"Dirty Thirty" Reunion Goes to Print

Chron.com | Strayhorn declares she'll run as independant

RG and Clay catch onto the trio of Dirty Thirty classmates running statewide.

In other late filings, two former legislators who developed a reputation as reformers during a statehouse scandal three decades ago filed for Democratic nominations for statewide office. Ben Z. Grant of Marshall filed for lieutenant governor, and Fred Head of Athens for comptroller.

Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst also drew one Republican challenger and two other Democratic opponents.

Grant, 66, of Marshall, served in the Texas House from 1971-81, including six years as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He sponsored the law ? one of the first in the nation ? that replaced the electric chair with lethal injection.

Grant said he was encouraged to run by Gammage. In 1971, Grant, Gammage and Head were members of the so-called "Dirty 30," a group of reform-minded Democrats and Republicans who battled then-Speaker Gus Mutscher as the Sharpstown stock-fraud scandal was unfolding.

I'll admit that, while I'm not high on Gammage, the narrative itself has a bit of appeal. Let's just hope the old men can hammer it home between now and November.