Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 16

Wednesday, November 3, 1982 Austin American-Statesman B3 Election '82 Meier trails I HTrv-l-l- 1 TXdLLUJV 1 i I -i by hefty margin 12? i i 1 if 'i 'A Voter lineup Voters wait to make their choices at Cedar Valley Community Club on Thomas Springs Road. The Precinct 3 members queued up Tuesday mcrning. Staff Photo by Zach Ryall 111 "i Hightower ahead in agriculture race The Mattox strategy was simple: focus attention on what he called Meier's anti-consumer record in the state Senate. Mattox was busy shedding his image as a bare-knuckles street brawler of a candidate. "It was smart strategy," Meier acknowledged in the waning days of the campaign.

Mattox, 39, also made sure no one forgot that Meier sponsored legislation making it tough for consumers to win damages in lawsuits over deceptive business practices and defective products. The Texas Consumer Association jumped into the fray when it issued the first public condemnation of a candidate in its history. Meier's campaign slogan to "protect the Texas way," the group said, meant a field day for "loan sharks, land developers and lemon car dealers." Law and order became the other dominant theme in the race, even though the attorney general is a civil lawyer, not a prosecutor. Both Mattox and Meier said they wanted to coordinate law enforcement statewide and both advocated a victim's bill of rights. But when it came to crime, Meier slipped on his own banana peel more than once as he tried to portray Mattox as contemptuous of the law by violating campaign laws and interferring with a 1971 Dallas drug raid.

By CANDICE HUGHES American-Statesman Staff Democrat Jim Mattox, who billed himself as the "people's lawyer," held a strong lead Tuesday over pro-business conservative Republican Bill Meier in the attorney general's race. Early returns showed the three-term Dallas congressman with 63 percent of the vote. Meier, a state senator from Euless, had 35 percent with 2,181 out of 6,535 precincts in. Mattox was running even stronger in Travis County where he had 67.5 percent of the vote with 12 of the 152 precincts counted. Libertarian Kath-erine Youngblood siphoned 5.1 percent of the vote in Travis County, leaving Meier with only 27.4 percent "The party is very united," Mattox said.

"Bill Clements and Ronald Reagan showed the Democrats in Texas we can't afford the luxury of fighting among ourselves anymore. We've put aside all of our bickering." About four hours after the polls closed, Meier told supporters he wasn't ready to concede. Meier, 42, was recruited for the race by Republican Gov. Bill Clements and many experts called him one the strongest GOP contenders on the ballot. With financial help from the Republican Party and a variety of special interest groups, Meier amassed a campaign war chest of $1.3 million.

any rural problem from drafting rural health care legislation to forming teams of lawyers, accountants and scientists to aid rural communities. Hightower said he will investigate price-fixing by agricultural middlemen and will lobby against Reaganomics in Washington. Taking a more traditional approach, Thornberry said the primary duties are to inspect grain warehouses, grade livestock and initiate pest control programs. As for Reaganomics, Thornberry said he supports the administration and thinks a lower inflation rate is the only means to cheaper farm credit. Thornberry had outspent Hightower $245,970 to $153,547 since May 1, but Hightower spent almost $200,000 to beat Brown in the Democratic primary.

Hightower's race for agriculture commissioner was his second statewide campaign. He lost a bid for railroad commissioner in 1980. By LAYLAN COPELIN American-Statesman Staff Democrat Jim Hightower, banking on a populist coalition of farmers and urban consumers, led Republican Fred Thornberry in the race for agriculture commissioner Tuesday night. "It's a referendum on Reaganomics, nothing else," said a confident Hightower, explaining why Democratic candidates were getting an edge with a heavier-than-expected turnout. "It's a case of growling stomachs.

That's why I'm running good in rural counties in West Texas. Farmers are hurting," he said. Hightower also took early leads in Houston, Austin and Dallas. Projections that Gov. Bill Clements was locked in a close race dampened spirits at the Thorn-berry campaign.

"If the governor doesn't win, it won't look good for any Republicans," said Betsy McCole, Thornberry campaign manager. When Hightower upset incumbent Reagan Brown in the Democratic primary, Republican stand-in candidate Donald Hebert stepped aside for Thornberry. Hightower largely ignored the Republican latecomer, stressing his populist platform against "gouging middlemen" and Reagonomics. Thornberry, a Texas poultry specialist dubbed "the chicken doctor" by Hightower, attacked his opponent as a radical who knows nothing about agriculture. Hightower aimed the thrust of his campaign at urban consumers, arguing that reasonable food prices are linked to the survival of family farms in a time of high interest rates and declining commodity prices.

