Our History

History of the Houston County Republican Party
Adapted from story by Barbara Waddle June 2018

The Houston County Republican Party was formed in 1964 and was initially called the “Draft Goldwater Movement”.  The first county meeting was held in the spring of 1964. The first organized convention was organized by Dr. Doyle Pratt and was held at the courthouse in Perry.

For several years the county meetings were held in homes. Ted Waddle was Chairman in 1970 but stepped down when he decided to run for State Representative of Houston County District 98, which was changed to District 113 in 1983.

Precinct Mass Meetings were held in only about 10 precincts. Occasionally the schools would forget to open for the meetings so Ted and his wife, Barbara, would hold their precinct meeting at Northside High School in their car. There were 9 delegates present around the car. There was one precinct with only 4 delegates present so they met in a telephone booth! They had to make do with what they had.

There were many meetings held in the Waddle home which changed with their various moves. Barbara was Chairman of the party 7 times. The Chairman would step down at convention time and as 1st Vice Chairman Barbara would oversee the conventions. She eventually told the party that if she had to prepare for the conventions anyway they should just elect her Chairman to begin with.

Fifty-four years later the Houston County Republican Party is still going strong! Houston County now has over 80,000 in population making us one of the largest counties below the Metro Atlanta area. We have Ted and Barbara Waddle to thank for the success of our county party!