Homa J. Porter

Homa Jackson Porter, usually known as H. J. Porter or Jack Porter (February 21, 1896 – December 7, 1986) was a Texas businessman and political activist. A key figure in building a competitive Republican Party in his home state after a century of Democratic dominance, Porter was best known as Lyndon Johnson's general election opponent in the 1948 contest for a seat in the United States Senate.

Homa J. Porter
Porter as TIPRO president in 1946
Member of the Republican National Committee from Texas
In office
August 27, 1952 – February 7, 1960
Preceded byHenry Zweifel
Succeeded byAlbert B. Fay
President of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association
In office
1946–1948
Preceded byNone (position created)
Succeeded byGuy J. Warren
Personal details
Born(1896-02-21)February 21, 1896
Annetta, Texas, U.S.
DiedDecember 7, 1986(1986-12-07) (aged 90)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeGlenwood Cemetery,
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (before 1940)
Republican (from 1940)
SpouseIlona Adelia Campbell (1899-1994)
Children1
OccupationIndependent oil producer
Nickname(s)H. J., Jack
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1918-1919
RankPrivate
UnitQuartermaster Officers Training School,
Camp Johnston,
Jacksonville, Florida
Battles/warsWorld War I

Early life

Homa J. Porter was born in Annetta, Texas on February 21, 1896, the last of seven children born to James Ewing Porter and Isabella Lavonia (Turner) Porter.[1][2] He was raised on his family's cotton and corn farm and in Weatherford, Texas.[1] He worked as a road master's clerk for the Texas and Pacific Railway while attending high school and after graduating he was employed at the Byars State Bank of Byars, Oklahoma, which was owned by a relative.[1][2]

Porter served as a private in the United States Army during World War I, and was assigned to clerical duties at the Quartermaster Officers Training School at Camp Johnston in Jacksonville, Florida (now Naval Air Station Jacksonville).[3]: 3–5  After returning home he worked in real estate and automobile sales in Purcell, Oklahoma, then decided to pursue a career in the petroleum business.[3]: 6–7,   [4] Porter moved back to Texas to speculate in land, mineral rights, and test wells for oil drilling, and found success as an independent oil producer.[4]

Beginning in the 1920s, Porter supported conservative Democrats in Texas, which had been a Democratic bastion since the end of the American Civil War.[3]: 8  He backed John Nance Garner's vice presidential candidacies on the Franklin D. Roosevelt ticket in 1932 and again in 1936.[3]: 8  In 1940, Porter broke with the Democratic Party because he supported Garner for president and opposed a third term for Roosevelt.[5] Porter became a Republican after the 1940 election, and began a long term effort to construct a competitive Republican Party in Texas.[5] In the mid 1940s, he founded a lobbying organization for oil speculators, the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO), of which he became the first president.[6]

U.S. Senate candidate
Main article: 1948 United States Senate election in Texas

With Texas part of the Democratic Party's Solid South since the end of the Reconstruction era in the 1870s, the Democratic nomination for statewide office had long been considered tantamount to election.[7] In 1948, the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator to succeed the retiring W. Lee O'Daniel was won by Lyndon Johnson, who defeated the more conservative Coke Stevenson by less than 100 votes in a bitter runoff election that included allegations of fraud.[5]

Carlos G. Watson initially received the Republican nomination.[5] Watson, a loyal Republican who had run several unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate as a token candidate so that Democratic nominees would not be unopposed, agreed to step aside in favor of a more viable candidate if one could be found.[5] Sensing an opportunity to make inroads among conservative voters in the wake of both the animosity left over from the Democratic runoff and the Dixiecrat defection from the Democrats because of incumbent Democratic President Harry S. Truman's pro-civil rights stand, Republicans attempted unsuccessfully to recruit two Democrats, former Congressman Martin Dies Jr. and O'Daniel.[5] Porter had already been named to head the Dewey-Warren presidential campaign in Texas, but when both Dies and O'Daniel declined, Porter agreed to make the Senate race.[5] Watson declined the nomination in September, and the state Republican committee then selected Porter as his replacement.[5]

Porter ran an aggressive campaign and attempted to cut into Democratic strength by appealing to conservative voters.[8] Stevenson endorsed Porter in the general election, and Porter espoused a platform that included advocacy of states' rights, the continuation of racial segregation, militant anti-communism, and a pro-business approach to tax and economic policy.[8][9] In addition, Porter argued that Johnson was corrupt and that the runoff election results were so tainted that if Johnson won the general election, the U.S. Senate might refuse to seat him, depriving Texas of half its representation.[10] Porter also argued that with Truman supposedly sure to lose to Republican Thomas E. Dewey, a Republican U.S. Senator could be more effective than a Democrat.[10]

Johnson defeated Porter in November, but by a narrower margin than Democrats in Texas usually obtained.[11] Johnson returned to Washington as a senator, permanently dubbed "Landslide Lyndon" because of the closeness of the Democratic runoff result. Dismissive of his critics, Johnson happily adopted the nickname,[12][13] though he came to dislike it in later years.[14]

Later life

Texas Republicans experienced increased voter support in the years that followed.[1] Porter became a member of the Republican National Committee and provided crucial support to Dwight D. Eisenhower during Eisenhower's presidential candidacy in 1952, enabling him to obtain the Republican nomination over rival Robert A. Taft.[1] Eisenhower carried Texas in 1952 and again in 1956.[15]