He suggested the use of farmers' markets to bring cheaper food prices to city consumers. But he also promised to be an activist in Davis appears victor for state school post Dead senator wins in unusual ballot If il By DEBBIE GRAVES American-Statesman Staff Former Austin school board president Will Davis was carried by hometown name recognition to an apparent victory in the District 10 State School Board race, according to early returns. With 26 out of 252 precincts reporting by 10 p.m., Democrat Davis, an attorney, had 4,916 votes to 2,104 for Republican Thomas Matthews, 60, a Luling veterinarian. Libertarian candidate Harry Jones, 35, an Austin construction supervisor, carried 233 votes. These partial returns came from Travis, Hays, Bastrop and Burnet counties.

No vote totals were available from Blanco and Caldwell counties. A key reason for Davis' apparent victory was his strong name recognition in Travis County, the county that controls the most votes in District 10. Davis, 50, jumped ahead early in Travis County, earning more than 60 percent of the votes cast. With seven of 152 Travis County precincts reporting, Davis had 2,204 votes to Matthews' 856 and Jones' 197. Matthews, a former member of the Luling School Board, said last month that he knew he couldn't win the race unless he carried Travis Staff Photo by Bob Daemmrlch Peg Nojek, unable to get her wheelchair into her Precinct 340 polling place, votes outside in the rain.

Disabled voter protests inaccessibility of polls County but did very little campaigning here. Early returns indicate he earned 30 percent of the votes cast in Travis County. Davis also appears to have carried the other large population center in District 10, Hays County. With five of 33 boxes totaled by 9:40 p.m., Davis had 356 votes to Matthews' 285 and Jones' 21. The strongest opposition to Davis actually came in May when he and a former Austin school board colleague, Gus Garcia, battled for the Democratic nomination.

Davis beat Garcia, but spent $50,000, believed to be the most ever spent on a state board race. During the campaign, Davis said he favored changing the textbook selection process that has been criticized this year. He favors allowing proponents of books to speak during hearings as well as textbook opponents. Davis, who has served on a number of public and private school boards, including the National School Board Association, the Texas School Board Association and the Baylor University Board of Trustees, thinks state board members should be strong advocates for public schools. committee attempts to find a solution to our Social Security problem as well as the economic problems of our country." Pickle, because of his seniority, is likely to remain on the powerful House Ways and Means committee and remain as chairman of the Social Security subcommittee.

He also serves on the oversight subcommittee. Because Pickle didn't draw a major Republican candidate, he campaigned very little and has returned $30,000 in unsolicited campaign contributions from individuals and political action committees since February. During this next session of Con-" gress, Pickle, an LBJ protege, will be representing a more compact urban district than ever. Under the new re-districting plan, District 10 takes in Travis, Hays, Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell counties and part of Burnet County. At times, his district has encompassed as many as 15 counties, most of them rural.

This is the first time since the 1960s that Pickle has represented Burnet County. The Big Springs native first won a seat in Congress Dec. 17, 1963, during a special election to replace jJiomer Thornberry. to fill the remainder of Wilson's term are Ware and two Democrats, state Rep. John Sharp from Victoria and lame-duck state Rep.

Tim Von Doh-len of Goliad. Those candidates and possibly others are expected to vie for the new term in the December election. Sharp and Von Dohlen campaigned for Tuesday's election by asking voters to cast ballots for Wilson in the general election and for one of them in Saturday's election. "I'm sure there was a lot of emotionalism among (Wilson's) old friends and people in his district. It was a tribute to what he stood for in the Texas Senate," Sharp said late Tuesday.

"I think even a lot of Republicans voted for him, not because they don't like his opponent, but because they want an election with a debate of the issues. They don't want to give it to him (Ware) by default." The winner of Saturday's election should have a considerable edge in campaigning for the remainder of Wilson's term as well for the new term, Sharp said. Ware, who was seeking public office for the first time, said he feels he was running against Wilson's memory in the campaign, and that the late senator's name rarely came up when he met voters. Wilson, a popular senator from La Grange, had battled cancer for two years before dying in a Houston hospital. Treasurer (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Clark 4,185 30.31 Richards 9,360 67.78 Land Commissioner (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Glasscock 3,508 26.22 Mauro 9,376 70.09 Agriculture Commissioner (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Thornberry 3,877 28.47 Hightower 9,454 69.43 Railroad Commissioner (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Henderson 3,379 25.26 Nugent D-I 9,074 67.82 Justice, Supreme Court, Palce 1 (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Bates 4,022 33.18 Robertson 8,099 66.82 Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Moses 3,774 31.52 Miller 8.201 68.48 By PETE SZILAGYI American-Statesman Staff By a large majority, voters in the 18th state Senate district Tuesday marked their ballots alongside the name of the late Democratic Sen.

