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Joe Allen, 1940-2008

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Today's Austin American-Statesman has this obituary for former Texas State Representative Joe Allen.  He served in the Texas Legislature, with true distinction, from 1966-1979.  He was one of the "Dirty 30," a bi-partisan group of progressive members of the Texas House in 1971, who fought for reform in the midst of a nasty political scandal and a heavy-handed Speaker.  This small minority of the 150-member body helped change the atmosphere in the Capitol.  The Sharpstown scandal ended up rocking Texas government in the 1972 election, a precursor to the "throw the bums out," post-Watergate election. I met Joe when I covered the 1975 Regular Session of the Texas Legislature as a journalist.  The first thing that you noticed about Joe was that he was a haberdasher's dream; always an elegant dresser...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on May 26, 2008 (boomark / email).