1985 Texas's 1st congressional district special election

The 1985 United States House of Representatives special election in Texas's 1st congressional district was held on June 29, 1985, to select the successor to Sam B. Hall (D) who was appointed as a U.S. District Judge by President Ronald Reagan.^[1] Since no candidate received an outright majority during the first round, a special runoff was held on August 3, 1985.^[2] Republicans saw this special election as a prime opportunity to demonstrate the political realignment of East Texas, as the district had supported Republicans Ronald Reagan and Phil Gramm in 1984.^[3] Gramm had arranged Hall's appointment to the judiciary in an attempt to see a Republican elected from the area.^[4]

Texas's 1st congressional district special primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Edd Hargett	29,720	42.02%
	Democratic	Jim Chapman	21,382	30.23%
	Democratic	Sam W. Russell	13,090	18.51%
	Democratic	Jim McWilliams	3,410	4.82%
	Democratic	Billy W. Flanagan	2,270	3.21%
	Democratic	Carl Brown	416	0.59%
	Democratic	Warren G. Harding	305	0.43%
	Independent	Freddie John Wieder	130	0.18%
Total votes			70,723	100%

1985 Texas's 1st congressional district special election

← 1984 August 3, 1985 1986 →

Nominee Jim Champan Ed Hargett Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 52,665 50,741 Percentage 50.9% 49.1%

U.S. Representative before election Sam B. Hall Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Jim Chapman Democratic

Runoff

During the runoff campaign, Assistant U.S. Attorney General William Bradford Reynolds sued the state of Texas, saying the election had to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice under preclearance established by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Governor Mark White complied with a judicial ruling and submitted the request, and the runoff was not postponed.^[5] Reynolds denied having any political motivations in his actions.^[4]

Despite the district's shift towards the Republicans, Democrat Jim Chapman narrowly won the runoff, keeping the seat in Democratic hands.^[6]

Texas's 1st congressional district special runoff^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Chapman	52,665	50.93%
	Republican	Edd Hargett	50,741	49.07%
Total votes			103,406	100%
	Democratic hold

References

1. "Sam B. Hall, Jr". University Libraries | Baylor University. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
2. "Our Campaigns - TX District 1 - Special Election Primary Race - Jun 29, 1985". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
3. Taylor, Paul (August 4, 1985). "Democrat Narrowly Wins Texas House Election". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
4. King, Wayne; Times, Special To the New York (August 2, 1985). "U.S. COURT SAYS TEXAS ERRED BUT DOESN'T DELAY ELECTION". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
5. Kurtz, Howard (August 2, 1985). "Texas to Obey Election Edict". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
6. "Our Campaigns - TX District 1 - Special Election Runoff Race - Aug 03, 1985". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved June 22, 2022.