Clay Smothers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Texas State Representative for former District 33-G (Dallas County) | |
| In office January 1977 – January 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Richard S. Geiger |
| Succeeded by | Steven D. Wolens |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 1, 1935 Malakoff, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 11, 2004 (aged 69) |
| Political party | Republican (before 1972, 1979–2004) Democratic (1972–1979) |
| Spouse | Barbara Smothers |
| Alma mater | Prairie View A&M University |
| Occupation | Educator Radio personality |
Claiborne Washington "Clay" Smothers (April 1, 1935 – June 11, 2004) was an American politician and commentator. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the former District 33-G in Dallas County who served from 1977 to 1981. Though elected as a conservative Democrat,[1] Smothers switched to Republican affiliation on December 17, 1979, near the end of the first year of the first administration of Bill Clements, first Republican governor of Texas since Reconstruction.[2]
However, Smothers was a Republican in 1970, when he had run unsuccessfully in District 12 for the Texas House; he was defeated by the Democrat Sam Coats. In that same election George Herbert Walker Bush lost the U.S. Senate race to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen, and Republican gubernatorial nominee Paul Eggers failed to unseat Preston Smith in their second consecutive match.[3]
- ^ Alwyn Barr, Black Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995, 2nd ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, p. 232; ISBN 080612878X
- ^ "Clay Smothers". Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
smothersbiowas invoked but never defined (see the help page).