Tom Bolack

Infobox Governor
name=Tom Bolack


caption=
order=20th
office= Governor of New Mexico
term_start=November 30, 1962
term_end=January 1, 1963
lieutenant=
predecessor=Edwin L. Mechem
successor=Jack M. Campbell
birth_date=birth date|1918|5|18|mf=y
birth_place=Cowley County, Kansas
death_date=death date and age|1998|5|20|1918|5|18
death_place=Farmington, New Mexico
spouse=Alice Schwerdtfeger
profession=Oilman
residence=Farmington
party= Republican
religion=Methodist
footnotes=

Thomas Felix "Tom" Bolack (May 18, 1918 – May 20, 1998) was a New Mexico businessman and politician, who served as Governor of New Mexico for 32 days in 1962-63.

Bolack was a self-educated oilman who learned geology from correspondence courses. [ [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/mccolmgl.htm Interview of George L. McColm, Harry S. Truman Library, May 20-21, 1991] ] He was also a rancher and owner of the Albuquerque Dukes minor-league baseball team from 1956-63. [ [http://www.abq300.org/index.aspx?pk=215&temp=2 index ] ]

Political career

Bolack was Mayor of Farmington, New Mexico from 1952-54 and a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from 1956-58. [ [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=3125a7983c98a010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governors Association profile] ] In 1957 he unsuccessfully ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives, losing soundly to Joseph Montoya.

In 1960, Bolack was elected lieutenant governor by a margin of 279 votes, becoming the first Republican lieutenant governor in New Mexico since 1928. [Frederick C. Irion, "The 1960 Election in New Mexico", Western Political Quarterly, March 1961] He was also the first Republican other than Bronson Cutting in 1934 to win any election above the local level in New Mexico since 1928. That Bolack, an "Anglo" (or New Mexican not of Spanish or Indian descent), was able to defeat a candidate with Spanish ancestry in state-wide elections was seen as one of several signs of the decline of the influence of long-time New Mexico senator Dennis Chavez. [cite news|title=NEW MEXICO SEES A BLOW TO CHAVEZ; Defeat of Primary Entrants Backed by Senator Viewed as Sign of Voter Shift|date=1960-05-22|publisher="New York Times"] Democrats challenged the narrow victory, on the basis that some voters on Navajo reservations should have been required to vote outside of their reservations, but the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in Bolack's favor. [cite journal|title=The 1962 Election in New Mexico|author=Irion, Frederick C.|date=June 1963|journal="The Western Political Quarterly"|volume=16|number=2]

Governor Edwin L. Mechem was defeated in his bid for re-election and, when he resigned on November 30, 1962, Bolack become Governor, serving the remainder of Mecham's term. Bolack, in his first act as Governor, appointed Mechem to a vacant seat in the United States Senate. Bolack served as Governor until newly-elected Governor Jack M. Campbell was sworn in on January 1 1963. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829608,00.html?iid=chix-sphere "Pius Three", TIME magazine, Dec. 7, 1962] ]

Later life

In 1976, Bolack co-chaired a bipartisan group that aimed to reform New Mexico's election legislation, after the state was included on a list of several states with unfair elections. In addition to lobbying for reform, the group offered $1,000 to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of an election-law violator. [cite news|title=New Mexicans Form Unit To Uphold Election Law|date=1976-10-31|publisher="New York Times"]

Bolack suffered a stroke in 1985 and was confined to a wheelchair until his death in 1998. In line with his last request, his body was cremated and his ashes were scattered over his Farmington ranch using 16 specially-made fireworks. [ [http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=13729 In Case You Missed This...(7/2/99) ] ] The ranch is now the site of the Bolack Museum of Fish and Wildlife, which displays over 4,000 stuffed animals including many of rare species. Bolack, an accomplished big-game hunter and recipient of Safari Club International's Fourth Pinnacle of Achievement Award, [http://www.safariclub.org/docs/pinnacleofacheivement.pdf] shot most of the animals in the collection himself. [ [http://www.creativewriting.emory.edu/faculty/sophtrav1.html Joseph Skibell, "Eccentric Monuments and Monumental Eccentricities", New York Times Sophisticated Traveler, winter 1999] ]

The Tom Bolack Urban Forest Park in Albuquerque is named in honor of Bolack. [ [http://www.cabq.gov/gis/park.php?ZL=3&ANNO=true&PARKNAME=TOM%2BBOLACK%2BURBAN%2BFOREST Park Locations - City of Albuquerque ] ]

References