Clay Smothers
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 State Representative for
the former District 33-G (Dallas County) from District 33-G in Dallas County from 1977 to 1981. Elected as a Conservative Democrat, Smothers switched to the Republican on December 17, 1979, near the end of the first year of the administration of Bill Clements, the first Republican governor of Texas since the Reconstruction.
Smothers had been a Republican in 1970, when he unsuccessfully ran 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.