Gude was elected as a
Republican to the
90th Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1967, until January 3, 1977, but was not a candidate for reelection in 1976 to the
95th Congress. Gude voted in favor of the
Civil Rights Act of 1968. In 1970, he defeated the Democratic candidate
Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., later a prominent lawyer and lobbyist in
Washington, D.C., and the son of Gude's colleague, U.S. Representative
Hale Boggs and then
Lindy Boggs of
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, based about
New Orleans. Gude described himself as being socially liberal on civil rights and moderate on economic policies. During his tenure in Congress, Gude served on the Government Operations Committee and its Conservation, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee; the House Environmental Study; the
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission; the Select Committee on Aging and its Retirement Income and Employment Subcommittee; and the House District of Columbia Committee and its Commerce, Housing and Transportation Subcommittee. ==Death==