Maps of races between conservative Dems and liberal Repubs

[Indy Texas 🇺🇦🇵🇸]

These are maps I made a couple of years ago for a paper I wrote on the history of the Texas Republican Party. If you've got a problem with the color scheme, you're welcome to make a "proper" version yourself.

Eggers wasn't really a "liberal Republican" but he was to the left of Smith on many issues, such as the minimum wage (Eggers favored increasing it; Smith thought it was already too high) and stricter labor regulations for farms and ranches that employed migrant workers. I attribute these stances to why Eggers carried Jefferson County (Beaumont) in 1968 even though this county voted for Hubert Humphrey at the top of the ticket. Beaumont historically was one of the only places in Texas with really sizable labor union activity. You might describe this as a moderate Republican versus a conservative Democrat.

Eggers moved somewhat to the right in his 1970 rematch against Smith, but still lost. Smith would go on to see his political career crash and burn in 1971 when he and a number of other Democratic officeholders were implicated in the Sharpstown scandal, which involved a Houston real estate development that failed due to stock fraud by a prominent Democratic donor.

1968 Texas Governor: Preston Smith (D) vs. Paul W. Eggers (R)


1970 Texas Governor: Preston Smith (D) vs. Paul W. Eggers (R)