The Parr Machine of South Texas
The Parr political machine controlled Jim Wells County and Duval County in South Texas through most of the 20th century. The Parr machine used bribery, graft, and coercion to obtain votes from Mexican-Americans. The Parr machine could easily produce large numbers of votes and gradually pushed out most of the white, educated population in the south Texas counties.
In 1948, Lyndon Johnson was running in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate against Coke Stephenson and several other candidates. Stephenson and Johnson advanced to a runoff election against each other. In the runoff, Stephenson carried Jim Wells County by 112 votes, according to initial returns.
County officials amended the returns after the votes were counted, claiming to have found a previously uncounted ballot box. When the box was opened and counted it contained 202 votes, 200 of which were for Johnson, who went to Washington with a new nickname – Landslide Lyndon.
By the 1950s Texas officials and federal officials began investigating the machine and its members for various crimes. Federal efforts were often curtailed by the rising political career and power of Lyndon Johnson.
In the late 1960s Johnson’s political career came to an end, and he and others advised the leading member of the Parr machine, George Parr, to relinquish control. Parr later committed suicide after being convicted by federal authorities of tax evasion. Although the machine largely fell apart after his death the Parr family network still retains significant influence in South Texas politics.