In 1958, Porter was the subject of controversy when he arranged a $100 per plate fundraiser to aid Republican candidates.[16] His solicitation letter highlighted his closeness with U.S. House minority leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. and suggested that Texans affiliated with the petroleum industry should contribute generously, because with Martin's help Congress could pass an oil and natural gas deregulation bill sponsored by Congressman Oren Harris, which most Texans favored.[16] Porter's letter made it appear that the money raised would be a quid pro quo, which generated nationwide controversy that prevented the bill's passage.[16] The Republican National Committee disavowed knowledge of Porter's fundraiser and refused to accept the $100,000 he collected.[16] Texas Republicans accepted the money and used it to continue efforts to build the party.[16]

In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy only narrowly won Texas, despite the presence of Lyndon Johnson on the ticket as his vice presidential running mate.[17] Republican John Tower won the 1961 special election to replace Johnson in the Senate, a further indication that Porter's 1948 candidacy had put Texas Republicans on the road to viability.[18] Porter continued to support Republican candidates in the 1960s and 1970s, including George H. W. Bush's campaigns for the U.S. House and Senate.[19][20]

Porter was head of the Harris County campaign of Barry Goldwater for president in 1964,[21] and in 1967 the Harris County Republican Party honored Porter as its Man of the Year.[22] In 1968, Porter initially supported Ronald Reagan for president and later gave his support to Richard Nixon.[23]

In 1972, Porter managed the campaign of Henry Grover, the Republican nominee for governor of Texas.[24] Grover lost to Democrat Dolph Briscoe by less than three percentage points (47.8% to 45%), a further indication that Porter's efforts to create a competitive Republican Party in Texas were succeeding.[25]

Death and burial

Porter died in Houston, Texas on December 7, 1986.[1] He was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.[26]

Family

In 1917, Porter married Ilona Adelia Campbell (1899-1994).[1] They were the parents of a son, James William Porter (1919-2015).[1]

References
  1. "H.J. Porter, Key Republican In Texas in 50's, Is Dead at 90". New York Times. 10 December 1986. p. B13.
  2. "U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Entry for Homa J. Porter". Ancestry.com. Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. June 5, 1917. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  3. Burg, Maclyn (November 9, 1972). "Interview with Judge Joe Ingraham and Jack Porter" (PDF). Eisenhower Library.gov. Abilene, KS: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.
  4. "Jack Porter Republican Senate Candidate Visits". Fredericksburg Standard. Fredericksburg, TX. October 27, 1948. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "GOP Senate Nominee is Named: H. J. Porter is to Make Race". Lubbock Evening Journal. Lubbock, TX. Associated Press. September 16, 1948. pp. II 1, 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Independents Meet Is Re-Scheduled". Odessa American. Odessa, TX. Associated Press. September 13, 1948. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "President Gets Thurmond Dare Entering Texas". Valley Morning Star. Harlingen, TX. Associated Press. September 26, 1948. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Oust Left-Wingers, Asks GOP Nominee". Abilene Reporter-News. Abilene, TX. Associated Press. September 19, 1948. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Porter Assails Johnson Record". Lubbock Morning Avalanche. Lubbock, TX. Associated Press. October 13, 1948. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Higgins, Richard J. (October 21, 1948). "Newspaper Advertisement: Why Texas Should Send Jack Porter to the United States Senate". Freeport Facts. Freeport, TX. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Porter Scores Blind Devotion". Amarillo Globe. Amarillo, TX. United Press International. November 3, 1948. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Dallek, Robert (1991). Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1908-1960. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-1950-5435-4 – via Google Books.
  13. "The Mystery of Ballot Box 13". Washington Post. March 4, 1990.
  14. Caro, Robert A. (1990). The Years of Lyndon: Means of Ascent. New York, NY: Random House. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-3074-2209-5 – via Google Books.
  15. Jackson, John S. (2014). The American Political Party System. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-8157-2638-8 – via Google Books.
  16. "Texas GOP Will Keep Its $100,000; Porter Praised". Corsicana Daily Sun. Corsicana, TX. Associated Press. March 3, 1958. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Glass, Andrew (November 8, 2018). "This Day in Politics: Kennedy narrowly defeats Nixon, Nov. 8, 1960". Politico.com. Washington, DC.
  18. "Tower Terms May Victory Giant Stride". The Monitor. McAllen, TX. United Press International. June 11, 1961. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Jack Porter Comes Out for Bush". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, TX. Associated Press. June 4, 1964. p. B13 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Hickel Scheduled to Speak at Houston Dinner for Bush". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, TX. Associated Press. September 30, 1970. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "Goldwater Unit Chairman Named". Corpus Christi Times. Corpus Christi, TX. Associated Press. January 24, 1964. p. 8B – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Harris Republicans to Honor Jack Porter". The Baytown Sun. Baytown, TX. February 6, 1967. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Presidential Races Star on State Political Stage Again". Corpus Christi Times. Corpus Christi, TX. Associated Press. May 1, 1968. p. 9C – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Campaign Head Named". Corpus Christi Times. Corpus Christi, TX. Associated Press. August 30, 1972. p. 10A – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "Briscoe Wins on Rural Vote". El Paso Herald-Post. El Paso, TX. United Press International. November 8, 1972. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. "Burial Record, H. J. "Jack" Porter". Search Our Burial Records. Houston, TX: Glenwood Cemetery. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
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