The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 24

I D-6 Monday, October 21, 1991 The Town Talk, Alexandria-Pineville, La. Reformists never return to governor's mansion "I can see blood on the polished NEW ORLEANS (AP) Louisiana voters dote on governors with mischief in their eyes, populism in their hearts and show business in their souls. In the past 65 years, the governor's mansion has been home to a virtual dictator, a mentally unbalanced good ol' boy, a country and Western singer, and a woman-chasing gambler. Only four times this century have the voters turned their backs on these colorful characters to vote for reformists. Reformists have never been returned to office.

"They're going to get good government one of these days and they ain't going to like it," once warned the late Gov. Earl Long, whose famous brother, Huey, became the state's first 20th Century populist in 1928. "A reformist by definition is out to change the system and inherent in that is saying That isn't a popular word," said Gov. Buddy Roemer, the latest self-proclaimed reform He was typical of the fun-loving Cajuns whose motto is "Let the good times roll." Through three terms, Edwards had an eye for the ladies, a fondness for the gambling table and a candor that shocked those unaccustomed to the state's politics. He openly took large cash gifts from friends, who were given positions in government.

The practice wasn't illegal. He retired his 1983 campaign debt with a lavish trip to Paris and Monte Carlo. While in his last term, Edwards was indicted on federal racketeering charges, accused of illegally brokering permits for new hospitals. He was acquitted in 1986, but couldn't overcome the 18 months of investigation publicity during the 1987 campaign. Roemer, the self-proclaimed revolutionary and reformer, led in the primary and Edwards dropped out of the runoff.

He said he would return, that Roemer wouldn't last. marble of this Capitol," a legislative opponent yelled, predicting open violence between Long's forces and a growing opposition in 1935. The blood was Huey's. He died of a gunshot in a Capitol corridor in September of that year. His last words: "God, don't let me die.

I have so much left to do." The statue over his grave faces the 34-story Capitol he built with federal money. A spotlight in the tower shines on his face each night. So fond is the memory that callers flooded the governor's switchboard during Edwards' last term in 1984 to complain that the light had been turned off. It was an oversight, they were told. Brother Earl made as big a splash during his three terms, especially in the last from 1956-60.

He was com-mited by his family to a mental institution but escaped with the help of legislative friends and regained In Saturday's primary, the voters proved him right, placing in the Nov. 16 runoff three-time governor and Democrat, Edwin Edwards, and Republican David Duke, who once wore the robes of a Ku Klux Klan leader and the uniform of a Nazi. Huey Long, a peddler from the piney woods of central Louisiana, waded through the devastation left from the 1927 flood with a promise to tax Standard Oil to help the poor. Colorful man As governor and later U.S. senator, Long ran Louisiana like a petty king-, dom and entertained the masses.

Sometimes he would call out the Louisiana State University band to lead it through the streets of Baton Rouge. At other times he might be wearing pajamas as he greeted foreign dignataries. He used state police and national guardsmen as his private police force and had full control of the Legislature, buying enough votes to ward off impeachment in 1929. Spurning the wife who had helped put him away, Earl dated New Orleans stripper Blaze Starr. "I'm the last of the red hot papas," he proclaimed.

Unable to succeed himself, Earl ran for Congress and died in 1960, nine days after winning the seat. He had been told by doctors that his heart couldn't take the congressional campaign, but Earl said he had no fear. "I've got a deal with the Lord." Singing governor Between Huey and Earl came Jim-mie Davis, a country and western singer who wrote "You Are My Sunshine." He was featured in a movie, "Louisiana." Davis won again in 1960 and made headlines when he rode his horse up the Capitol steps into the rotunda. And, in 1971, the voters turned to perhaps the most colorful of the lot Edwin Washington Edwards, the first French-speaking governor this century. 73 Crime to be focus ley oub, Bagert in AG runoff "VY I' it 1, H4m I 11 Ieyoub Bagert JJt-2.

-1 be as tough as possible on crime, Bagert criticized Ieyoub's campaign, saying it misled voters into thinking the attorney general's office is more involved in crime fighting than the state constitution calls for. "He's the chief civil lawyer for Louisiana with a few criminal responsibilities," Bagert said. "I'll try to broaden those criminal responsibilities." Look for Bagert's campaign to also stress the New Orleans lawmaker's record as an environmentalist. Bagert said the attorney general's role in enforcing environmental law will take on added importance now that David Duke and Edwin Edwards are in the runoff for governor. Funding for the Department of Environmental Quality is expected to fall off considerably under either of the two.

"The attorney general is the man, where it begins and ends in the environment under our law," Bagert said. "He's the only man that can represent the DEQ in litigation." Ieyoub, too, promised to punish polluters. "In addition to fighting crime and drugs, I would enforce the environmental regulations very strongly," Ieyoub said. "Fairly but strongly." NEW ORLEANS (AP) Crime and how to bust it will be the big theme in the race to succeed Attorney General William Guste, as lawyers Richard Ieyoub and Ben Bagert campaign to win a Nov. 16 runoff- Ieyoub, a 47-year-old Democrat and the district attorney for Calcasieu Parish, led a field of six candidates in Saturday's open primary.

