Clovis News-Journal from Clovis, New Mexico • Page 1

"Belief is truth held in the mind: faith is a fire in the heart." Joseph Fort Newton. (ttlouis Your Freedom Newspaper 0urnal Serving Eastern New Mexico and West Texas Traffic Toll By The Associated Press State Traffic Toll to Date 467 Last Year's Toll to Date 4RO VOL. 148 NO. 186 AP Leased Wires CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3 1976 (28 Pages Today) DAILY OR SUNDAY 20c Carter Victory Assured Democrats Claim All Curry Races John Hays Caleb Chandler Harrison Schmitt Democrats walked away with all the marbles in Curry County at the conclusion of Tuesday's general election, winning every contested office. Curry County voters, however, joined the majority of other voters in the state in giving Republican Harrison Schmitt a decisive margin over incumbent Joseph M.

Montoya in the U. S. Senate race. Nearly 80 per cent of the eligible voters in Curry County went to the polls Tuesday, a percentage perhaps as high as any in recent history. Of the 13,925 registered voters in the county, 11,132 cast ballots, according to County Clerk Angle Stanley.

(See complete breakdown of unofficial, precinct-by-precinct results on Schmitt Landslide Ends Montoya Senate Reign Harold Runndc ALBUQUERQUE (AP) Former astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, who campaigned for 14 months as being the man for the future in New Mexico, has ended U.S. Sen. Joseph M. Montoya's 20-year tenure in Congress. New Mexico voters turned out in record numbers Tuesday and gave the 41-year-old Schmitt a landslide margin of support.

Schmitt carried all but eight of New Mexico's 32 coun- 'ties and led Montoya by about 56,000 votes statewide. For the first time in 60 years, New Mexico will have two Republicans representing it in the United States Senate. When Congress reconvenes in January, Schmitt will join U.S. Sen. Pete V.

Domenici, in Washington, D.C. The state's two incumbent congressmen, Reps. Manuel Lujan R- N.M., in Dist. 1 and Harold Runnels, in Dist. 2, Alton Moore Culten James Williams Roosevelt County Backs Ford, Schmitt Farmer the county's eligible voters casting their ballots in the county's 15 precincts.

The absentee precinct saw another 409 ballots cast. Deputy County Clerk Maudene Haragan told the News-Journal, "Everything went very smoothly last night. The County Clerk's Office was jammed and the halls were filled with people. On the whole everything went very, very smoothly." The unofficial returns for Roosevelt County also posted these results. In the race for U.

S. Representative District 2, incumbant Harold Runnels outdistanced challenger Don Trubey 3,745 to 2,400 in Trubey's own political backyard. Jimmie Glenn led the race for Corporation Commission with 3,332 votes against John A. Elliot and Sam Sanchez who received 3,041 and 46 votes respectively. ABBY 24 ALAMANAC 3 Republican John D.

Donnell BRIDGE 24 led Democrat Dan Sosa Jr. for CLASSIFIED 25-27 the ei ht vear term on the CLOVIS IN BRIEF 2 States Supreme Court 2,999 to COMICS 24 2 304 Democrats Mack 4 Easily and H. Vern Payne, who unopposed for the State Court six and received 3,378 votes respectively. Ramon Lopez, the unopposed PORTALES Just over 79 percent of the registered voters turned out Tuesday in Roosevelt County to participate in the nation's general elections. Several Republican candidates did exceptionally well in the county which has had strong Democratic roots in the past.

The Car ter-Mondale Presidential ticket failed to carry the county by a margin of 158 votes. The final tally stood at Gerald Ford's 3,269 to Jimmy Carter's 3,111. Senate hopeful Harrison Schmitt handily defeated incumbent Senator Joe Montoya 4,157 votes to 2,138 despite the fact that Roosevelt County has only 1,848 registered Republican voters. Election Day 1976 saw 6,517 of INSIDE TODAY FARWELL, Tex. Approximately 75 per cent of those persons registered to vote in Farmer County, Tex.

did vote Tuesday. There are 4,750 persons registered in Farmer County, according to the county clerk's office in Far well, Tex. The final talley put the number of ballots cast at 3,483. Jimmy Carter won approximately 54 per cent of the vote in Farmer County. President Gerald Ford tallied about 43 per cent of the vote.

