Don Yarborough

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Don Yarborough was born December 15, 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a retired attorney and investor in Houston, Texas who ran for Governor of Texas in 1962, 1964 and 1968. Although these campaigns were unsuccessful, they contributed strongly to the reform of the Texas Democratic Party, uniting, behind Yarborough's candidacy, traditional New Deal loyalists, organized labor, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and reform seeking liberals, thereby enabling this coalition to capture local constituencies in the Texas House and Senate and build organizations later drawn upon by Mark White and Ann Richards, who became, themselves, progressive Democratic Governors.

Don Yarborough's political career must be viewed against the background of a previous challenge to the Texas conservative Democratic establishment by Senator Ralph Yarborough (no relation), who had previously succeeded in achieving election and re-election to the United States Senate,leading a similar coalition. The issues were serious. The Texas Democratic Party's leaders were,for the most part racist, discriminatory against both African Americans and Mexican Americans, anti-labor, supportive of barriers to union organization and maintenance, and generally hostile to protection of consumers.