We here at the Texarkana Gazette didn't know what to think when the controversial 2003 midterm redistricting took the city out of the 1st Congressional District and we found ourselves in the 4th District, represented by longtime U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall.
We knew he had long served the Rockwall, Texas, area and apparently they were happy with him. At least they kept sending him back to Congress. He was a conservative Democrat at the time Texarkana was brought into the 4th District in 2003 but switched parties to become a Republican shorty after in early January of 2004.
So what to think? Would Hall represent the interests of Texarkana and Northeast Texas as strongly as he tended his Rockwall district, or would we just be an afterthought?
There was no need to worry.
Hall established a Texarkana office and set about showing he intended to represent all the cities and residents of his district. He made frequent visits to Texarkana-and to our offices-and he was always ready to listen to his constituents. Indeed, it was that personal connection, the human touch, that kept him in office for so long. As did his politics.
Even as a Democrat, he was conservative. That fit in well with the attitudes of Northeast Texas. But he was not dogmatic and was willing to oppose his own party or work with the other as long as the he believed the cause was right. That didn't always sit well with the "true believers" on the extremes and, in the end, probably cost him his last race in 2014.
Hall died Thursday at the age of 95. Though he came to represent us unexpectedly, he served us well. He was old school but never stuck in the past. We'll miss him.