John Henry Baker
Encyclopedia
John Henry Baker, III is a semiretired farmer
and landowner from Franklin Parish
in northeastern Louisiana
who was active in the rebirth of the Republican Party
in his state during the 1970s and 1980s. Baker was his party's nominee for the District 22 seat in the Louisiana State Senate
in 1972 and for the former position of state elections commissioner in 1979. He was the first to propose the abolition of the commissioner's post (originally called the "custodian of voting machines") with the return of the duties to the secretary of state
. Baker's proposal was adopted a quarter of a century later in 2004.
, Washington County
, Mississippi
, to John Henry Baker, II, and the former Cecilia Myers. He grew up in a rural
area near Delhi
, which is located in neighboring Richland Parish, but the Baker property is in northern Franklin Parish.
As a teenager, Baker left the area to attend Marion Military Institute
in Marion, Alabama
. He thereafter served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955–1958, between the Korean
and Vietnam
wars. After his military duties ended, Baker returned to farming. He is Methodist.
Baker has been twice divorce
d. He is married to his third wife, the former Linda Rae Martin. He has a child and grandchild from the first marriage, which occurred in Minden
, to the former Melba Jo Thomas (born 1941).
In 1984, Baker established KPCH
99.3 FM radio
outlet ("The Peach Station") in Ruston
. In 1987, he sold the company, which now offers 1960s
and 1970s
oldies music.
to the Franklin Parish Police Jury (equivalent of county commission in most states). He won his primary, then equivalent to election, by only nineteen votes. In February 1969, he switched to the Republican Party (GOP) and set forth to build a competitive two-party system in his region and state. While he was on the police jury, the body joined the 11-parish North Delta Economic Planning and Development Council. Baker served on the council during his single term on the jury.
While on the jury, Baker was appointed to the Franklin Parish Library Board, on which he served for thirteen years. Baker has been the Franklin Parish Republican chairman intermittently since the 1970s.
in New Orleans. Brown at the time was a politically ambitious lawyer in Ferriday
in Concordia Parish, located along the Mississippi River
across from Natchez, Mississippi
. Besides Franklin and Concordia, the district included Catahoula (Jonesville
) and Tensas (St. Joseph
and Newellton
) parishes. The outgoing senator was J.C. "Sonny" Gilbert of Sicily Island
in Catahoula Parish. Gilbert ran successfully for the state House that year; after he left the legislature, he switched to Republican affiliation.
Brown was an easy winner in the general election
, 17,151 votes (64.1 percent) to Baker's 9,587 (35.9 percent). Baker had been the first Republican ever to contest the 32nd District seat. With the boundaries altered, the district for the first time elected a Republican state senator on November 17, 2007, when GOP businessman Neil Riser
of Columbia
, the seat of Caldwell Parish defeated the Democratic candidate Bryant Hammett, Jr., of Ferriday. The Senate seat was vacated by the term-limited Noble Ellington
of Winnsboro, who returned to the Louisiana House after a 12-year absence.
Baker filed for delegate in the state legislative district for Franklin and Tensas parishes. He was defeated by Democratic state Representative Lantz Womack
(1914–1998) of Winnsboro. As a young man, Womack had played baseball
for the former Winnsboro Red Sox at a time when many small towns had their own teams. Baker's father organized two Winnsboro teams, one for whites and the other for African American
players. Womack, a businessman and farmer, was first elected to the House seat from Franklin Parish House in a special election in 1958, and he held the seat until 1976. In his last reelection on February 1, 1972, Womack polled 67 percent of the vote against the Republican nominee, Terry Clingan (1918–2007), a barber
from Mangham
in Richland Parish and later from Baskin
, a village in Franklin Parish. Coincidentally, Womack was once a bookkeeper for the Bakers.
, then a Natchitoches
businessman, in the race for elections commissioner. Fowler (born 1940) was seeking to succeed his ailing father, Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr.
, the former Red River Parish clerk of court and one-time Coushatta
mayor. Fowler had been appointed to the post by the late Governor Earl Kemp Long, after Long had quarreled with Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr.
, by procuring legislative consent to remove the elections office from the domain of the secretary of state. Douglas Fowler was then elected to his first full term in 1960 and then reelected with minimal opposition in 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976. (The primaries for the three latter elections were actually held late in 1967, 1971, and 1975.) To Louisiana voters, the name "Fowler" became synonymous with the management of elections – the two won a total of ten consecutive elections.
