Thomas H. Werdel

Thomas Werdel
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 10th district
In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	Alfred J. Elliott
Succeeded by	Charles Gubser
Member of the California State Assembly from the 39th district
In office January 3, 1943 – January 6, 1947
Preceded by	Alfred W. Robertson
Succeeded by	Wright Elwood James[1]
Personal details
Born	Thomas Harold Werdel (1905-09-13)September 13, 1905 Emery, South Dakota, U.S.
Died	September 30, 1966(1966-09-30) (aged 61) Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Other political affiliations	State's Rights Party
Spouse	Rosemary Cutter ​ (m. 1934)​
Children	3
University of California at Berkeley UC Berkeley School of Law

Thomas Harold Werdel (September 13, 1905 – September 30, 1966) was an American politician and lawyer who served as an assembly member and Representative from California as a member of the Republican Party.

Werdel was staunchly conservative and supported Senator Robert Taft's 1952 presidential bid and later served as T. Coleman Andrews's vice presidential running mate on the State's Rights Party ticket.

Early life

Thomas Harold Werdel was born to Mary Laura Burke and Bernard Werdel in Emery, South Dakota on September 13, 1905.

On June 24, 1942, he announced his candidacy for the 39th Assembly District and won both the Democratic and Republican nominations leading him to run unopposed in the general election.^[4][5] Shortly before the election he was selected as Kern County's delegate to the California Republican state convention.^[6]

After taking office Werdel was appointed as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and also appointed as a member of the Conservation, Natural Resources and Planning, Roads and Highways, Government Efficiency and Economy, and Elections and Reapportionment committees.

In 1946, he announced that he would not seek reelection and that he would not run for the state Senate as he was quitting state politics.[11] In 1947, after leaving office, he was appointed to the Citizens Advisory Committee on Legislative Constitutional Revision.^[12]

House of Representatives

In March 1948, he announced his intention to run for California's 10th Congressional District seat and filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries where he easily won the Republican primary and narrowly won the Democratic primary.^[13][14] During the campaign Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Earl Warren showed support for Werdel.^[15] In the general election he easily defeated the Progressive nominee; he was one of the four Republican gains that year, and would serve in the Eighty-first and Eighty-second Congresses from 1949 to 1953.^[16][17]

In 1949, he accused union leaders, specifically from the National Education Association, AFL and CIO, of plotting to use an education aid bill created by Democrats to defeat Senator Robert A. Taft in Ohio's 1950 Senate election.^[18] During the 1952 Republican primaries Werdel announced that he would run a slate of seventy delegates in the California primary to lead a pro-Taft delegation to the Republican National Convention rather than a pro-Warren one and he attacked Warren for supporting socialized medicine.^[19] However, Governor Earl Warren, a favorite son candidate, once again controlled California's votes.

Later life

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1952 to the Eighty-third Congress after he was redistricted into the 14th Congressional District and was defeated by Harlan Hagen. He resumed the practice of law. In 1956, he was the running mate of T. Coleman Andrews as the State's Rights Party candidates; they won 107,929 votes (0.17%), doing best in Virginia, where they received 6.16% of the vote.^[20] During the 1960 and 1964 presidential elections he served as a campaign adviser to Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater.^[21]

On September 30, 1966, he died in Bakersfield, California and was survived by his wife and three sons. He was interred in Greenlawn Memorial Park.^[22]

Electoral history

See also

• T. Coleman Andrews

References