Unofficial returns Sunday, with only one precinct out, showed him with 447,457 votes or 31 percent. Bagert, a 47-year-old Republican state senator from New Orleans, had 313,143 votes or 22 percent. Democrat John Kennedy, counsel to Gov. Buddy Roemer, had 288,382 votes or 20 percent. Guste assistant Winston Rid-dick, also a Democrat, had or 16 percent.

James McPherson, ally of governor candidate David Duke, had 9 percent of the vote while Kai Midboe, who had the state party endorsement, pulled 2 percent. Ieyoub was the leading money raiser in the campaign and his television commercials portrayed him as a law-and-order candidate who will use the attorney general's office to crack down on street crime and drug traffic. Bagert, too, portrayed him- Associated Press Weiss' body exhumed James E. Starrs (far right) looks at the steel be examined by forensic experts in hopes box containing the body of Dr. Carl Weiss of settling questions about the death of in Baton Rouge Sunday.

Weiss' body will Louisiana Gov. Huey Long. self as a crime fighter, citing anti-drug legislation and death penalty legislation he pushed through the House and Senate during more than 20 years in the Legislature. Although crime fighting is generally the constitutional responsibility of local district attorneys, both said the attorney general's office can help fight crime by coordinating efforts of, and providing information to, local law enforcement agencies. "We can provide better intelligence for local district attorneys and sheriffs who operate at a disadvantage in the drug wars," Bagert said.

"We can get the attorney general's office involved by cooperating with district attorneys and sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies in joint investigations and prosecutions," Ieyoub said. But while both promised to Anti-abortionist Jenkins to face abortion-rights activist Voters approve amendment on workers' compensation to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established abortion rights. Jenkins is an arch-conservative whose district was altered because of federally mandated redrawing of district boundary lines after the last census. He claimed in letters to supporters that his district became more conservative, not less. But Ashby's challenge was the most serious he faced since his election to the state, House in 1972.

Another prominent opponent of legal abortion who drew national attention to the Legislature in 1990 was defeated in Saturday's election, although abortion wasn't an issue in his campaign. Rep. Carl Gunter, a lawmaker since 1972, lost to Rapides Parish businessman Rick Farrar, who campaigned on a general theme of the need for change in the Legislature. Gunter infuriated feminists and abortion rights advocates during the 1990 debate over abortion in Louisiana when he argued against an incest exception in a proposed anti-abortion law by comparing incest to the inbreeding of championship horses and livestock. Abortion rights candidate Melissa Flournoy ousted 20- year incumbent Art Sour in Shreveport.

Although abortion was a major issue here, Sour claimed Flournoy made a phony issue out of his missing 36 percent of the House votes and having a poor attendance record in 1991. "It was hard to explain to the people that those votes didn't amount to a hill of beans," Sour said. "I think we ran a straightforward, topnotch, grassroots campaign," said Flournoy. Another incumbent abortion opponent from Baton Rouge, like Jenkins, was forced into a runoff with an abortion rights candidate. Incumbent Carl Crane will face Margaret Pere-boom, a psychologist, on Nov.

16. Attorney Pinkie Carolyn Wil-kerson landed a runoff spot with anti-abortion incumbent Kenneth Volentine of Athens in north Louisiana. With almost complete unofficial returns in, state Sen. Gerry Hinton, an anti-abortion incumbent, easily defeated Annette Fuselier in a suburban New Orleans district. State Senate President Sammy Nunez of St.

Bernard Parish and Rep. Skip Hand of Kenner, also handily defeated abortion rights candidates. NEW ORLEANS (AP) The author of Louisiana's anti-abortion law the toughest such law in the nation faces a Nov. 16 runoff against an abortion-rights activist, results from legislative elections showed Sunday. State Rep.

Woody Jenkins pulled 6,693 votes or 46 percent of the total in Saturday's election in Baton Rouge, according to complete but unofficial returns. Sandy Ashby, lobbyist for the Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, had 42 percent 6,066 votes with two lesser known challengers dividing the remainder. The abortion debate was a key issue in at least seven legislative races Saturday. Abortion rights advocates lost in three of those races, but hung on to runoff spots or won outright victories in four others. The Louisiana abortion law passed this year forbids all abortions except those to save the life of the mother and, under strict guidelines, those ending pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

Doctors performing abortions could go to prison for 10 years. The measure isn't being enforced now, but Jenkins and his backers hope it will be used NEW ORLEANS (AP) The first step toward turning around the workers' compensation insurance industry was taken when voters approved a constitutional amendment to set up a state-backed corporation to handle it, a major sponsor of the legislation said Sunday. "I think it bodes well for Louisiana," said state Sen. Mike Foster, D-Franklin. "The problems (in the industry) were so bad they were strangling everything and trying to shut business down.

