Abraham Kazen

Abraham Kazen Jr., usually known as Chick Kazen (January 17, 1919 – November 29, 1987), was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas who served nine consecutive terms in Congress from 1967 to 1985. He was the first representative of Texas’s newly created 23rd congressional district and held the seat until his defeat in the 1984 Democratic primary. His congressional service spanned a significant period in American history, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents in a vast, predominantly rural and later majority-Hispanic border district.

Kazen was born in Laredo, Texas, and was of Maronite Lebanese descent, related to the prominent Khazen family. A lifelong resident of Laredo, he graduated in 1937 from Laredo High School, later renamed Martin High School. He attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1937 to 1940, pursuing his undergraduate studies before turning to the law. In 1941, he earned his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee, an institution that was later relocated to Birmingham, Alabama. His early life and education in Texas and Tennessee laid the foundation for a long career in law, public service, and elective office.

During World War II, Kazen served in the United States Army Air Corps. In 1942 he was a pilot at the then-active Lubbock Air Force Base in Texas. He subsequently served overseas in the Troop Carrier Command, flying missions in the North African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns. His military service extended beyond the war years, and he was discharged in 1953 with the rank of captain. This combination of legal training and military experience helped shape his public persona and informed his later work in state and national politics.

Kazen entered elective office shortly after the war. In 1946, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he served from 1947 to 1953. He then won election to the Texas Senate, serving from 1953 to 1967. During his tenure in the state senate, he rose to positions of influence, including election as president pro tempore of the Texas Senate in 1959. In that capacity, he served as acting governor of Texas on August 4, 1959. He was also a member of the Texas Legislative Council for sixteen years, contributing to the development and revision of state laws and policies over an extended period.

In 1966, Kazen was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from the newly created 23rd congressional district of Texas. The district, drawn after the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Wesberry v. Sanders invalidated the previous congressional map, was at the time the largest in area of any congressional district in the nation excluding at-large districts, stretching roughly 800 miles from El Paso in the west to San Antonio in the east. Taking office on January 3, 1967, he served in Congress until January 3, 1985. Over these nine terms, he was repeatedly reelected with no substantive opposition, reflecting his entrenched position and the support he maintained among many constituents. During these years he contributed to the legislative process in the House of Representatives, participating in debates and votes on national policy while attending to the needs of his expansive border district.

By the early 1980s, demographic changes were reshaping the 23rd district, which had become majority Hispanic. In the 1984 Democratic primary, Kazen faced Bexar County Circuit Court Judge Albert G. Bustamante. Reflecting both demographic shifts and evolving political dynamics in the region, Bustamante defeated Kazen in an upset that ended Kazen’s 39 years as an elected official at the state and federal levels. Following Kazen’s defeat, no non-Hispanic white Democrat represented a significant portion of San Antonio in the U.S. House of Representatives until Lloyd Doggett’s Austin-based district was later redrawn to include part of San Antonio.

Abraham “Chick” Kazen remained closely identified with Laredo and South Texas throughout his life. After leaving Congress in 1985, he returned to private life in his hometown. He died in Laredo on November 29, 1987. His long career, from World War II service through nearly four decades in elective office, marked him as a significant figure in mid-20th-century Texas and in the representation of the U.S.–Mexico border region in Congress.