The Jim Wright Collection - Campaign Rally in Fort Worth (1961)

Duration: 29:18:00

Year Published: 1961

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: Following the 1960 presidential election, a special election was held to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. This live telecast from March 1961 captures a rally for candidate Jim Wright at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth. (Wright was then serving in the United States House of Representatives from Texas’ 12th congressional district.) The election drew a field of 71 contenders, with Republican John G. Tower narrowly defeating interim appointee and Democrat William Blakely in a runoff election. (As a result, Tower became the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction.) Wright finished in third place.