Ironically, what Baker was proposing would have worked to the advantage of Baker's former rival, state Senator Jim Brown, who would be elected secretary of state in the same 1979 election. When Baker offered his proposal to abolish the very office for which he was seeking election, he began to make headway. He won a student mock poll at Louisiana State University at Alexandria
and several other colleges as well as the endorsements of "good government" groups and most of the state's newspapers. The New Orleans Times-Picayune did not "endorse" Baker, however, but "recommended" his idea of abolishing the office.
Baker polled 175,017 votes in the jungle primary
, just enough to enter the 1979 general election against Jerry Fowler, who had been a former professional football player and a former educator. Baker and Republican gubernatorial candidate David C. Treen
, then of Jefferson Parish, were the first Louisiana Republicans to win statewide general election slots since the implementation of the jungle primary law in 1975. (The law did not take effect for congressional elections until 1978, and it ended for those elections in 2008.)
In the second round of balloting, Fowler polled 762,324 votes (62.8 percent) to Baker's 452,189 (37.2 percent). Baker won 68.1 percent in his own Franklin Parish, which Treen lost to the Democrat Louis Lambert
of Baton Rouge. Baker won 55.8 percent and 51.2 percent in his neighboring Richland and Ouachita parishes, respectively. He polled 49.1 percent in Caddo Parish (Shreveport) and ran nearly as well in Calcasieu Parish (Lake Charles
), where he had the support of former state Representative and state Senator Robert G. "Bob" Jones, the stockbroker son of former Governor Sam Houston Jones.
Like his father, Jerry Fowler was also elected commissioner five times: 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1995. In 1999, however, he finished in third place in the primary after bribery allegations surfaced. He would later serve a prison sentence. The post was then won by the only Republican who ever held it, Suzanne Haik Terrell
.
In 2004, more than four decades after Long's death, the elections division was hence returned to its original administrative home. Baker never received political credit for his "good government" proposal from 1979. Instead, it was left to Commissioner Terrell to implement Baker's longstanding proposal.
, Michigan
, which first nominated the Ronald W. Reagan and George H. W. Bush
ticket.
As of 2009, Baker was still a member of the Franklin Parish Board of Election Supervisors by virtue of his being the parish Republican chairman.
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
and landowner from Franklin Parish
Franklin Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,263 people, 7,754 households, and 5,706 families residing in the parish. The population density was 34 people per square mile . There were 8,623 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...
in northeastern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
who was active in the rebirth of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in his state during the 1970s and 1980s. Baker was his party's nominee for the District 22 seat in the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
in 1972 and for the former position of state elections commissioner in 1979. He was the first to propose the abolition of the commissioner's post (originally called the "custodian of voting machines") with the return of the duties to the secretary of state
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
. Baker's proposal was adopted a quarter of a century later in 2004.
Background, education, farming
Baker was born in GreenvilleGreenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
, Washington County
Washington County, Mississippi
-National protected areas:*Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge*Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge *Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, to John Henry Baker, II, and the former Cecilia Myers. He grew up in a rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
area near Delhi
Delhi, Louisiana
Delhi, originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,066.-History:...
, which is located in neighboring Richland Parish, but the Baker property is in northern Franklin Parish.
As a teenager, Baker left the area to attend Marion Military Institute
Marion Military Institute
Marion Military Institute, often abbreviated with the initialism MMI, is the official state military college of Alabama. Founded in Marion in 1842, it continues at its original location.-History:...
in Marion, Alabama
Marion, Alabama
Marion is the county seat of Perry County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,511. First called Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed after a hero of the American Revolution, Francis Marion.-Geography:...
. He thereafter served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955–1958, between the Korean
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
wars. After his military duties ended, Baker returned to farming. He is Methodist.
Baker has been twice divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d. He is married to his third wife, the former Linda Rae Martin. He has a child and grandchild from the first marriage, which occurred in Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, to the former Melba Jo Thomas (born 1941).
In 1984, Baker established KPCH
KPCH
KNBB is an American radio station broadcasting a sports talk radio format. Licensed to Ruston, Louisiana, USA, the station serves the Monroe, Louisiana, area. The station's broadcast license is held by Communications Capital Company II of Louisiana, LLC.-External links:...
99.3 FM radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
outlet ("The Peach Station") in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
. In 1987, he sold the company, which now offers 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
oldies music.
Franklin Parish Police Jury
In 1968, Baker, at thirty-three, was elected as a DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the Franklin Parish Police Jury (equivalent of county commission in most states). He won his primary, then equivalent to election, by only nineteen votes. In February 1969, he switched to the Republican Party (GOP) and set forth to build a competitive two-party system in his region and state. While he was on the police jury, the body joined the 11-parish North Delta Economic Planning and Development Council. Baker served on the council during his single term on the jury.
