Delwin Jones

Delwin L. Jones
Texas State Representative from District 83 (Lubbock area)
In office 1964 – 1972
Succeeded by	Pete Laney
In office 1988 – Incumbent
Succeeded by	Charles Perry (representative elect)
Personal details
Born	April 2, 1924 (1924-04-02) (age 87)
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Reta A. Jones
Residence	Lubbock, Lubbock County Texas
Alma mater	Texas Tech University
Occupation	Businessman Farmer

Delwin L. Jones (born April 2, 1924)^[1] is a U.S. state political figure from West Texas currently serving as the oldest member of the Texas House of Representatives^[2] from Lubbock, Texas. Jones was originally elected as a Democrat in 1964, when that party won 149 of the 150 seats in the Texas House.^[3] Jones was defeated for re-nomination in 1972 by cotton farmer Pete Laney. Twelve years later in 1988, Jones returned to the House as a Republican.

Jones has made his living from farming and investments. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University. He and his wife, Reta A. Jones (born July 16, 1923) reside at 2129 54th Street in Lubbock. His District 83 reaches from Lubbock to include the outlying communities of Levelland, Denver City, Plains, Shallowater, Slaton, and Seminole, Texas. Jones drove through the district over the years in a 1995 Buick Le Sabre, passing out some 800,000 "Delwin Jones" emery boards to remind voters on pending elections. Jones often began his day of politicking meeting voters in some cafe.^[2]

At eighty-six, Jones was a candidate for renomination in the April 13, 2010, Republican runoff primary. He was defeated by Charles Perry, an accountant who ran a grass roots campaign with support of the Tea Party movement, also known as "Taxed Enough Already". Perry prevailed with 10,109 votes (57.8 percent) to Jones' 7,392 ballots (42.2 percent). Jones polled 291 more votes in the runoff than he had in the primary, but Perry's total increased by 3,633 ballots over his initial showing.^[4]

In the March 2 primary, Jones, backed by the president of the Lubbock Educators Association interest group,^[5] led the field with 7,103 ballots (37.7 percent) to Perry's 6,476 (34.4 percent). The third candidate, Zach Brady, with 5,240 votes (27.8 percent), held the key to victory in the Jones-Perry showdown.^[6] Brady, a Lubbock attorney, raised more than $250,000 and carried the backing of business interest groups, but he was eliminated from the race by his third-place showing.^[5]

Jones had expect to win another term in the legislature on the basis of his name identification and longevity, but he conceded an "undercurrent" of disgruntled taxpayers made the outcome of the race uncertain.^[2]

Barring the filing of a write-in candidate, Charles Perry is unopposed for the House seat in the November 2 general election.

References

1. ^ "Texas House District 83: Dewlwin Jones, R-Lubbock". texastribune.org. http://www.texastribune.org/directory/districts/tx-house/83/. Retrieved March 3, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Solons feeling the heat", Laredo Morning Times, April 12, 2010, p. 6A
3. ^ The only Republican in the Texas House in 1965 was Frank Cahoon, a Wichita Fall native who resides still in Midland.
4. ^ "Texas Republican runoff primary returns, April 13, 2010". enr.sos.state.tx.us. http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/apr13_150_state.htm. Retrieved April 13, 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Election 2010: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal". lubbockonline.com. http://blogs.lubbockonline.com/election2/candidates/. Retrieved March 6, 2010. 
6. ^ "Texas Republican primary election returns, March 2, 2010". sos.state.tx.us. http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar02_148_county151.htm. Retrieved March 3, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Jones, Delwin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 2, 1924
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death