Fifty-third Texas Legislature
Encyclopedia
The 53rd Texas Legislature met from January 13, 1953 to May 27, 1953 and March 15, 1954 to April 13, 1954. All members present during this session were elected in the 1952 general elections.
Called Session: March 15, 1954 - April 13, 1954
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House members included future Governor Dolph Briscoe
, future federal judge Barefoot Sanders and future Congressmen Kika de la Garza
, Joe Kilgore, and Joe Pool, as well as future Texas Attorney General Waggoner Carr
, and future Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jack Hightower.
Sessions
Regular Session: January 13, 1953 - May 27, 1953Called Session: March 15, 1954 - April 13, 1954
Senate
Affiliation | Members | Note | |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic Party Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
31 | ||
Total | 31 |
House
Affiliation | Members | Note | |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic Party Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
149 | ||
Independent | 1 | ||
Total | 150 |
Senate
- Lieutenant Governor: Ben RamseyBen RamseyBen Ramsey was a Texas politician who served in a succession of offices during the mid-20th century. He served in both Houses of the Texas Legislature, as secretary of state, Lieutenant Governor, and as member of the Texas Railroad Commission.Ramsey was born on December 28, 1903 in San Augustine,...
(D) - President Pro Tempore: Rogers Kelley (D)
Jimmy PhillipsJimmy Phillips (Texas)Jimmy Phillips was a Texas State Senator from Angleton, Texas in the 1940s and 50s.-Early life:Phillips was born in Brazoria County, Texas, on May 17, 1913. He was orphaned at an early age and raised by extended family and friends in Angleton...
(D)
Gus J. Strauss (D)
Dorsey B. Hardeman (D)
Senate
Dist. 1- Howard A. Carney (D), AtlantaAtlanta, TexasAtlanta is a city in Cass County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 5,745.-Geography:Atlanta is located at ....
Dist. 2
- Wardlow Lane (D), CenterCenter, TexasCenter is a city in Shelby County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,678 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County...
Dist. 3
- Ottis E. Lock (D), LufkinLufkin, TexasLufkin is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. Founded in 1882, the population was 35,067 in 2010. It is the county seat of Angelina County, and is situated in Deep East Texas.-History:...
Dist. 4
- Jep Fuller (D), Port ArthurPort Arthur, Texas-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...
Dist. 5
- Mrs. Neveille H. Colson (D), NavasotaNavasota, TexasNavasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....
Dist. 6
- James E. Taylor (D), KerensKerens, TexasKerens is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,681 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Kerens is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land....
Dist. 7
- Warren McDonald (D), TylerTyler, TexasTyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
Dist. 8
- George M. ParkhouseGeorge ParkhouseGeorge M. Parkhouse was a Democratic member of both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate from District 8 Dallas County. He served in the House from 1933 to 1935 and from 1943 to 1951...
(D), DallasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
Dist. 9
- Joe Carter (D), ShermanSherman, TexasSherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
Dist. 10
- Doyle Willis (D), Fort WorthFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
Dist. 11
- William T. "Bill" MooreWilliam T. Moore (Texas politician)William Tyler Moore, Sr., known as W. T. 'Bill' Moore , was an attorney and businessman in Bryan, Texas, who was a conservative Democratic member of the Texas State Senate from District 5 from 1967 until 1981.Moore originally represented District 14 from 1949 to 1953 and then revised District 11...
(D), BryanBryan, TexasBryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 76,201. It is the county seat of Brazos County and is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley . It shares its border with the city of College Station, which lies to its south...
Dist. 12
- Crawford MartinCrawford MartinCrawford Collins Martin was a Texas State Senator, Texas Secretary of State and Attorney General of Texas from 1967 until his death.-Early life:...
(D), HillsboroHillsboro, TexasHillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Hill County in Central Texas. The population was 8,232 at the 2000 census.Hillsboro, located on Interstate 35 where I-35E and I-35W meet south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is the primary center for trade and commerce in Hill County...
Dist. 13
- Jarrard Secrest (D), TempleTemple, TexasTemple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas. Located off Interstate 35, Temple is 65 miles north of Austin and 34 miles south of Waco. In the 2010 Census, Temple's population was 66,102, an...
