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|name=Ernest Angelo, Jr.

|name=Ernest Angelo, Jr.

'''Ernest Angelo, Jr.,''' known as '''Ernie Angelo''' (born March 7, 1934), is an [[United States|American]] [[oil]]man and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] who served from 1972 to 1980 as [[mayor]] of the West Texas city of [[Midland]] and was in 1976 the co-manager of the presidential [[primary]] campaign in [[Texas]] for [[Ronald W. Reagan]], who challenged sitting [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]].

'''Ernest Angelo, Jr.,''' known as '''Ernie Angelo''' (born March 7, 1934), is an [[United States|American]] [[oil]]man and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] who served from 1972 to 1980 as [[mayor]] of the West Texas city of [[Midland]] and was in 1976 the co-manager of the presidential [[primary]] campaign in [[Texas]] for [[Ronald W. Reagan]], who challenged sitting [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]].

With a 2–1 margin among voters in the state's first binding presidential primary, Reagan won all ninety-six delegate spots at stake. Coupled with a victory five weeks earlier in [[North Carolina]], the historic Texas upset revived Reagan's floundering campaign and made it possible for him to contest [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]], for their party's nomination, a selection made at the 1976 [[Republican National Convention]] held in [[Kansas City]], [[Missouri]]. Without the Texas triumph, which occurred on May 1, 1976, and follow-up victories on May 4 in [[Indiana]] and [[Georgia]], Reagan could have been forced out of the race for the nomination. And without Angelo and his two co-chairmen, Ray Barnhart of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], later the director of the Federal Highway Administration,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/administration/rbarnhart.htm |title=United States Department of Transportation: Ray A. Barnhart, Federal Highway Administrator |publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]] |accessdate=March 10, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Barbara Staff, chairman of the Council of Republican Women's Clubs of [[Dallas|Dallas County]],<ref>Ron Calhoun, "Reagan forces gearing for North Texas campaign," ''Dallas Times Herald'', December 21, 1975, p. F1.</ref> at the helm that year, Reagan might have become viewed as a non-entity with little credibility four years later, when he went on to win the presidency by a wide margin of [[electoral votes]] over the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Jimmy Carter]], who had unseated Ford in the 1976 election.<ref name="hathorn">Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo, Jr., of Midland and the 96-0 Reagan Sweep of Texas, May 1, 1976," 'West Texas Historical Association Yearbook'' Vol. 86 (2010), pp. 77–89.</ref>

With a 2–1 margin among voters in the state's first binding presidential primary, Reagan won all ninety-six delegate spots at stake. Coupled with a victory five weeks earlier in [[North Carolina]], the historic Texas upset revived Reagan's floundering campaign and made it possible for him to contest [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]], for their party's nomination, a selection made at the 1976 [[Republican National Convention]] held in [[Kansas City]], [[Missouri]]. Without the Texas triumph, which occurred on May 1, 1976, and follow-up victories on May 4 in [[Indiana]] and [[Georgia]], Reagan could have been forced out of the race for the nomination. And without Angelo and his two co-chairmen, Ray Anderson Barnhart (1928-2013) of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], later the director of the Federal Highway Administration,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/administration/rbarnhart.htm |title=United States Department of Transportation: Ray Barnhart, Federal Highway Administrator |publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]] |accessdate=March 10, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Barbara Staff, chairman of the Council of Republican Women's Clubs of [[Dallas|Dallas County]],<ref>Ron Calhoun, "Reagan forces gearing for North Texas campaign," ''Dallas Times Herald'', December 21, 1975, p. F1.</ref> at the helm that year, Reagan might have become viewed as a non-entity with little credibility four years later, when he went on to win the presidency by a wide margin of [[electoral votes]] over the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Jimmy Carter]], who had unseated Ford in the 1976 election.<ref name="hathorn">Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo, Jr., of Midland and the 96-0 Reagan Sweep of Texas, May 1, 1976," 'West Texas Historical Association Yearbook'' Vol. 86 (2010), pp. 77–89.</ref>

From 1976 to 1996, Angelo served as the [[Republican National Committee]]man for Texas, a position which made him an automatic member of the party's national committee]].<ref name="hathorn"/>

From 1976 to 1996, Angelo served as the [[Republican National Committee]]man for Texas, a position which made him an automatic member of the party's national committee]].<ref name="hathorn"/>