reese, p. 136.</ref> In the summer of 1977, Mahon announced that he would not seek a 23rd term in Congress. Reese said that he believes that Mahon decided not to run again because he wished to avoid a second consecutive draining, competitive race against a Republican candidate. There was also the sense that Texas was either closely divided or leaning Republican in the mid-term elections of the Jimmy Carter presidency, as exhibited by the last reelection of Senator [[John Tower]]  and the first Republican gubernatorial victory since 1869, with the triumph of [[Bill Clements]]. As of 2016, Carter remains the last Democrat to have won the electoral votes of Texas, for Reagan's 1980 Texas triumph marked the first of a full generation of at least ten consecutive Republican presidential victories in the Lone Star State.<ref>Reese, p. 136.</ref>