The actual vote count was Carter 1914 and Ford 1487. U. S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D- Tex.) will be on his way back to the Congress in January.

Bentsen beat his Republican Opponent, Alan Steelman by 986 votes in Farmer County. The final count, according to the county clerk's office was (See FARMER on Page 2) won re-election easily, as expected. Congressman Lujan won his fifth term by defeating Democrat Raymond Garcia of Albuquerque by nearly 100,000 votes. Runnels, for the second straight time, whipped Republican Donald Trubey of Portales. Runnels' winning margin of more than 70,000 votes was about 25,000 votes higher than two years ago.

New Mexico voters, while expressing a preference for Republican candidates in three of the four top offices on the ballot, soundly rejected a controversial constitutional amendment proposal which, had it passed, would have allowed Gov. Jerry Apodaca to seek reelection in 1978. Defeat of the succession amendment should cause some reassement of the political plans of several current office holders during the next two years. The Schmitt-Montoya senate race had been surveyed as being too close to call on the day before the election. But as results were tallied Tuesday night it became obvious early that Schmitt had won, and by a substantial margin.

Montoya, who was after his third term in the Senate, conceded defeat within three hours after the polls closed. "The people have spoken and I accept their verdict," Montoya told a huge crowd of tearful and cheering supporters who had gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel in Albuquerque. "I congratulate my opponent for having won a splendid victory." Montoya was gracious in defeat, and urged his backers to support Schmitt as a U.S. Senator. In 40 years of elective public service, the 61-year-old Montoya has been defeated only once before.

In 1950 he sought the Democratic nomination for Congress but lost to former Gov. John Dempsey. Seven years later Montoya was elected to Congress following the death of U.S. Rep. Antonio Fernandez, He served eight years in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 1964.

Montoya said Tuesday night after conceding defeat that he was not going to retire from public service. (Set SCHMfTT, Page 2) Page 12). In the race which drew a significant amount of local attention, Democrat Caleb Chandler defeated Republican Tom Battin by a three-to-two margin for the district 27 state senate seat. The final unofficial count was 4,006 for Chandler and 2,891 for Battin. Chandler became the Democratic nominee in the June primary with an upset victory over Odis Echols majority whip of the senate.

In the contest for state representative district 65, incumbent John Hays a Democrat, won handily over Republican challenger Emzy Gaydon. The final unofficial count was 2,998 for Hays and 1,443 for Gaydon. Democrat James Williams defeated Republican Ralph Burnett for the district three county commission seat, taking the position by a margin. In the only other contested county commission race, Cullen Williams defeated Earl Plank 5,883 to 3,792 for the district two commission post. There were no incumbents in the county commission races.

The district one commission seat will go to E. E. Kraus, a Democrat who was unopposed in the general election. Republican Harry M. (Mert) Pierce, incumbent probate judge, lost to W.

Alton Moore, a Democrat, by a vote of 5,167 for Moore to 4,537 for Pierce. The ratio of victory for Republican Harrison Schmitt in the U. senate race was about the same in Curry County as on the state level, a three-to- (Sec DEMOCRATS on Page 2) DeBaca Turnout Heavy FORT SUMNER Well over 78 per cent of De Baca County's 1,520 registered voters turned out to cast their ballot in Tuesday's general election and true to form, the county maintained its traditional Democratic stance with one notable exception: Republican Harrison Schmitt upset incumbent Joe Montoya by a surprising 620 to 489 vote. County Clerk Nell Duke told the News-Journal, "Everything went well. We had no difficulties and we sailed right through." Ms.

Duke reported that 1,188 total votes were cast in the county's three precincts and that 117 absentee ballots were counted in the county's two absentee precincts. The presidential race was very close, however. The Carter-Mondale ticket forged agead to carry the county over Ford and Dole by a scant 41 votes, 597 to 556. State Representative Harold Runnels walked away with the U.S. District Two Representative race, beating his Republican challenger, Don Trubey, 795 to 231.

