Huffington Magazine Issue 43 | Page 52

JAMES K. W. ATHERTON/THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES VOTE ON CONSCIENCE him. His East Texas district housed more gun dealers than the entire state of New York. As the legislation progressed through Congress, Brooks tried to strip out the ban and other controversial provisions. He brought them up for a vote in conference committee, expecting them to be voted down. It blew up in his face. His Republican counterpart on the committee, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), ended up supporting the provisions Brooks wanted removed, an aide recalled. The National Rifle Association, aware of Brooks’ efforts, initially urged its members to reelect the congressman. But other gun rights groups were apoplectic. Gun Owners of America, then (and now) led by Larry Pratt, attacked Brooks for not stopping the bill in its entirety. The NRA eventually joined the chorus. “Once we got back into the campaign, the bill passed and Jack had nothing to argue about,” said Dan McClung, a longtime Houston-based consultant who worked on Brooks’ 1994 campaign. “The sweep got him. That day in Texas, God, we lost everything. We lost [former Gov.] Ann Richards ... it was kind of the HUFFINGTON 04.07.13 start of the beginning of the end of the Democratic Party in Texas.” Brooks, who died this past December, still holds the distinction of being the longest-serving incumbent ever to be voted out of office. He served for 42 years and, according to McClung, had been an NRA member for much of that time. Others suffered similar fates. In Pennsylvania, Democratic Sen. Harris Wofford found himself, literally, in the crosshairs. Supporters of a young congressman named Rick Santorum sold target practice sheets with Wofford’s House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Brooks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., in 1982.