Hugh Parmer
Encyclopedia
Hugh Q. Parmer is an attorney and Democratic
politician in Fort Worth
, Texas
. He served in both houses of the Texas State Legislature, on the Fort Worth City Council, and as mayor of Fort Worth. In 1990, he was his party's unsuccessful nominee for the U.S. Senate against Republican
Phil Gramm
, who retired from the seat late in 2002.
in Fort Worth. In 2009, he was inducted into "Wall of Fame" by the Fort Worth Independent School District
, the governing board of Polytechnic High School. Parmer holds a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Yale University
in New Haven
, Connecticut
. He headed the Parmer Marketing Company, Inc., from 1969 to 1988.
for a single term from 1963 to 1965. Thereafter, he was elected to the city council and in 1977 as mayor, a post he held for two years until his defeat in 1979 in a heated contest with Woodie Woods.
Parmer was elected as a state senator in 1982, a heavily Democratic year in Texas. He unseated Betty Andujar
, the first Republican woman to serve in the state Senate. Parmer served on the Senate committees of (1) Administration, (2) Health and Human Resources, (3) Intergovernmental Relations, and (4) the Subcommittee on Public Health.In 1989, Parmer was one of five senators to serve as the President Pro Tempore, having preceded in that position his regional colleague, Bob McFarland
of Arlington
.
In the U.S. Senate race in 1990, Parmer polled 1,429,986 votes (37.4 percent), but Gramm prevailed, 2,302,357 (60.2 percent). Two other candidates split the remaining 7.4 percent of the ballots cast. Though Gramm was the easy winner, the Republican nominees for governor and attorney general, Clayton W. Williams Jr.
, and J. E. "Buster" Brown
were defeated by the Democrats Ann W. Richards and Dan Morales
, respectively.
In 1988, at the age of forty-nine, Parmer was admitted to the practice of law in Texas. From 1991 to 1998, Parmer was the managing shareholder of the law firm of Parmer, Archer, Young and Steen.
Parmer twice ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives
. In 1984, as a freshman state senator, he lost the Democratic nomination in District 6
to former State Representative Dan Kubiak
of Rockdale
. Kubiak was then defeated by Republican Joe Barton
, who has held the seat since that time. Barton succeeded the Democrat-turned-Republican Phil Gramm, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate that year over fellow Republicans Ron Paul
and Henry C. Grover
and the Democratic State Senator Lloyd Doggett
of Austin
. In 1996, as the Democratic nominee in District 12
, Parmer polled 41 percent of the vote against the victorious Republican Kay Granger
, also a former mayor of Fort Worth.
and a past assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He served in the United States Office of Emergency Management
under U.S. President Bill Clinton
. In 2008, Parmer was named a research fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, formerly the Humphrey Institute, named for former Vice President of the United States
Hubert H. Humphrey, and located at the University of Minnesota
in Minneapolis
, Minnesota
, where he explored issues relating to disaster relief.
In 2010, Parmer's political involvement included donations to defeated U.S. Representatives Chet Edwards
of Texas, another former political rival of Phil Gramm's, and Earl Pomeroy
of North Dakota
. In 2008, he contributed to the U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
for the Democratic presidential nomination.
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...
politician in Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort 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...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He served in both houses of the Texas State Legislature, on the Fort Worth City Council, and as mayor of Fort Worth. In 1990, he was his party's unsuccessful nominee for the U.S. Senate against Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm
William Philip "Phil" Gramm is an American economist and politician, who has served as a Democratic Congressman , a Republican Congressman and a Republican Senator from Texas...
, who retired from the seat late in 2002.
Early years
In 1957, Parmer graduated from Polytechnic High SchoolPolytechnic High School (Fort Worth, Texas)
Polytechnic High School is a public high school located on the eastern side of Fort Worth, Texas.-Notable alumni:*Hugh Parmer , former mayor of Fort Worth and former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature-External links:...
in Fort Worth. In 2009, he was inducted into "Wall of Fame" by the Fort Worth Independent School District
Fort Worth Independent School District
Fort Worth Independent School District is a school district based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is currently the fifth largest school district in Texas ....
, the governing board of Polytechnic High School. Parmer holds a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. He headed the Parmer Marketing Company, Inc., from 1969 to 1988.
Political career
Still in his middle twenties, Parmer served in the Texas House of RepresentativesTexas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
for a single term from 1963 to 1965. Thereafter, he was elected to the city council and in 1977 as mayor, a post he held for two years until his defeat in 1979 in a heated contest with Woodie Woods.
Parmer was elected as a state senator in 1982, a heavily Democratic year in Texas. He unseated Betty Andujar
Betty Andujar
Elizabeth Richards Andujar, known as Betty Andujar , was the first Republican woman, a homemaker by stated occupation, to have served in the Texas State Senate...
