1978Final results
1978 election for Texas House District 71
Texas House of Representatives · Texas
Mary Polk (D) won with 48.5% of the vote, defeating S. L. Abbott (R) by 3.4 points.
Mary PolkDemocrat · winner
48.5%8,375
S. L. AbbottRepublican
45.0%7,782
Baxter John ShieldsIndependent
6.5%1,128
17,285 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1978
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET