John Gizzi Offers Tribute to late Rep. David Towell, R-NV

Human Events ^ | 06-30-03 | Gizzi, John

[Theodore R.]

Politics 2003 Week of June 30 by John Gizzi Posted Jun 27, 2003

DAVID TOWELL, R.I.P.

Although Tom Larainger and Hal Furman had both been interns and then full-time staffers for former Sen. (1974-86) Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.)—easily the most durable politician in modern Nevada history—neither had any strong memories of David Towell, who was the silver state’s lone U.S. Representative from 1972-74. For that matter, Towell himself—who died June 11 at 66 following a long illness—likened his own political career to a rocket ride that "went straight up and straight down." But, as dim and remote as he was from contemporary politics, Towell had a brief and shining moment in the political arena that, in its time, made him a star among conservative Republicans.

A native of Bronxville, NY, who settled in Nevada to sell real estate, Towell became an active volunteer in local Republican politics and was founder and president of the Douglas County Young Republicans. One of the chores he took on for the party was to accept the seemingly worthless Republican nomination in 1972 against Democratic Rep. Walter Baring, who had held Nevada’s at-large U.S. House seat for 20 years. But in a spectacular upset, Baring, whom the Almanac of American Politics had dubbed "the most conservative Democrat in the House outside the Deep South," lost renomination to liberal state legislator James Bilbray, who was backed by eager battalions of anti-Vietnam War activists and extreme environmentalists. Overnight, the Republican nomination for Congress became valuable and, supported by a brilliant campaign managed by Gardnerville neighbor Tony Payton, Towell was soon attracting flocks of volunteers and former Baring contributors. Among those who encouraged Towell and worked as a volunteer in his campaign was lawyer Frank Fahrenkopf, who had a lost a bid for national YR chairman the year before. Baring himself finally endorsed the Republican, who defeated Bilbray by nearly 8,000 votes.

As congressman, Towell served on the House Education and Labor and Interior Committees. Like Baring, he voted the conservative line across the board and looked after the interests of Nevada property owners. But that wasn’t enough for him to win re-election. While most pundits attributed his defeat after one term to public animosity against Republicans in the so-called "Watergate year" of 1974, what was more significant is that Nevada Democrats went back to their roots and nominated Las Vegas municipal judge Jim Santini, who was as conservative as any Republican and won back most of Baring’s old supporters.

As we know from the movie "It’s a Wonderful Life," one person can touch others’ lives in strong ways. Payton, whom Towell brought to Washington as his top aide, went on to become a nationally-recognized political consultant until his own death last year; Bilbray finally made it to Congress in 1986, when Nevada had two districts, and served until his never-expected defeat in 1992 by present Sen. John Ensign; Fahrenkopf would go on to be Republican National Chairman Santini, uncomfortable among the increasingly left-leaning House Democrats, eventually switched to the GOP and ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in ’86. Towell had one more race in him. He was the Republican nominee against Democrat Sen. (1958-82) Howard Cannon in ’76, when he was beaten by a margin of 2 to 1. He then returned to the realty business in Gardnerville. Of his abbreviated career, Towell told the Las Vegas Review Journal, "I would like somebody to say, ‘He did a good job for the short time he was there.’ That would be nice for my grandchildren."

John Gizzi is the Political Editor of Human Events.