A Watergate Casualty
In 1974, Price was among dozens of Republican congressmen repudiated by voters in the Democratic "Year of Watergate" even though these members had nothing to do with the scandal that had forced U.S. President Richard M. Nixon from office. Price was defeated by Democrat Jack Hightower of Vernon in Wilbarger County west of Wichita Falls. Hightower had a solid majority, 53,094 (57.6 percent) to Price's 39,087 (42.4 percent). Hightower's winning total was nearly twenty thousand below Purcell's losing tally in 1972. More than half of Price's 1972 supporters deserted him.
In 1976, Price lost to Hightower in an attempted comeback. Hightower prevailed with 101,798 votes (59.3 percent) to Price's 69,328 (40.4 percent).
Read more about this topic: Bob Price (Texas Politician)
Famous quotes containing the word watergate:
“The two-party system has given this country the war of Lyndon Johnson, the Watergate of Nixon, and the incompetence of Carter. Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life-rafts.”
—Eugene J. McCarthy (b. 1916)