b'left to right top to bottom : Randy Farenthold in Port Aran-sas after an offshore fishing trip; 1970 Spring Break on Port A beach; Downtown Houston and; Las Vegas, where Randy traveled to meet Mafia figures in 1970; it was presumed that Randys body was taken into the Gulf of Mexico on a shrimp boat; 16-year-old Jimmy Farenthold campaigning with his mother in 1972; Jimmy at a social gather-the scheme, though not charged, wereR ing in Houston, circa 1982. theDemocraticstatepartychairman, a state representative, House Speaker Gus Mutscher, Jr., Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, andGov.PrestonSmith.SissyFaren-thold declared herself a member of the Dirty 30 legislators, Democrats and Republicans, who opposed the speaker and those implicated in the Sharpstown scandal.Withinmonths,withthere-form of state government as her leading mission, Frances Farenthold announced her run for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Texas, one of three can-didates to oppose Gov. Smith in the 1972 Democratic primaryan unprecedented war within the state party that was fu-eled by the corruption at Sharpstown. andyFarentholdwaslikedbyevery-ThesittinggovernorcameinonearoundthedocksinPortAran-fourth, in a field of four, in the May 6,sas, even those he out-fished from his 1972, Democratic primary election forhigh-powered, custom made, and very governor. Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a darlingexotic yacht, Lollipop. Aside from the of the state party but scarred by theexpensive boat and free spending, most Sharpstown scandal, came in third; Sis- would not have suspected that ole Ran- gans, estate, which included one of theBasssaidhehadaMafiaconnec-sy Farenthold came in second, and; leg- dy was heir to millions from both sidesbiggest cotton gins in South Texas, locatedtion in Houston who was willing to sell endary Uvalde rancher, Dolph Briscoe,of his family, let alone that he was bornin western Nueces County. Hurricane Celia$167,000 in mature U.S. Treasury bonds placed first. For for the first time sinceof Belgian aristocracy! knocked out the gin and although Randyfor $100,000 in cash, but that he didnt Ma Ferguson won a second term as Gov- By1970,31-year-oldRandywaswasnt hard-up for cash, he took advan- havethemoneytodothedealhimself. ernor of Texas in 1932, a womana lib- married with two kids, Blake and Sue,tage of a shady opportunity brought to himRandy offered to put up the cash and the eral reformer at thatwas poised to bealbeit on his way to divorce, and wasby a hunting acquaintance, one Bruce Lusktwo flew to Houston, where they met an elected the states chief executive.managing his grandfather, Rand Mor- Bass, III, a contractor in Corpus Christi. alleged mob captain in a hotel room.76 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEMarch/April 2018 TheCoastalBend.com46 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEFEATURED: The Stories that Mattered TheCoastalBend.com'