An Account of the 1968 Democratic Primary Race For State Representative, Place 4, Dallas County, Texas by Dick Reed

On the last day to file for the Democratic Primary in 1968, my wife, Colene Reed, delivered my application for candidacy for State Representative, Place 4, of Dallas County and the required filing fee to the Dallas County Democratic Headquarters. Office holders, candidates and other interested parties had gathered there to find out who had filed for various offices in the Democratic Primary. Among them was the incumbent State Representative for Place 4, John Field. Rep. Field, who was already intoxicated, reportedly became incensed when he learned that I had filed against him (rather than filing in one of the other 14 places for State Representative). Livid about having drawn an opponent, he collapsed and died of a fatal heart attack. After Representative Fields sudden death and the passage of the filing deadline, I was the only Democrat who had filed in Place 4. According to the Election Code, I should have been the Democratic nominee unless a write-in candidate announced and received more votes than me in the Democratic Primary. However, Democratic County Chairman Joe Rich ruled that a vacancy existed in Place 4 because of Fields death despite the fact that I was a qualified candidate and had already filed for that place. After consulting with Senator Oscar Mauzy, I concluded that litigation of Chairman Richs interpretation of what constituted a vacancy was not a viable option because of the cost and time that it would have involved. Consequently, Chairman Rich reopened the filing for Place 4 for an additional 14 days. During the ensuing fourteen-day period, B.W. Cruce, the former Mayor of Mesquite, withdrew his application for candidacy for a State Senate seat in east Dallas County and filed for Place 4. (Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wades brother, Jim Wade, was the incumbent State Senator in that district, and another candidate, Mike McKool, had also filed for that seat.) Then, Chairman Rich persuaded C.A. Gunn, a personal friend of his, to file in Place 4. As a result of these developments, I had two opponents in the Democratic Primary and was powerless to react. A public statement criticizing the process would have accomplished nothing. (According to Chairman Richs interpretation of what constituted a vacancy in the race for State Representative, Place 4, the withdrawal of Senate candidate B.W. Cruce should have created a vacancy in the Senate race. However, Chairman Rich elected to selectively apply his interpretation of what constituted a vacancy to only the State House race.) As a result, I went from being unopposed, to having two opponents in the Democratic Primary, as well as one potential opponent in the Republican Primary. The abuse of power by Chairman Rich did not end at that point. After all the votes had been cast on Election Day, there was concerted effort to steal enough votes from me to keep me out of the runoff. On election night, when the returns were coming in, the reporting of votes in my race was suddenly discontinued, even though reporting continued in all other races. Then, at around 10:00 p.m. a report was flashed on the TV

screen that there was a tie in the Place 4 race between Dick Reed and C.A. Gunn for a run-off spot, the numbers being exactly the same. B.W. Cruce led the ticket with 46% of the votes cast. That was the way it ended on Saturday night, and there was no additional reporting on the race on Sunday. Both Dallas newspapers reported that C.A. Gunn and Dick Reed were tied for the run-off spot. It was suggested that if no change occurred during the official canvassing of the vote, that a flip of a coin would determine the winner of the runoff spot. The Canvassing Committee was scheduled to meet on Sunday morning to transfer the numbers that had been recorded by the individual precinct election judges on official ballot sheetsnumbers that had been extracted from the back of each of the voting machinesto a countywide spreadsheet. The large spreadsheet contained the vote totals for each race in every precinct in the county. Since I was unable to obtain any new information, I dropped in on the Canvassing Committee, thinking its members would be there going over the precinct results. To my surprise, only one person was there: the chairman of the Canvassing Committee. He stated that he had not finished transferring the precinct totals to the countywide spreadsheets but the task would be completed in time for the meeting of the Democratic Executive Committee later that week. A couple of days later I learned that the canvassing committee had resolved the earlier-reported tie in favor of C.A. Gunn as the winner of the run-off spot. Sure enough, when the canvassing had been completed, the committee announced that C.A. Gunn had won the run-off spot by some 240 votes and that he was to be certified by the County Executive Committee at its next meeting. Based upon my review of the unofficial ballot sheets at the County Clerks office, I already knew that the canvassing committees report was incorrect and that I, rather than C.A. Gunn, was the apparent winner of the runoff spot. At my request, Senator Mauzy drafted a motion to delay the certification of the results in my race until further opportunity to review the results from the official ballot sheets, which were held by County Clerk Tom Ellis. I delivered the motion to avoid certification in my race to the County Democratic Chairman, Joe Rich. The evening that the Executive Committee had assembled to certify the results, Chairman Rich gave a speech before the Executive Committee about what a sore loser I was and declined me any opportunity to respond to his remarks. Nevertheless, the Executive Committee refrained from certifying the results in my race pending a review of the votes on the counters on the back of the voting machines. County Clerk Tom Ellis was custodian of the official ballot sheets. In addition to the original, there were two carbon copies of each ballot sheetone for the precinct election judge and the other for the press or public to review on Election Night. Anyone who wished to do so could review the ballot sheets. Eight days had passed since the election, and everything was on hold pending my opportunity to view the actual ballot sheets and the numbers on the voting machines.