The race for State Corporation Commissioner was another Democratic runaway victory with John Elliot carrying the county over Jimmie Glenn's Republican challenge, 636 to 285. Third party contender San Sanchez placed third with a hapless 17 ballots. One standout in the De Baca (See DEBACA on 2) Jimmy Carter State By State Totals Noted The Associated Press Here are the latest presidential returns. The figure before each state is the percentage of precincts reported. The first figure after each state is its electoral vote total.

States in which the AP has declared President Ford the winner are denoted by the letter before the electoral vote. States in which the AP has declared Jimmy Carter the winner are denoted by the letter before the electoral vote. Pet State Electoral Ford Carter Prcs. VoteVote Pet VotePct 94 ALABAMA C-9 56 ALASKA F-3 100 ARIZONA F-6 96 ARKANSAS C-6 94 CALIFORNIA F-45 51 95 COLORADO F-7 99 CONNECTICUT F-8 100 DELAWARE C- 3 100 DIST. COLUMBIA C-3 25,18416 100 FLORIDA C- 17 92 GEORGIA C-12 99 HAWAII C-4 99 IDAHO 37 95 ILLINOIS F-26 51 99 INDIANA F- 13 100 IOWA F-8 49 100 KANSAS F-7 99 KENTUCKY C-9 100 LOUISIANA C-10 99 MAINE 4 100 MARYLAND C-10 95 MASSACHUSETTS C-U 88 MICHIGAN F-21 95 MINNESOTA C-10 95 MISSISSIPPI C-7 98 MISSOURI C-12 84 MONTANA F-4 99 NEBRASKA F-5 99 NEVADA F-3 100 NEW HAMPSHIRE F-4 146,56243 99 NEW JERSEY F-17 98 NEW MEXICO F-4 97 NEW YORK C-41 100 WASHINGTON (AP) President-elect Jimmy Carter's long.

once-solitary journey from Plains. Ga will carry him to the White House in January with a victory forged from the traditional Democratic party coalition of the Old South and industrial North President Ford acknowledged Carter's victory shortly after noon with a "Dear Jimmy" telegram pledging a smooth transition of power. At the time Carter had 272 elec toral votes, two more than needed to win, Ford. 235, and 31 undecided "Although there will continue- to be disagreements over the best means to use in pursuing our goals," Ford told Carter, "1 want to assure you that you will have my complete and wholehearted support as you take the oath of office this January." Ford's message to Ihc victor was read for the hoarse Presi dent by his wife. Betty, to reporters in the White House press room Behind them, stood other members of the family All appeared composed, al though daughter Susan hnd tears in her eyes "It is apparent now that you have won our long and intense struggle for the Ford said.

"I congratulate you on your victory." Carter surpassed the 270 electoral mark with victories in Wisconsin and Mississippi in the Associated Press tabula lion. Two slates, Omo nnd Ore NORTH CAROLINA 13 gon, remained too close to call. although Carter held slim leads in both. Kven if Ford carried the two. Carter, with 272 electoral votes, would he the next president Ford pledgee! that he and ali members of the outgoing ministration "will do all that we can to ensure that you begin your term as smoothly and ef fectively as possible." The message concluded "May God bless you and your family as you undertake your new responsibilities." Mingling with reporters later, the former University of Michigan football player commented, "We lost, in the last quarter." He said his two-year White House tenure and the campaign had been "a lot of fun" and added, "We really enjoyed it." The lead in California passed back and forth through the night with Ford finally declared the winner near daybreak.

Later, Maine fell into Ford's column. The- closeness of the vote in (See CARTER on Pagtt 2) 922,661 5(1 84 NORTH DAKOTA F-3 52 OHIO 25 100 OKLAHOMA F-8 05 OREGON ti 100 PENNSYLVANIA C-27 100 RHODE ISLAND C-4 99 SOUTH CAROLINA C-8 SOUTH DAKOTA F-4 100 TENNESSEE C-10 91 TEXAS C-26 100 UTAH F-4 35 98 VERMONT F-3 99 VIRGINIA 12 97 WASHINGTON F-9 96 WEST VIRGINIA C-6 99 WISCONSIN C-ll 100 WYOMING F- 3 Total 538 Gerald Ford has won 231 electoral votes from 25 states. Jimmy Carter has won 272 electoral votes from 22 states and the District of Columbia. Eugene McCarthy has 631,543 popular votes, or one per cent of the total vote. Lester Maddox has 165,846 popular votes.

