On The Record: Nancy Archer

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Nancy Archer, Liberty County Democratic Party Chair located in Senate District four and Secretary of the Texas Democratic County Chairs Association.

How did you get started in politics? Did you come to it in your youth or later on?

My family was always involved, but I worked mostly through my husband on national level. We lived near Washington, D.C. for 35 years. We came back to Texas in the 1990s and became very involved in local politics. I had a lot of concerns about what was going on locally.

We moved to Austin initially, and I became active in Habitat for Humanity and served on the board for a while. When we moved to Liberty, I had high hopes for starting a Habitat for Humanity here, but nobody quite understood how it worked. The people here just thought you got people together and went to build houses on the weekend, but it involves much more. The people at Habitat for Humanity told me I wouldn’t be able to find the funding to have a sustaining chapter here, and they were right.

I began reading the 2000 census and I was horrified at the things I saw in the report. Many local families were not making enough to be at the poverty level income. There are health problems and transportation problems

What would you say are the primary issues concerning Liberty County?

Our main issue is that we’re wedged between Houston and Beaumont, and other than basic services, Liberty County has to drive 40 miles for doctors and hospitals.

We have poor transportation, lack of jobs, inadequate housing and many other services the county needs.

I became concerned when we lost a great deal of the CHIP program, even though some was reinstated; our poverty level is very high. There is only one hospital in the county that can deliver babies.

Many kids want to attend universities, but their resources aren’t there. These kids can’t afford to go to college due to all of the expenses that go along with it. Gas is too expensive for them to drive back and forth.

Do you have any ambition for higher office? Do you have plans to run for any other party office, or possibly even public office?

When I see someone doing something worthwhile I could entertain the thought of running. I ran in a primary against Texas Representative Dan Ellis in 1994.

I was highly concerned for our county, especially since we have so many assets. We have train, water, beautiful land and a wonderful workforce. We have everything someone would need to make a wonderful home. I’ve been very active with other agencies to get development out this way.

I don’t see anything the Republican legislation and government has done to warrant the millions of dollars it costs to meet, except turn out three pages of amendments we’re supposed to vote on that I don’t understand.

Who are some of your political heroes?

I am very happy with all of the Presidential candidates, and I would be happy with any one of them as a front-runner.
The first President I voted for was JFK, but I was nervous about the test you had to pass in New Orleans in order to vote.

L.B.J. did a lot of things that I had on my own agenda, like pass the Civil Rights Act. I was a marcher and a screamer for civil rights.

What would you say has been the single most defining moment in your political life?

I’m not sure. I’ve always been around politics, and there are too many to count.

What one thing would you say a political organization never has enough of?

There is never enough money to do the things we need to do. People are strapped for money, and the people here don’t get the big raises and increases in work.

Inflation is an issue. Bread, milk, and gas have all increased in price, so normal, working citizens are looking at their budgets very carefully. Everything is getting more expensive and it adds up. Mailing information out is costing more to print, and even the stamp on the mail is getting more expensive.