While on the jury, Baker was appointed to the Franklin Parish Library Board, on which he served for thirteen years. Baker has been the Franklin Parish Republican chairman intermittently since the 1970s.
Running for the state Senate
In the winter of 1971–1972, Baker ran for the state Senate against the 31-year-old Democratic nominee, James H. "Jim" Brown (born 1940), a graduate of Tulane UniversityTulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans. Brown at the time was a politically ambitious lawyer in Ferriday
Ferriday, Louisiana
Ferriday is a town in Concordia Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population, which is three-fourths African American, was 3,723 at the 2000 census....
in Concordia Parish, located along the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
across from Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
. Besides Franklin and Concordia, the district included Catahoula (Jonesville
Jonesville, Louisiana
Jonesville is a town in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, at the confluence of the Ouachita, Tensas, and Little rivers. The three rivers become the Black River at Jonesville though the "Black" is primarily the continuation of the Ouachita River. A new bridge has been built over the Black River...
) and Tensas (St. Joseph
St. Joseph, Louisiana
St. Joseph is a town in and the parish seat of Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,340 at the 2000 census. The town is 69 percent African American. St. Joseph is the entry community to Lake Bruin State Park located on Lake Bruin, a relatively clear oxbow...
and Newellton
Newellton, Louisiana
Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population is 1,227 in the 2010 census, a decline of 255 from 2000. Newellton is some 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake....
) parishes. The outgoing senator was J.C. "Sonny" Gilbert of Sicily Island
Sicily Island, Louisiana
Sicily Island is a village in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 453 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sicily Island is located at ....
in Catahoula Parish. Gilbert ran successfully for the state House that year; after he left the legislature, he switched to Republican affiliation.
Brown was an easy winner in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
, 17,151 votes (64.1 percent) to Baker's 9,587 (35.9 percent). Baker had been the first Republican ever to contest the 32nd District seat. With the boundaries altered, the district for the first time elected a Republican state senator on November 17, 2007, when GOP businessman Neil Riser
Neil Riser
Hartwell Neil Riser, Jr., known as Neil Riser , is a funeral home owner in Columbia, the seat of Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate. On January 14, 2008, Riser succeeded outgoing Democratic Senator Noble Ellington. Riser is the first...
of Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....
, the seat of Caldwell Parish defeated the Democratic candidate Bryant Hammett, Jr., of Ferriday. The Senate seat was vacated by the term-limited Noble Ellington
Noble Ellington
Noble Edward Ellington, II , is a wealthy cotton merchant from Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who is a freshman, and as of December 17, 2010, a Republican, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 20...
of Winnsboro, who returned to the Louisiana House after a 12-year absence.
Running for constitutional convention delegate
In August 1972, five months after he lost the state Senate race, Baker ran in the nonpartisan race for delegate to the state constitutional convention. The convention was held in Baton Rouge in 1973. It adopted a new constitution, which voters approved in a special election held in the spring of 1974.Baker filed for delegate in the state legislative district for Franklin and Tensas parishes. He was defeated by Democratic state Representative Lantz Womack
Lantz Womack
Lantz Womack was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served mostly Franklin Parish, from 1958, when he won a special election caused by the death of a freshman member, until his retirement in 1976...
(1914–1998) of Winnsboro. As a young man, Womack had played baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
for the former Winnsboro Red Sox at a time when many small towns had their own teams. Baker's father organized two Winnsboro teams, one for whites and the other for African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
players. Womack, a businessman and farmer, was first elected to the House seat from Franklin Parish House in a special election in 1958, and he held the seat until 1976. In his last reelection on February 1, 1972, Womack polled 67 percent of the vote against the Republican nominee, Terry Clingan (1918–2007), a barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
from Mangham
Mangham, Louisiana
Mangham is a village in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 595 at the 2000 census. Mangham was established in 1890. It is named for Wyley P...
in Richland Parish and later from Baskin
Baskin, Louisiana
Baskin is a village in Franklin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 188 at the 2000 census. Baskin is located north of the parish seat of Winnsboro.-History:...
, a village in Franklin Parish. Coincidentally, Womack was once a bookkeeper for the Bakers.
Challenging Jerry Fowler
In 1979, Baker announced that he would challenge the Democrat Jerry Marston FowlerJerry Fowler
Jerry Marston Fowler was a Baton Rouge businessman who served as Louisiana's state Elections Commissioner from 1980 until his defeat in the 1999 jungle primary. He was part of the Fowler family Democratic political dynasty...