Dist. 14
- Johnnie B. Rogers (D), AustinAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
Dist. 15
- Gus J. Strauss (D), HallettsvilleHallettsville, TexasHallettsville is a city in Lavaca County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,345 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lavaca County. The town is home to the Texas Championship Domino Hall of Fame and also hosts a dominoes tournament every year in January...
Dist. 16
- Searcy Bracewell (D), HoustonHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
Dist. 17
- Jimmy PhillipsJimmy Phillips (Texas)Jimmy Phillips was a Texas State Senator from Angleton, Texas in the 1940s and 50s.-Early life:Phillips was born in Brazoria County, Texas, on May 17, 1913. He was orphaned at an early age and raised by extended family and friends in Angleton...
(D), AngletonAngleton, TexasAngleton is a city in and the county seat of Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Angleton lies at the intersection of State Highway 288, State Highway 35, and the Union Pacific Railroad. The population was 18,130 at the 2000 census...
Dist. 18
- John J. Bell (D), CueroCuero, TexasCuero is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County. It is also unofficially known as the "turkey capital of the world"...
Dist. 19
- Rudolph A. WeinertRudolph A. WeinertRudolph A. Weinert was a politician from Seguin, Texas, who served in the Texas Senate for 27 years.-Early life and family:Rudolph A. Weinert was born December 19, 1894. Weinert was married to Johnnie Ponton from 1905 until her death in 1973. They had one daughter.-Career: Weinert was a...
(D), SeguinSeguin, TexasSeguin is a city in Guadalupe County, Texas, in the United States. It is part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 22,011; the July 1, 2009 Census estimate, however, showed the population had increased to 26,842...
Dist. 20
- William H. Shireman (D), Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi, TexasCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
Dist. 21
- Abraham KazenAbraham KazenAbraham Kazen, Jr., usually known as Chick Kazen was a U.S. Representative from Texas from 1967 to 1985.- Education :...
(D), LaredoLaredo, TexasLaredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
Dist. 22
- Wayne Wagonseller (D), StoneburgStoneburg, TexasStoneburg is an unincorporated community in Montague County, Texas, United States. It had a population of approximately 51 in 1990.-History:Stoneburg sits at the intersection of U.S. Route 81 and Farm to Market Road 1806 in east central Montague County. Bowie Lake is southwest of the town...
Dist. 23
- George Moffett (D), ChillicotheChillicothe, TexasChillicothe is a city in Hardeman County, Texas, United States. The population was 798 at the 2000 census.The historical preservationist Myna Potts resides in Chillicothe...
Dist. 24
- Harley Sadler (D), AbileneAbilene, TexasAbilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
Dist. 25
- Dorsey Hardeman (D), San AngeloSan Angelo, TexasSan Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
Dist. 26
- Oswald Latimer (D), San AntonioSan Antonio, TexasSan Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
Dist. 27
- Rogers Kelly (D), EdinburgEdinburg, TexasEdinburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 77,100 at the 2010 census. The University of Texas–Pan American, the only fully accredited four-year university in the Rio Grande Valley, is located in Edinburg.Edinburg is part of the...
Dist. 28
- Keith Kelly (D), Fort WorthFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
Dist. 29
- James T. Rutherford (D), OdessaOdessa, TexasOdessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
Dist. 30
- Andrew J. "Andy" Rogers (D), ChildressChildress, TexasChildress is a city in Childress County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,778 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Childress County. Like the county, the city is named for George Campbell Childress, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, who was the principal author of the Texas...
Dist. 31
- Grady Hazlewood (D), AmarilloAmarillo, TexasAmarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
House
The House was composed of 149 Democrats and 1 Independent, Charles J. Lieck, Jr., elected as a member of the conservative Good Government League of San Antonio.House members included future Governor Dolph Briscoe
Dolph Briscoe
Dolph Briscoe, Jr. was a Uvalde, Texas rancher and businessman who was the 41st Governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979....
, future federal judge Barefoot Sanders and future Congressmen Kika de la Garza
Kika de la Garza
Eligio “Kika” de la Garza, II was the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of Texas from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1997....
, Joe Kilgore, and Joe Pool, as well as future Texas Attorney General Waggoner Carr
Waggoner Carr
Vincent Waggoner Carr was a Democratic Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and Attorney General of Texas.-Early years, education, military service:...
, and future Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jack Hightower.
Sources
- Legislative Reference Library of Texas, http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/members/roster.cfm