As the 1960s progressed, though, rapid suburban-style development in west and southwest Houston began to overflow into Fort Bend County, where the development of numerous master-planned communities attracted many upper-middle-class families to developments in the eastern portion of the county. This development, along with the shift of conservative white Democrats towards the Republican Party in the wake of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, led to increased support for the GOP in the following years. Richard Nixon narrowly carried the county in 1968, making it the only county in greater Houston outside of Harris County to go Republican that year, and carried it again in 1972. In 1976, conservative physician Ron Paul of Brazoria County, noted for his opposition to most government programs, which earned him the nickname "Dr. No", captured the 22nd district in the United States House of Representatives in a special election, before narrowly losing re-election in the November election in which Gerald Ford also won Fort Bend, despite losing Texas to Jimmy Carter.