James Mitchell Collins (April 29, 1916 – July 21, 1989) was an American businessman and a Republican who represented the Third Congressional District of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from 1968-1983. The district was based at the time around

Irving Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' vide ...

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nint ...

Background

Collins was born in Hallsville in Harrison County in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

. His father,

Carr Collins Sr Carr may refer to: Geography United States * Carr, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Carr, North Carolina, an unincorporated community * Carr Township, Clark County, Indiana * Carr Township, Jackson County, Indiana * Carr Township, Durham ...

., had founded the

Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company is an insurance company based in Dallas, Texas. In 2012, it had assets in excess of $19 billion. The high-rise residential building known as Mosaic Dallas originally served as its corporate offices. It wa ...

; his sister was Ruth Sharp Altshuler. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. In 1989, Collins was inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame the same year it was created in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the institution. Collins graduated thereafter from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. In 1966, Collins ran for the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

in the 3rd District, a newly created district in north Dallas. He lost to incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Joe R. Pool Joe Richard Pool (February 18, 1911 – July 14, 1968) was an American politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative. from Texas Pool represented all of Texas from January 3, 1963, until January 3, 1967 (w ...

in a close race, taking 46 percent of the vote to Pool's 53 percent. Pool died in July 1968, and Collins won the ensuing special election, defeating Pool's widow, Elizabeth, with over 60 percent of the vote. His victory was part of a strong trend toward the GOP in north Dallas; this district has been in Republican hands without interruption since then. He won a full term in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

that fall, he received 81,696 votes (59.4 percent) to 55,939 (40.6 percent) for Democrat Robert H. Hughes. He would never face another contest nearly that close, never dropping below 64 percent of the vote and even running unopposed in 1978.

References

External links

Entry on the ''Political Graveyard''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, James M. 1916 births 1989 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Southern Methodist University alumni Harvard Business School alumni People from Irving, Texas Politicians from Dallas People from Hallsville, Texas United States Army officers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American politicians Military personnel from Texas