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George E. Nowotny

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George Edward Nowotny, Jr.
Arkansas State Representative from Sebastian County
In office
January 1, 1967 – December 31, 1972
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Lura Duff Elliston
Dena Nowotny
ResidenceTulsa, Oklahoma
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
OccupationGeologist; Banker
Real estate businessman

George Edward Nowotny, Jr. (born October 18, 1932), is a retired businessman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was a three-term Republican state representative from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Initially elected in 1966 with Winthrop Rockefeller, the first Republican governor of Arkansas since the Reconstruction era, Nowotny left politics in 1972, when he declined to seek a fourth term as a legislator.

Early life

Nowotny was the son of Margaret Voigt and George Edward Nowotny, an insurance agent in New Braunfels, Texas.[1] Nowotny graduated with a Bachelor of Science in geology from the University of Texas in 1955. His wife was called Laura and he had two boys, Ned and Tres. He worked in Fort Smith, Arkansas as a partner with Barton and Nowotny Consulting Geologists.[2]

Political life

In 1967, Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives Sterling R. Cockrill of Little Rock appointed Nowotny the first ever Minority Leader of the state House because Nowotny's name was the first alphabetically among the three Republican House members.[citation needed] In addition, Rockefeller chose Nowotny as the "Governor's Representative" on the Arkansas Legislative Council.[3]

During his first term, Nowotny's other Republican colleagues were Danny L. Patrick, then a young educator from Madison County, and Jim Sheets, an administrator at John Brown University in Siloam Springs in Benton County.[4]

Nowotny described his political agenda as "simply good government."[citation needed] Nowotny led efforts to establish what subsequently became the Booneville Human Development Center, a facility for disabled adults located in Booneville in Logan County. The home had previously been the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which closed in 1973.[5]

Nowotny and Charles T. Bernard, the Republican who ran against U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright in 1968,[6] considered running for governor as conservatives and stressed their differences with Rockefeller on a few issues. In 1970, Nowotny told Rockefeller that he could not support an increase or adjustments in the state sales tax, which Rockefeller had requested along with hikes in the personal state income tax.[7] On March 26, 1970, Nowotny announced his candidacy for governor but soon withdrew when Rockefeller declared his intention to run again.[8][9]

Nowotny was instead elected to his third term in the state House. Because he had endorsed candidate-imposed term limits, Nowotny did not pursue a fourth term in the legislature in 1972.[citation needed]

Nowotny was a delegate to the 1972 Republican National Convention[10] and then managed the Arkansas campaign for U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, the first Republican to win the state’s electoral votes since 1876.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Obituary: George E. Nowotny". Austin American-Statesman. May 4, 1996. p. B4. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ "Alumni News" (PDF). Department of Geology Newsletter University of Texas (12). Austin Texas: 32. July 1963. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  3. ^ Cathy K. Urwin, Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller as Governor of Arkansas, 1967-71 (Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press, 1991), p. 81
  4. ^ After his one term, Jim Sheets did not seek reelection and was succeeded by the long-serving Republican Preston Bynum.
  5. ^ "David Koon, 'Every day was a Tuesday': A visit to the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, A place built on The White Plague". Arkansas Times. Retrieved August 31, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Jack Bass and Walter DeVries, The Transformation of Southern Politics: Social Change and Political Consequence Since 1945 (New York City: Basic Books, 1976), p. 101
  7. ^ Urwin, Agenda for Reform, p. 130
  8. ^ Urwin, Agenda for Reform, p. 178
  9. ^ Arkansas Democrat, May 28, 1970
  10. ^ graveyard.com "List of delegates to the 1972 Republican National Convention". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved September 12, 2013. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Bass and DeVries, The Transformation of Southern Politics, p. 87
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