Charles Stenholm

Stenholm was born in 1938 in Ericksdahl, Texas (sometimes identified as Stamford), a farming community in Jones County that was settled in the early 20th century largely by Swedish immigrants, including his grandparents. His parents Lambert and Irene Constance Stenholm raised him on their plantation-scale, 2000-acre farm near Abilene. They cultivated mostly cotton as a commodity crop. After attending public schools, Stenholm graduated from Texas Tech University, with a B.S. (1961) and an M.S. (1962) in Agriculture Education. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Stenholm took over his family farm, raising cotton and also having a cattle ranch. He operated the large cotton farm in Stamford for many years. He also worked as a vocational teacher. He married Cynthia Watson and they had three children together. He began a career in agricultural politics when he was appointed to be member of the Texas State Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. He also served as an executive of the Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Association before being elected to Congress. == Congressional career ==

Stenholm had gotten increasingly interested in politics. In 1965 he became a lobbyist for the Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Association. In late 1978 longtime Democratic Congressman Omar Burleson decided to resign from his office representing Texas's 17th congressional district, a vast and mostly rural district which stretched from San Angelo to the western fringes of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Seeing an opportunity, Stenholm ran in his first campaign as a Democrat, and finished first in a crowded seven-way primary before winning the runoff with 67 percent of the vote. He then breezed to victory in November. Stenholm established a reputation as one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, and belonged to the Blue Dog Coalition. He was a leader of the Boll Weevils during the 1980s, and Chair of the Conservative Democratic Forum from 1981 until about 1993. In 1981, Stenholm was one of the more prominent Democratic supporters of Republican President Ronald Reagan's tax-cut package. A decade later, he said he regretted that support. Like many Texas politicians, Stenholm was conservative on certain social issues; he opposed both abortion and gun control. In 1990 he was one of three House Democrats who voted against the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Stenholm frequently clashed with Democratic President Bill Clinton during his administration; he voted for three of the four articles of impeachment against him. But Stenholm was also a severe critic of the succeeding Republican George W. Bush Administration's fiscal policy. He voted against making Bush's tax cuts permanent, as by then he strongly opposed cutting taxes unless the budget was balanced. Agriculture policy As a large farmer, Stenholm was chiefly interested in agriculture and also in budget matters. In 1992 he supported a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution requiring the federal government to keep to such budgets. Stenholm worked very closely with Larry Combest, the committee's chairman and a fellow farm owner, a Republican representing the neighboring Texas's 19th congressional district. They shepherded the 2002 Farm Bill through Congress, in which Texas got the largest increase in subsidies of any state, doubling the amount received. When his children heard the initial returns, they were so certain that he'd lost that they traveled to the family farm to console him. That same election saw Republicans win dozens of offices at the local level. Afterward, Stenholm ran for House Minority Whip, losing to David E. Bonior. While he was reelected four more times after that, Stenholm never won more than 60 percent of the vote, and he was nearly defeated in 1996 and 2002. During this time, Republicans gradually whittled away the Democratic advantage at the local level. By the end of the 20th century, Stenholm was the only Democrat elected above the county level in much of the 17th district. The district had swung so heavily to the GOP downballot by then that many observers thought it likely that Stenholm would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired. == Reelection defeat ==

Stenholm was considered a major target of the Republican-dominated House in the redrawing of Texas's congressional districts in 2003, following the 2000 census. The Texas Legislature, now controlled by Republicans, significantly redrew the state's congressional map after U.S. House of Representatives Majority leader Tom DeLay of the Houston-based 22nd district pushed for a new map. Stenholm's district was dismantled and split among four districts. Most of his former territory, including his home in Abilene, was thrown into the heavily Republican Lubbock-based 19th congressional district, represented by Combest's successor, Republican Randy Neugebauer. The next-biggest chunk of Stenholm's former territory, including his cotton farm, was assigned to the equally Republican Amarillo-based 13th district, represented by Mac Thornberry. Stenholm chose to run in the reconfigured 19th. The new district contained 60 percent of Neugebauer's former territory, a disadvantage which Stenholm could not overcome, despite his 13 terms of seniority. He lost by 18 percentage points in the November 2004 election, gaining slightly more than 40 percent of the vote. To date, Stenholm is the only substantive Democratic candidate to run in the 19th since Combest claimed the 19th for the GOP in 1984, and the only Democrat since then to garner even 40 percent of the vote in the district. == Post-Congressional life ==

Some major news organizations mentioned Stenholm as a possible candidate for Secretary of Agriculture in President George W. Bush's second-term Cabinet, although Bush had supported the congressional redistricting plan. Bush nominated Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns, a fellow Republican, for the post. After leaving Congress, Stenholm became a lobbyist, representing various agricultural interests, including the horse meat industry. In 2006, he was the most visible lobbyist for three foreign-owned horse-slaughter plants in the U.S., which were fighting regulatory legislation that would have resulted in their having to close. Meat from such horses was consumed as food by residents of some European Union countries, Japan, and Mexico; it was also used for zoo food and medical purposes. From 2005, Stenholm was a senior policy advisor and lobbyist with Olsson Frank Weeda, a Washington law and lobbying firm that specializes in representing food, drug, and agriculture interests before federal agencies. Stenholm was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One. He also served on the board of directors of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Stenholm later returned to Tarleton State University where he taught Agriculture Policy. == Death ==

Stenholm died at his home in Granbury, Texas, on May 17, 2023, at the age of 84. Upon his death, many notable political leaders offered public tribute to Stenholm, including former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and the top leaders on the U.S. House and Senate committees on Agriculture. ==References==