John Wilson in an unusual and complicated race. The election of Wilson, who died after his name could be removed from the ballot or a replacement candidate named, means a special election will be called to determine who will fill the Senate seat. The election, for a two-year term that begins Jan. 11, probably will be held in December. Also on the ballot Tuesday were Republican J.

Everett Ware, a Victoria physician, and Citizens Party nominee Susan Guinn of Elgin. Had either won, no special election would have been necessary. To determine who will fill Wilson's seat for the remaining 2 y2 months of his term, an election will be held Saturday in the 18th District, which stretches from Williamson County to Aransas County to the south and Fort Bend County to the east. Wilson died of lung cancer Sept. 19, after the Democratic ballot had been certified.

Democrats urged voters in the district to cast ballots for Wilson to keep the seat open for a possible Democratic victory in a special election next month. Running in the election Saturday Here's how Travis County voted in the statewide races. Governor (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Clements R-I 4,885 35.01 White D-I 8,476 60.743 U.S. Senate (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Meier 4,092 29.82 Mattox 9,011 65.66 Lt Governor (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Strake 4,076 29.44 Hobby D-I 9,297 67.15 Attorney General (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Meier 4,092 29.82 Mattox 9,011 65.66 Comptroller (19 precincts of 152 reporting) Richards 4,150 30.18 Bullock D-I 9,118 66.31 Pickle wins landslide to retain House seat "It's the 'back-of-the-bus' syndrome," she said. "And I consider voting a very, very sacred right of citizens." Nosek has a slowly progressive neuromuscular disorder.

She said she is one of millions of Americans faced with barriers every time they try to vote. A bill has been introduced in Congress to require ramps at all voting places, and to mandate assistance for voters with other disabilities. "A lot of disabled people may be discouraged from voting altogether" by impediments that compound their disabilities, Nosek said, adding that her only problem-free voting experiences came last year when she voted at Cunningham Elementary School. But she said solutions do not have to be expensive, and suggested those in wheelchairs be allowed to vote at the nearest polling place equipped with ramps. tion," Lt.

Bobby Simpson of the Greater Austin Organized Crime Control Unit said an undercover officer Monday arranged to buy 510 pounds of sinsemilla marijuana. The deal was negotiated in a North Austin restaurant parking lot Monday afternoon, Simpson said, and the pot was to be delivered to a roadside park on Interstate 35 between Georgetown and Round Rock. By JIM PHILLIPS American-Statesman Staff Peg Nosek says she has been able to vote normally in only one of the five years she has lived in Austin. Nosek, who uses a wheelchair, was confronted again Tuesday with an inaccessible polling place, and used the opportunity to speak out for changes in election laws. She could not maneuver her motorized wheelchair up the three steps into the voting room at Zion Rest Missionary Baptist Church, off Bro-die Lane in Southwest Austin.

She completed her punch-card ballot on the sidewalk, as a friend held an umbrella over her. "It bothers me that I have to be degraded in such a way, to vote out in the rain," said Nosek, an activist for rights for the handicapped who works for the state's Long-Range Planning Group for Texans With Disabilities. By DEBBIE GRAVES American-Statesman Staff J.J. Pickle will begin his third decade of representing Central Texans in Congress next year after overwhelmingly winning re-election Tuesday. Pickle faced only nominal opposition from Bradley Louis Rockwell of the Citizens Party and Libertarian William G.

Kelsey, despite being targeted in 1981 for political extinction by the National Conservative Political Action Committee. With 48 of 252 precincts reporting in District 10, the incumbent was leading 8,719 votes to Kelsey's 544 and Rockwell's 396. Preliminary returns showed Pickle carrying Travis County with 5,278 votes to 438 for Kelsey and 365 for Rockwell with 12 of 152 precincts reporting. "While my race was relatively uncontested, I am just as excited tonight as when I first ran for Congress," Pickle said. "The confidence and trust placed in me by the people of my district has great meaning for Mrs.

Pickle and me. "I will honor that trust with continued hard work and dedication to this job. Having this support gives me strength and encouragement in the Immediate months ahead as my sub Marijuana investigation culminates in 6 arrests By ANDY MANGAN American-Statesman Staff Law enforcement authorities Tuesday arrested six people they say grew, processed and stored high-grade marijuana and tried to sell it to an undercover officer north of Austin, Ending a six-week investigation that began with a "tidbit of informa-.