Education
Runnels attended Dallas public schools and Cameron State Agricultural College in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Runnels attended Dallas public schools and Cameron State Agricultural College in Lawton, Oklahoma.
He was employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington District of Columbia in 1942. From 1945 to 1951, Runnels was a manager for the Magnolia Amusement Company in Magnolia, Arkansas. He moved to Lovington, New Mexico in 1951 and became a partner in Southland Supply Company, in 1952.
Runnels was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-second and to the four succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1971, until his death.
He died in New York City on August 5, 1980 if respiratory failure while being treated for pleurisy and cancer. He was interred in Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in Lovington, New Mexico.
He served as a member of the New Mexico Senate from 1960 to 1970, and served as delegate to New Mexico State Democratic conventions from 1960 to 1979.
