Elton Ray Hutchison (September 16, 1932 – March 30, 2014), was an American attorney 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 ...

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 ...

, who served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

from District 33-Q in

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 nin ...

from 1973 to 1977 and as the chairman of the

Texas Republican Party The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the state of Texas. It is currently chaired by Matt Rinaldi, succeeding Allen West who resigned prior to the expiration of his term to run for governo ...

from 1976 to 1977. He was the second husband of Republican former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republi ...

of Texas. In 1957, Hutchison graduated with honors 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 University Park, Texas. In 1959, he obtained his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

,'' from the same institution. Hutchison was senior counsel with the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani. His principal area of practice was public finance.

The 1978 gubernatorial primary

In 1976, Hutchison became chairman of the Texas Republican Party, but he left the nonsalaried position in 1977 to pursue his

gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

campaign. In the spring of 1978, he lost his party's nomination to

Bill Clements William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole t ...

, an industrialist also from Dallas, by a lopsided vote of 115,345, 72.8 percent to 38,268, 24.2 percent. Another 4,790 votes or 3 percent went to Charles Thompson. Clements went on to win narrowly the general election by defeating the Democrat John Luke Hill and hence became the first Republican governor of Texas since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

Personal life

Hutchison met his wife, then known as Kay Bailey, when both were state legislators, he from Dallas and she from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Hutchison resided with his wife in Dallas. They adopted two infant children in 2001, a son and a daughter. Both Hutchisons had been previously married. Ray Hutchison has grown children from his first marriage. The couple also owned a home in

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchito ...

. Hutchison died on March 30, 2014, in Dallas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, Ray 1932 births 2014 deaths Southern Methodist University alumni Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Texas Republican state chairmen American financial businesspeople Businesspeople from Texas People from Dallas Texas lawyers Spouses of Texas politicians American military personnel of the Korean War United States Navy sailors 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers