Clay Smothers
| Claiborne Washington "Clay" Smothers, I | |
|---|---|
| Texas State Representative from former District 33-G (Dallas County) | |
|
In office January 1977 – January 1981 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard S. Geiger |
| Succeeded by | Steven Wolens |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 1, 1935 Malakoff, Henderson County Texas, USA |
| Died | June 11, 2004 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | African American |
| Political party | Republican-turned-Democrat (1972) returned-Republican (1979) |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Smothers |
| Children |
Including: |
| Residence |
Dallas, Texas |
| Alma mater | Prairie View A&M University |
| Occupation | Operator of orphanage |
Including:
Clay Smothers, II (1958-2013)
Dallas, Texas
Educator
Radio personality
Storekeeper
Claiborne Washington Smothers, I, known as Clay Smothers (April 1, 1935 – June 11, 2004), was an African-American member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 33-G in Dallas County who served from 1977 to 1981. Though elected as a conservative Democrat, Smothers switched to Republican affiliation on December 17, 1979, near the end of the first year of the first administration of Bill Clements, first Republican governor of Texas since Reconstruction.
However, Smothers was a Republican in 1970, when had had run unsuccessfully 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.
Smothers was the fourth of five children born and reared in Malakoff in Henderson County in East Texas, where his parents, James William Smothers (1896-1975) and the former Alice Olenza Wingfield (1899-2000), ran the St. Paul Industrial Training School, the only African-American orphanage and school in Texas that operated without federal funds. The institution housed many homeless youth over the years. It remains operational.
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