This will be the beginning of trying to get the problems straight." Voters also approved four other proposed constitutional amendments, narrowly defeated two and soundly beat one. Returns early Sunday showed that the workers compensation amendment, No. 6, won by a healthy margin, to 432,532, or 58 percent to 42 percent, with 99 percent of the precincts reporting. The new setup won't be in operation until October 1992. Foster said if the present administration works with the new one the next phase in the process should move smoothly.

Here's how the other pro- Final Evangeline results Gender a factor in election posed constitutional amendments on the Oct. 19 ballot fared, with 99 percent of the state's 3,927 precincts reporting: Amendment No. 1, which would limit the state's power to mandate local government spending without providing additional money, won easy approval with 606,014 votes for to 439,029 against, or 58 percent to 42 percent. Amendment No. 2, which would have created the Louisiana Development Finance Corporation through which public funds would be used for programs to promote education or economic development; lost 488,251 to 523,959, or 48 percent to 52 percent.

Amendment No. 3, which would have reduced membership of the Board of Regents from 15 to 13, make the board's authority to plan public higher education more specific and give it the authority to name campuses and facilities, lost 484,020 to 546,249, or 47 percent to 53 percent. Amendment No. 4, which would create the Higher Education Louisiana Partnership Fund to expand state challenge grants for private donations, won 600,110 to 434,292, or 58 percent to 42 percent. Amendment No.

5, which would require that any payments above $5 million the state received from settlements or court decisions on underpaid mineral revenue be used to reduce state debt, won to 454,348, or 54 percent to 46 percent. Amendment No. 7, which would require a single local sales tax collector in each parish, won 550,878 to 464,515, or 54 percent to 46 percent. Amendment No. 8, which would have allowed an option to pre-file rather than advertise local and special bills prior to introduction, lost 385,132 to 607,307, or 39 percent to 61 percent, NEW ORLEANS (AP) Pollsters said women had an edge in campaigns this year, and women put two male incumbents into runoffs for statewide offices.

Melinda Schwegmann out-polled Lt. Gov. Paul Hardy and the two will meet in a runoff. Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom each easily won a fourth term without a runoff. Virtually complete returns from the Saturday primary showed Schwegmann with 43 percent to Hardy's 42 percent.

"Our main goal was to get the incumbent into a runoff," Schwegmann said. Mary Chehardy ran third in a three-person race for secretary of state, but refused to concede the runoff against incumbent Fox McKeithen to Doug Schmidt, the apparent second-place finisher. In other elections, two incumbents Elections Commissioner Jerry Fowler and Evangeline Johnson 2846 54 of 54 pets Governor 6797 Crowley 47 lnsurnt Dent 38 Bernard 2785 Duke 4941 Brown 6201 Edwards 5289 Burke 8,4 Holloway 2908 545 Johnson ceV 205 Jones 181 Robinson 468 Karst 398 Wilson 1999 lewis 101 Htien! Powell 3 Fowler 7555 Roemer 1264 Youn9 3574 Thompson 1 8 Senate District 28 Lt Governor Nelson 3208 Clausen 1252 Saunders 10001 Hardy 8578 House District 38 Richardson 654 Ardoin 309 Schwegmann 802 Deville 3104 Willz 770 Guillory 2032 Secretary of State Johnson 1 92 1 Chehardy 2284 Lefleur 681 McKeithen 6492 Lemoine 4096 Schmidt 2927 Thompson 1151 Attorney General Sheriff Bagert 2630 Deshotels 1016 Ieyoub 3859 12524 Kennedy 2936 Buford Fontenot recall election, McPherson 1398 SBDiit. 1. Midboe 142 For 429 Riddick 1703 Against 442 Agriculture Lone Pine Fire Diet Fresina 853 Yes 75 Impson 804 No 102 Easy: some incumbents defeated Continued from D-l The Grant Parish Police Jury District 7 incumbent Iley "Sonny" Cox placed third in a six-man race, and the LaSalle Parish District 6 jury representative Earl Killingsworth fell to David Crooks.

An incumbent from Evangeline Parish was able to hold onto his office. District 1 School Board member Buford Fontenot was the target of a recall election. Complete results show the recall effort failed 442 to 429, meaning that Fontenot gets to keep his seat. Problems in tabulating election results kept the Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court's Office open until at least 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

Authorities said this was the first time the parish has used new voting machines, and election commissioners were having trouble transferring election totals, Nunnally showed sound defeats of their challengers. Incumbents maintained fairly good standings in other central Louisiana police jury races although there were some defeats. The Allen Parish Police Jury District 6 office holder Kenneth Kingrey lost his reelection bid. The winner, R.E. "Sonny" Weatherford, is a former police juror, however..