John S. Hunt, III
Encyclopedia
John Smoker Hunt, III was a nephew
of Louisiana Governor
s Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
, and Earl Kemp Long who served on the elected Louisiana Public Service Commission
from May 1964, to December 31, 1972. He was unseated in the September 30, 1972, Democratic
runoff by Francis Edward Kennon, Jr.
(born 1938), then of Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.
, the seat of Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana, to the former Lucille Long (1899–1985) and Stewart Smoker Hunt (1895–1966), a forester
. Lucille Long, a native of Winn Parish, was the last of the nine children born to Huey Pierce Long, Sr. (1852–1937), and the former Caledonia Palestine Tison (1860–1913). Lucille Hunt was formerly a teacher
in Shreveport
, the seat of Caddo Parish, and was a prominent civic leader thereafter in Ruston. Hunt also had a sister, Martha, who died in 1965.
Hunt graduated from Ruston High School
and the Tulane University Law School
in New Orleans. He was the father of three children, including Stewart T. Hunt (born September 9, 1960) of Lake Charles
. Hunt practiced law in Monroe
, the seat of Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana. He surfaced to public attention in 1964, when he was appointed by Governor John Julian McKeithen
to fill the remaining year and a half of McKeithen's term in the then District 3 (since District 5) seat on the PSC, a position originally held by Hunt's uncle, Huey Long. In February 1965, the two other commissioners named Hunt as the chairman because the presiding officer is traditionally the member whose seat is up for election in the next calendar year."
John Sidney Garrett
of Haynesville
in northern Claiborne Parish just south of the Arkansas
state line. While McKeithen endorsed Hunt for a PSC term of his own, he also had a good relationship with Garrett, whom he later tapped to be Speaker
of the Louisiana House from 1968-1972.
In the 1966 campaign, Hunt stressed that he had worked closely with the Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry to create "thousands of new jobs" in the state. After an inconclusive first primary in which four candidates, including State Representative Parey Branton
of Shongaloo
and former lawmaker Wellborn Jack of Shreveport, were eliminated, Hunt and Garrett met in the September 24, runoff election. Hunt had enjoyed a considerable plurality in the primary.
Garrett claimed after the primary that Hunt had received 93.1 percent of the votes of African American
s in nine selected precincts throughout the district, which then embraced a third of the state., but the runoff results were much closer. Hunt and Garrett each carried fourteen parishes ; there were then twenty-eight parishes in the district. Hunt prevailed by 9,896 votes: 91,971 (52.5 percent) to 83,075 (47.5 percent). Hunt led in the more populous parishes of Rapides
, Natchitoches, and three others where he had resided at one time or the other: Caddo
, Lincoln, and Ouachita. Garrett won the entire northern tier of parishes which borders Arkansas
except for Caddo on the west and East Carroll Parish
on the far northeast. He also won several parishes in north central and northeastern Louisiana: Grant, La Salle, Catahoula, Franklin, Richland, and Winn, the ancestral home of the Longs, who had traditionally remained loyal Democrats.
In the campaign, Hunt defended his two-year record on the PSC, which regulates all interstate transportation and utility services within the state except those owned by a municipality
. He said that utility companies should make a "fair profit but no more." He listed his goals in a full term as providing parishwide toll-free telephone service and to reduce intrastate tolls on calls.".
A self-described "conservative Democrat", Hunt had endorsed Republican
presidential nominee U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater
of Arizona
in 1964. Hunt's cousin
, U.S. Senator Russell B. Long
, however, had worked unsuccessfully to carry Louisiana for U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
. Garrett, a member of the state House since 1948, was the chairman of the former Joint Legislative Committee on Segregation, a panel once chaired by legendary State Senator
William M. Rainach
, also of Claiborne Parish. This particular runoff election was the first significant test in Louisiana politics between party factions since President Johnson had signed the Voting Rights Act
into law the preceding year. The new law, which enforced the Fifteenth Amendment
to the United States Constitution
led to the registration of large numbers of African-American
voters throughout the Deep South
. Many of these newer voters provided crucial support to Hunt, who was seen as more moderate on the racial issue than the segregationist Garrett. In fact, Garrett, who won the backing of three of the eliminated primary candidates, had claimed that Hunt was dependent on the "black bloc vote". Some even accused Hunt of having catered to "black power" elements.
