The Duval County Freedom Party: Final Episode

POSTED BY: CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM JULY 15, 2018

The beginning of the end

The next bi-annual election for county offices in 1958 proved to be prophetic for the Freedom Party. Three complete slates were on the ballot: Parr’s Old Party, the Tobin Party, and the Freedom Party. When the smoke cleared on election day, the Parr candidates received forty-four percent of the vote. To the surprise of incumbent County Judge Dan Tobin, his slate was nudged out of the runoff by Freedom Party candidates who received thirty-one percent of the vote.

With a combined majority of fifty-six percent, the outsiders, and in particular the Freedom Party, appeared poised to finally knock off Parr and his cronies.

The column in The Bellaire Texan provides a recap of Parr antics. Click on photo to read the article.

But, it was not to be. A week after the vote, Dan Tobin announced he had reached an agreement with George Parr to kiss and make up. He was back in the machine, and he left the Freedom Party in limbo. A clearly upset Freedom Party candidate for County Judge, H.R. “Lacho” Canales lashed out. “Dan Tobin has always been a Parr man in disguise,” Canales told the Alice Daily Echo. “The party is disgusted with political leaders who move from party to party with the flick of a switch.”

The “hero” of the moment was County Commissioner Tomas Molina.

George Parr and Dan Tobin had cooked up a skim wherein they would call a Commissioners Court meeting and certify Parr’s 1956 election as sheriff and remove the Freedom Party member from the position. On the day of the session, Parr learned that Molina would not go along with the scheme and the meeting was called off.

Tomas Molina

The Duval County Maverick proclaimed that “Destiny now has Tomas Molina by the hand.” But Molina’s time on the Maverick’s mantle was short-lived. Calls for Molina to take the leadership of the anti-Parr forces went unanswered by the County Commissioner. The week before the election, the Maverick continued its campaign for Molina to take the lead of the anti-Parr forces, but Molina demurred. On the day of the runoff election, the Parr forces prevailed, and Parr was well on his way to resuming firm control of the county. Molina eventually gave in and voted with Tobin and Leal to certify George Parr as Sheriff resulting in a call for the removal of all three.

The Freedom Party appeared it had made a comeback in 1960 when the County Democratic Committee refused to certify absentee ballots that had thrown the election to the Parr forces. As a result, George Parr lost the chairmanship of the party to Freedom County candidate Santiago Cantu. In an ironic turn of events, Freedom County candidate for Sheriff H.R. “Lacho” Canales received the most votes, even though he died before voters went to the polls.

The apparent good fortunes for the Freedom Party were not to be. Parr’s friend and district judge Woodrow Laughlin reversed the Executive Committee’s decision giving the Old Party the win. But not a complete win. Freedom Party candidates Walter Purcell and A.M. Saenz won for County Attorney and County School Superintendent, respectively.  E.B. Garcia of the old Tobin Party was nominated for County Tax Collector. The Parr candidates for these offices, O.P. Carrillo, Emede Garcia, and Jesus Oliveira, did not roll over but ran as write-in candidates in the General Election and won.

The Freedom Party did not win another election again.

The Freedom Party in history

While the Freedom Party did not achieve its ultimate goal, it certainly left its mark. It planted in the psyche of Duval County citizens that it did not always have to be the way el patron wanted it to be. Many of its members and many of their offspring lived to see the end of the Parr machine. And when it came to an end with George Parr’s suicide, they were ready to pick up the pieces. While some Parristas were still around, the people held memories of the Freedom Party and its values firmly embedded in their head.

A note from the author

Telling the story of the Freedom Party is a solemn undertaking.

One cannot do it justice in a short presentation. It is deserving of a book, a pretty thick book at that. Indeed, a contract for a movie was entered into while all the action was taking place, but it ultimately fell through. This story has many moving parts, many players, many subplots.

A lot more work needs to be done from a local perspective. Election results are sketchy and hard to get. The local media coverage should be a good source, but I was unable to review it due to time and location constraints. It is also difficult to write about people you knew, others that you still know. I tried to present this information from a scholarly perspective and not from a news or partisan viewpoint.

The End…for now.

    

1. Janis Palmer Lee | June 16, 2020 at 6:54 am | Reply (Edit)
   Thank you for this series of articles. I was born in Duval County and remember the Parr reign. I often heard my parents talking when they thought I was not listening. My dad, Wayne Palmer, died in a plane crash at the Freer Oil O Rama and many have questions and theories about the cause of the crash. I remember hearing my mother tell my dad to keep his mouth shut or he will find himself in trouble. Sadly, we will never know the real answer to what happened. I do know that some vague warnings were given just prior to that accident and afterward two of his friends were invited to leave town. I do know that my mother was told to keep her mouth shut or I could be taken from her. This happened in court while tending to legal issues after my dad died. So many questions and no answers.

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | June 16, 2020 at 11:01 am | Reply (Edit)
  Thank you for your interest. Some strange happenings indeed. I’m sorry for your family’s loss and the unanswered questions.

2. LILLIAN SMITH | May 12, 2020 at 2:04 pm | Reply (Edit)
   HI Alfredo Cardenas, I just read what you wrote, my name is Lillian Alaniz Smith. I am the daughter of Martin Alaniz and how I remember those days in Duval county. I have been back to visit with Alicia Stansell we remained friends till the day she died. You have not even scratched the surface,I grew up with Ricardo Beasley, Matias Garcia,and Farias, how well I remember the rangers and all that went with that county.By chance I met the son of the man that ran against Lyndon Johnson I am not mentioning names in this open media, by coincidence We were sitting next to each other, it a benefit banquet, some time ago, to make this short I asked him, did your mom ever mention Duval county. You should have seen hiS face. I WILL LEAVE THE REST FOR ANOTHER TIME.

• cardenas.ae@gmail.com | May 13, 2020 at 1:59 pm | Reply (Edit)
  Thank you, Lillian. The rest of the story can be found in the hundreds of blogs that I have written and will be included in my forthcoming book, Soy de Duval, the Nineteenth Century History of Duval County. I will look forward to reading the rest of your story whenever you are ready to share it.

3. Danny Haigood | July 16, 2018 at 8:43 pm | Reply (Edit)
   Alfredo
   You really did a fantastic job on the Parr stories and the Duval County history. Really impressive. Thanks for the stories.

alfredo@mcmbooks.com | July 17, 2018 at 1:22 pm | Reply (Edit)
Thanks.