 In 1969, a Republican landslide year, Callahan, three other Republicans and Democrat Clive L. DuVal II, outpolled the second leading Democratic candidate Dorothy S. McDiarmid (who would be returned to the legislature in the next election and, like Callahan, be influential in the legislature for many years).Callahan joined the Appropriations Committee in 1972; McDiarmid also served on that committee and served as its chair before her retirement in 1989.Callahan was considered a moderate Republican and was relatively popular in his district.