Needed to win: 270 of the 538 electoral votes from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Democrats Elected In Quay TUCUMCARI With 80 per cent of registered voters casting their ballots in Tuesday's election, Quay County Democrats were elected without opposition in the eight county races. Voters in the county went with the New Mexico trend in voting for Republicans Harrison (Jack) Schmitt and Manuel Lujan over Democrats (Stt QUAY on Page 2) Weath er U) The Associated Press East Central and Southeast Plains. Partly cloudy and cooler through tonight; fair Thursday with little change in temperatures; winds northerly at 10 to 20 miles an hour this afternoon. Tucumcari low tonight mid 30s, high Thursday mid 60s.

Clovis- Portales mid 30s and mid 60s. Roswell-Artesia mid 30s and high 60s. Carlsbad high 30s and near 70. Hobbs mid 30s and mid GOs. A 24-hour check of temperatures from Gas Company of New Mexico showed the following: 8 a.m.

52 8 p.m. 53 10 a.m. 63 10 p.m. 49 2 p.m. 70 2 a.m.

42 7 p.m. 54 7 a.m. 37 Tuesday's high at 1:30 p.m. was 70 degrees. Today's low at was 38 degrees.

Two Of Seven Amendments Approved 2 DR. THOSTESON 4 EDITORIAL 4 ENTERTAINMENT ERMA BOMBECK GLAD YOU ASKED THAT 16 HOROSCOPE 24 ran contender for State Court of Appeals won 3,378 of the County's votes. Bobby E. Wood, incumbent HOSPITAL NOTES 5 candidate for State Senator MARKETS 2 PUB WC RECORD 2 SOCIETY 22-23 SPORTS NEWS 10-11 Elec. Results 12 from District 66 compiled 3,852 votes to defeat his Republican opponent, Sam Moorehead, 2,134.

Hoyt Pattison and Cecil ROOSEVELT on Pip) 2) ALBUQUERQUE (AP) The political plans of a number of public figures, both in and out of office, were changed by New Mexico voters' rejection of the succession amendment. The amendment, No. 2 on the ballot, failed by a substantial margin in Tuesday's general election. It was a bad year for the legislature to have asked citizens to change the structure of government through amendments to the New Mexico Constitution. Only two of the seven proposed amendments on the bal- lot were approved.

The other five failed by substantial margins. The voters approved a $25 million statewide general obligation bond issue to finance improvements at public institutions; of higher education a result that went against a national trend to reject $uch One of the amendments that passed will retain the status quo in the legislative structure. It limits legislative membership to the present level of 42 senators and 70 representa- tives. It also requires that all legislators be elected from single-member districts. The other successful amendment removes some of the authority of the legislature over the state severance tax permanent fund.

The fund was created by a 1973 law. The amendment gives the fund constitutional safeguards. Voters showed unusually high interest in the amendments. In the past, generally less than half of the voters who cast ballots for general election candidates also voted on con- stitutional amendment proposals. A record turnout of more than 400,000 voters was reported Tuesday and it appears about 275,000 of these far more than half voted on the amendments.

Most attention was given to Amendment No. 2, the succession amendment, which would have allows state executive officials to seek re-election to a second four-year term to succeed themselves in office. This amendment was the subject of an intensive statewide campaign, with a group composed largely of Gov. Jerry Apodaca's supporters seeking passage and with former Gov. Bruce King stumping the state in opposition.

Apodaca probably would have sought re-election as governor had the amendment passed. Now, he will have to change his plans. Without an incumbent to run against, a number of other political figures in the state probably have an eye on the 1978 governor's chair. This would include King, who it is known would like to return to the office he held from 1971-74. The strongest rejection was for Amendment No.

1, which would have allowed county elected officials to seek re-election without a limit on number of terms. No. 4, which would have eliminated the elected state Board of Education and provided for a board appointed by the governor, was soundly TWO on Pact 2).