I had taken a two-week leave of absence from my job with Texas Instruments, and I had exhausted all of my other leave time. Consequently, that Monday I asked my wife and my older sister to go to the County Clerks office and view the official ballot sheets to see if the unofficial results matched them. However, when they arrived at the County Clerks office, Tom Ellis refused to permit them to view the official ballot sheets. My wife then called Senator Oscar Mauzy to see what could be done. Senator Mauzy told her that the County Clerk was required by law to allow them see the official ballots, and he reminded her that the Election Code provided for such free access. He suggested that she go to the District Attorneys office and talk to District Attorney Henry Wade. Armed with a copy of the Election Code, my wife and sister went to District Attorney Henry Wades office. My wife pointed out the provision in the Election Code to Mr. Wade, and he agreed that the County Clerk could not legally refuse to let them see the records. My wife asked the District Attorney if he would call Mr. Ellis and tell him that. He indicated that he would, but he did not offer to call immediately. My wife asked him if he would call while they were in his office so that they could make sure they would get to see the results once they got back to the County Clerks office. Mr. Wade said he would, and he picked up the phone and called County Clerk Tom Ellis and told him that they had a right to view the records. My wife and sister then returned to the County Clerks office. However, Tom Ellis still refused to allow them to examine the official ballot sheets, only making available the carbon copies of the ballot sheets that were meant for the press and the public on election night. That night, after returning home from work and getting the report that they had been denied access to the official ballot sheets, I called County Clerk Tom Ellis, who, surprisingly enough, was still in his office at 5:30 p.m. He was stuttering and said, Dick, I am afraid that there is going to be a lawsuit in this race, and I simply cannot let them see the official ballot sheets for fear that changes might be made to them. I responded by saying, Tom, if we are denied an opportunity to see the official ballot sheets, I promise you there will be a lawsuit. Tom then told me to come down in the morning to talk about it. My response to him was, Tom, in the morning you look to the East, and if the sun is rising, you expect to see me. I had to get permission to leave work that morning because I had already used all of my leave time. County Clerk Tom Ellis still denied access to the official ballot sheets. After I reported this to Senator Mauzy, he sent Jay Vogel, one of his law partners, to meet with Ellis and negotiate the viewing of the official ballot sheets. Tom finally agreed to let us see them, provided that we first sign a statement promising to not make any changes on the official ballot sheets. (Oddly enough, the Canvassing Committee had already made changes in the numbers on the ballot sheets to the county wide spreadsheet.) Jay Vogel approved the agreement, and we signed the statement. When my wife and sister were able to examine the official ballot sheets, it was obvious to them that I, rather than C.A. Gunn, had won the runoff spot. On the countywide spreadsheets the canvassing committee had actually reduced some of my precinct totals to zeros.