, then a Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
businessman, in the race for elections commissioner. Fowler (born 1940) was seeking to succeed his ailing father, Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr.
Douglas Fowler
Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr. , was a local politician from rural Red River Parish in north Louisiana, a loyal supporter of Governor Earl Kemp Long, and his state's chief elections officer from 1959, until declining health forced his retirement, effective December 31, 1979...
, the former Red River Parish clerk of court and one-time Coushatta
Coushatta, Louisiana
Coushatta is a town in and the parish seat of rural Red River Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is situated on the east bank of the Red River. The community is approximately forty-five miles south of Shreveport on U.S. Highway 71...
mayor. Fowler had been appointed to the post by the late Governor Earl Kemp Long, after Long had quarreled with Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr.
Wade O. Martin, Jr.
Wade Omer Martin, Jr. was the Democratic Secretary of State of Louisiana under five governors, having served from 1944 to 1976...
, by procuring legislative consent to remove the elections office from the domain of the secretary of state. Douglas Fowler was then elected to his first full term in 1960 and then reelected with minimal opposition in 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976. (The primaries for the three latter elections were actually held late in 1967, 1971, and 1975.) To Louisiana voters, the name "Fowler" became synonymous with the management of elections – the two won a total of ten consecutive elections.
"Abolish the office"
Baker ran for elections commissioner, basing his campaign on abolishing the "useless" office, which then had a salary of $37,400 per year, and returning its duties to the secretary of state, where they had been before Earl Long punished Martin, who had continued to be reelected secretary of state until his retirement in 1976.Ironically, what Baker was proposing would have worked to the advantage of Baker's former rival, state Senator Jim Brown, who would be elected secretary of state in the same 1979 election. When Baker offered his proposal to abolish the very office for which he was seeking election, he began to make headway. He won a student mock poll at Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria is located in Alexandria, Louisiana. Louisiana State University at Alexandria is a publicly supported institution that provides undergraduatelevel college education to the citizens of Central Louisiana. The university is a unit of the LSU System and operates...
and several other colleges as well as the endorsements of "good government" groups and most of the state's newspapers. The New Orleans Times-Picayune did not "endorse" Baker, however, but "recommended" his idea of abolishing the office.
Baker polled 175,017 votes in the jungle primary
Jungle primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...
, just enough to enter the 1979 general election against Jerry Fowler, who had been a former professional football player and a former educator. Baker and Republican gubernatorial candidate David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
, then of Jefferson Parish, were the first Louisiana Republicans to win statewide general election slots since the implementation of the jungle primary law in 1975. (The law did not take effect for congressional elections until 1978, and it ended for those elections in 2008.)
In the second round of balloting, Fowler polled 762,324 votes (62.8 percent) to Baker's 452,189 (37.2 percent). Baker won 68.1 percent in his own Franklin Parish, which Treen lost to the Democrat Louis Lambert
Louis Lambert
Louis Joseph Lambert, Jr. , is a Louisiana attorney, businessman, former member and chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and a former Louisiana state senator....
of Baton Rouge. Baker won 55.8 percent and 51.2 percent in his neighboring Richland and Ouachita parishes, respectively. He polled 49.1 percent in Caddo Parish (Shreveport) and ran nearly as well in Calcasieu Parish (Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
), where he had the support of former state Representative and state Senator Robert G. "Bob" Jones, the stockbroker son of former Governor Sam Houston Jones.
Like his father, Jerry Fowler was also elected commissioner five times: 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1995. In 1999, however, he finished in third place in the primary after bribery allegations surfaced. He would later serve a prison sentence. The post was then won by the only Republican who ever held it, Suzanne Haik Terrell
Suzanne Haik Terrell
Suzanne Haik Terrell is a Louisiana lawyer who failed in a high-profile Republican bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and for state attorney general in 2003. She was the state's last commissioner of elections, having served from 2000 to 2004. In 2005, President George W...
.
In 2004, more than four decades after Long's death, the elections division was hence returned to its original administrative home. Baker never received political credit for his "good government" proposal from 1979. Instead, it was left to Commissioner Terrell to implement Baker's longstanding proposal.
Board of Election Supervisors
In 1980, Governor Treen appointed Baker to the Louisiana Athletic Commission, since renamed the Louisiana State Boxing and Wrestling Commission. That same year, Baker was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in DetroitDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, which first nominated the Ronald W. Reagan and George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
ticket.
As of 2009, Baker was still a member of the Franklin Parish Board of Election Supervisors by virtue of his being the parish Republican chairman.