Bob Price (Texas Politician) - Eight Years in Congress

Eight Years in Congress

Price became involved in state Republican politics. He was a delegate to the state GOP conventions in 1964, 1966, and 1968. He was a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida.

In 1964, Price made his first race in the 18th District by challenging the 14-year Democratic incumbent, Walter Edward Rogers, who prevailed with 58,701 votes (55 percent) to Price's 48,050 (45 percent). Rogers had been initially elected to congress in November 1950, when he unseated the short-term Representative Guill. Price's showing was numerically the best that any Republican congressional candidate made in Texas in 1964, the year that native Texan U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson overwhelmed Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona.

Price ran again in 1966, but Rogers decided not to seek reelection to a ninth term, and the Democrats nominated Dee D. Miller to contest the seat. Price defeated Miller, 45,209 votes (59.5 percent) to 30,822 (40.5 percent). Price was joined in the Texas delegation by a second better-known Republican, George Herbert Walker Bush of Houston, the future U.S. president. Price's party gained forty-seven U.S. House seats nationally but still remained in the minority as the new session of Congress opened in January 1967.

Price served on the House Agriculture Committee and on the Manned Space Flight and NASA Oversight subcommittees. He was reelected in 1968 with 65.2 percent of the ballots cast, and he was unopposed in 1970.

In 1972, Price faced a closer race from Democratic U.S. Representative Graham Purcell of Wichita Falls, a fellow incumbent. Even though Texas had gained a seat in redistricting, the Texas Legislature merged Price's District 18 with Purcell's District 13. However, the new district was geographically more concentrated in Price's favor. As a result, Price defeated Purcell, 87,084 (54.8 percent) to 71,730 (45.2 percent).