At that point, Senator Oscar Mauzy drafted a motion addressed to Judge Hoyt Armstrong seeking a court-supervised recount from the actual voting machines. The recount was to take place in the voting machine warehouse where it was unbelievably hot. The recount started with Judge Hoyt Armstrong being in charge, to enforce his order and to resolve any conflict. B.W. Cruce and some other candidates who thought their races might be changed in a recount were present along with the vote counters representing C.A. Gunn and me. During the initial recount, the numbers actually increased, expanding my lead. As opposed to losing by some 240 votes, I had actually won by some 260 votes, amounting to a 500 vote turn around. However, that did not satisfy Chairman Rich, and Judge Armstrong refused to take charge. Consequently, Chairman Rich requested a second recount, and Judge Armstrong refused to overrule him. Midway through the second recount, Chairman Rich showed up and announced that the recount was not being done according to the Election Code and demanded that I post a bond of just over $3,000 by 1:00 p.m. or he would proceed to certify C.A. Gunn as winner of the runoff spot. At that point I called Senator Mauzys office, and he subsequently appeared at the voting machine warehouse. Senator Mauzy, Chairman Rich, and Judge Armstrong huddled together and debated the law. Senator Mauzy pointed out that the bond provision of the law pertained to recounts of paper ballots, not voting machines. The Election Code provided that the vote counters would stack the paper ballots to be counted on top of each other and create a second stack for the counted ballots. He pointed out that the voting machines could not be stacked on top of each other and restacked as the votes were recounted. Chairman Rich was obstinate and the presiding District Judge, Hoyt Armstrong, again refused to enforce his own court order unless Chairman Rich backed down. Accordingly, the demand for the pond was upheld. Seething with anger, I told Senator Mauzy that I had depleted all of my campaign funds and had only a fraction of that amount in my personal bank account. I told him that I could not raise $3,000 by 1:00 p.m. with a gun. I was so angry that I had removed my coat and started pounding the palm of left hand with my right fist. After securing a promise from Chairman Rich to refund the bond money in the event that I prevailed in the recount, Senator Mauzy said he would furnish the money for the bond. Senator Mauzy then obtained a cashiers check for the bond amount and returned to the voting machine warehouse at 1:00 p.m. In the presence of Judge Armstrong, Senator Mauzy surrendered the cashiers check and reiterated the agreement that the money would be returned if I prevailed. The third recount began shortly before 2:00 p.m. and was concluded shortly before 5:00 p.m. that Friday afternoon. Media representatives from local newspapers, television stations, and radio stations began drifting into the voting machine warehouse between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Since the previous Monday, the press and media had been calling me to see what was going on. I withheld comment for fear that things might not turn out in my favor. Both Bill Hunter, with the Dallas Morning News, and Jim Lehrer, with the Dallas Times

Herald, were present. I trusted Jim Lehrer based upon my experience with him, so I shared everything I knew with him off the record. The television stations wanted an interview, but I refused to make any comments. The third recount validated everything that had been discovered during the previous two recounts. We labored until about 5:00 p.m. in that hot warehouse. Television reporters, along with County Judge Lew Sterrett, were all there. Word had leaked out and they were waiting for verification of the results. Scores of other public officials and local citizens crowded the small office in the voting machine warehouse. When Democratic Chairman Joe Rich reported the final results to the group, C.A. Gunn thrust out his hand to congratulate me. Senator Oscar Mauzy then turned to me and said, Youve won. Now be magnanimous. I said, The hell I will, and then proceeded to lecture Judge Armstrong for failing to enforce his own order and allowing the recount be interrupted by Joe Rich and the opposition. I then lectured Joe Rich for attempting to steal the election from me, and virtually the entire crowd was on my side. What ended that Friday afternoon at the voting machine warehouse only two weeks before the runoff election overshadowed everything that had transpired up to that point in my race for State Representative, Place 4. B.W. Cruce who had saturated Dallas County with billboards and received 46% of the vote in the first primary feared he was going to lose to Dick Reed in the runoff. In a sense, Cruce was an innocent bystander and powerless to offset the public rallying to my side. There was no way to restore life to previous issues and no offset to counterbalance the attempted theft of the election. Although I received enough money for a postcard mailing to a blue-collar part of Dallas County, my campaign workers and I had all we could handle just fielding incoming calls at my campaign headquarters. Citizens from all parts of the county and all economic backgrounds were reacting to the attempt to steal a runoff spot from me. In the runoff I received approximately 63% of the total vote, carrying all but two precincts in Dallas County. The unmistakable lesson from this election is that most American citizens react with vengeance against tampering with their vote.