, the first Republican woman to serve in the state Senate. Parmer served on the Senate committees of (1) Administration, (2) Health and Human Resources, (3) Intergovernmental Relations, and (4) the Subcommittee on Public Health.In 1989, Parmer was one of five senators to serve as the President Pro Tempore, having preceded in that position his regional colleague, Bob McFarland
Bob McFarland
Millard Robert "Bob" McFarland , is an attorney and lobbyist in Arlington and Austin, Texas, who served from 1983 to 1991 as a Republican member of the Texas State Senate from District 10, then parts of Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties...
of Arlington
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
.
In the U.S. Senate race in 1990, Parmer polled 1,429,986 votes (37.4 percent), but Gramm prevailed, 2,302,357 (60.2 percent). Two other candidates split the remaining 7.4 percent of the ballots cast. Though Gramm was the easy winner, the Republican nominees for governor and attorney general, Clayton W. Williams Jr.
Clayton Williams
Clayton Wheat "Claytie" Williams, Jr. , a businessman from Midland, Texas, was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990 against the Democratic State Treasurer Ann Richards even though Williams initially led in opinion polls by twenty points.-Biographical information:An independent...
, and J. E. "Buster" Brown
J. E. "Buster" Brown
James Edward Brown, known as J. E. "Buster" Brown , is an attorney and lobbyist in Austin, Texas, who served from 1981 to 2002 as a Republican member of the Texas State Senate from District 17, based in Brazoria, Fort Bend, and part of Harris counties, south and west of Houston...
were defeated by the Democrats Ann W. Richards and Dan Morales
Dan Morales
Daniel C. "Dan" Morales served as the 48th Texas Attorney General from January 15, 1991 through January 13, 1999, during the administrations of Governors Ann Richards and George W. Bush. As attorney general, Morales reached a $17 billion settlement with big tobacco companies. He also authored...
, respectively.
In 1988, at the age of forty-nine, Parmer was admitted to the practice of law in Texas. From 1991 to 1998, Parmer was the managing shareholder of the law firm of Parmer, Archer, Young and Steen.
Parmer twice ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. In 1984, as a freshman state senator, he lost the Democratic nomination in District 6
Texas's 6th congressional district
Texas District 6 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves an area including four counties to the south of the Dallas/Fort Worth area plus the southeast corner of Tarrant County. As of the 2000 census, District 6 represents 651,620 people...
to former State Representative Dan Kubiak
Dan Kubiak
Daniel James Kubiak was an educator and businessman from Rockdale, Texas, who served as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1969 to 1983 and again from 1991 until his death in office...
of Rockdale
Rockdale, Texas
Rockdale is a city in Milam County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,440 at the 2000 census.Rockdale was the site of a large Alcoa smelting operation, which could produce 1.67 million pounds of aluminum per day. The ALCOA plant was closed in late 2008 - early 2009.Author George Sessions...
. Kubiak was then defeated by Republican Joe Barton
Joe Barton
Joseph Linus "Joe" Barton is a Republican politician, representing in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus...
, who has held the seat since that time. Barton succeeded the Democrat-turned-Republican Phil Gramm, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate that year over fellow Republicans Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
and Henry C. Grover
Henry Grover
Henry Cushing "Hank" Grover , was a conservative politician from the U.S. state of Texas best known for his relatively narrow defeat as the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1972. Grover was born in Corpus Christi. He died in Houston of Alzheimer's disease.Grover lived as a youth in San Antonio...
and the Democratic State Senator Lloyd Doggett
Lloyd Doggett
Lloyd Alton Doggett II is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He previously represented from 1995 to 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
of Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin 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...
. In 1996, as the Democratic nominee in District 12
Texas's 12th congressional district
Texas District 12 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the western half of Tarrant County as well as all of Parker and Wise counties in the state of Texas. The current Representative from District 12 is Kay Granger.-List of representatives:-Election...
, Parmer polled 41 percent of the vote against the victorious Republican Kay Granger
Kay Granger
Kay Granger , a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas, currently represents the 12th congressional district in the U.S...
, also a former mayor of Fort Worth.
Recent activities
Parmer is a former president of the American Refugee CommitteeAmerican Refugee Committee
The American Refugee Committee is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries over the last 30 years....
and a past assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He served in the United States Office of Emergency Management
Office of Emergency Management
In the United States, an Office of Emergency Management is an agency at the local, state or national level that holds responsibility of comprehensively planning for and responding to all manner of disasters, whether man-made or natural...
under U.S. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. In 2008, Parmer was named a research fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, formerly the Humphrey Institute, named for former Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Hubert H. Humphrey, and located at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, where he explored issues relating to disaster relief.
In 2010, Parmer's political involvement included donations to defeated U.S. Representatives Chet Edwards
Chet Edwards
Thomas Chester "Chet" Edwards is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. He represented a district based in Waco, Texas from 1991 to 2011, and served in the Texas Senate from 1983 until 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
of Texas, another former political rival of Phil Gramm's, and Earl Pomeroy
Earl Pomeroy
Earl Pomeroy is a lobbyist and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 until 2011. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party.- Early life, education and career :...
of North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. In 2008, he contributed to the U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
for the Democratic presidential nomination.