In his victory statement, Hunt said that he had "overcome a slanderous campaign, and by winning I have tremendously enhanced the image of this state. . . . I was known by my opponent and his associates to be a conservative, but in spite of this, they attacked my character and made charges that I was a liberal
, despite my public record to the contrary."
in 1971. In a first primary in August, Hunt trailed Kennon, 106,212 (40.8 percent) to 122,573 (47.1 percent). Another 31,692 votes (12.2 percent) were cast for a Long kinsman, "Huey P. Long" (1929–2004), then of Pineville
in Rapides Parish Hunt won only ten of the then thirty-three parishes in the district, including his home bases of Lincoln and Ouachita. Hunt accused Kennon of having recruited Long into the race to split Hunt's pro-Long backing. Kennon led in twenty-three parishes in the sprawling district, which then stretched as far south as West Baton Rouge Parish. He won 58 percent in his native Webster Parish and also procured pluralities in Natchitoches, La Salle, De Soto, Avoyelles, St. Landry, and the Long traditional stronghold of Winn, which Hunt had also lost despite his family connections in 1966 to Garrett. Hunt's strongest parishes were Caddo, Bossier, Lincoln, Ouachita, and Jackson.
In the September 30 party runoff, Kennon easily defeated Hunt, 125,877 votes (58 percent) to 90,833 (42 percent), having procured twenty-nine parishes to Hunt's four. Hunt lost his native Lincoln Parish in the runoff by 176 votes and held his home base, Ouachita Parish, by a single vote, 15,502 to 15,501, presumably his own. Kennon was unopposed in the November 7 general election
because, as in 1966, no Republican candidate qualified for the ballot. Kennon was also a nephew of a former Louisiana governor, Robert F. Kennon
, who served from 1952-1956. Three Louisiana governors, Long, McKeithen, and James Houston "Jimmie" Davis
all served on the PSC prior to having been elected to the state's top political position. A fourth, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, served on the PSC prior to having become lieutenant governor
.
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
of Louisiana Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
s Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
, and Earl Kemp Long who served on the elected Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...
from May 1964, to December 31, 1972. He was unseated in the September 30, 1972, Democratic
Democratic 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...
runoff by Francis Edward Kennon, Jr.
Edward Kennon
Francis Edward Kennon, Jr. , usually known as Ed Kennon is a multi-millionaire Shreveport real-estate developer and a former Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the regulatory body for oil, natural gas, and utilities. He represented north Louisiana on the commission for...
(born 1938), then of 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...
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.
Early years, family, education
Hunt was born in RustonRuston, 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...
, the seat of Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana, to the former Lucille Long (1899–1985) and Stewart Smoker Hunt (1895–1966), a forester
Forester
250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...
. Lucille Long, a native of Winn Parish, was the last of the nine children born to Huey Pierce Long, Sr. (1852–1937), and the former Caledonia Palestine Tison (1860–1913). Lucille Hunt was formerly a teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, the seat of Caddo Parish, and was a prominent civic leader thereafter in Ruston. Hunt also had a sister, Martha, who died in 1965.
Hunt graduated from Ruston High School
Ruston High School
Ruston High School is a 4 year public high school located in the Lincoln Parish School District of Ruston, Louisiana, United States. The school has an enrollment of approximately 1200 students with 85 faculty members; the mascot is the bearcat. The school colors are red and white. Black students...
and the Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
in New Orleans. He was the father of three children, including Stewart T. Hunt (born September 9, 1960) of 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...
. Hunt practiced law in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
, the seat of Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana. He surfaced to public attention in 1964, when he was appointed by Governor John Julian McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
to fill the remaining year and a half of McKeithen's term in the then District 3 (since District 5) seat on the PSC, a position originally held by Hunt's uncle, Huey Long. In February 1965, the two other commissioners named Hunt as the chairman because the presiding officer is traditionally the member whose seat is up for election in the next calendar year."
The election of 1966
In August 1966, Hunt won a full six-year term on the regulatory body by defeating in a heated party runoff his fellow Democrat, then State RepresentativeLouisiana 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...
John Sidney Garrett
John Sidney Garrett
John Sidney Garrett was a conservative Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served from 1948 to 1972 under four gubernatorial administrations. Garrett was a successful businessman in the small town of Haynesville in Claiborne Parish south of the Arkansas state line...
of Haynesville
Haynesville, Louisiana
Haynesville is a town in northern Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States, located just south of the Arkansas border. The population was 2,679 at the 2000 census....
in northern Claiborne Parish just south of the Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
state line. While McKeithen endorsed Hunt for a PSC term of his own, he also had a good relationship with Garrett, whom he later tapped to be Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the Louisiana House from 1968-1972.
In the 1966 campaign, Hunt stressed that he had worked closely with the Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry to create "thousands of new jobs" in the state. After an inconclusive first primary in which four candidates, including State Representative Parey Branton
Parey Branton
Parey Pershing Branton, Sr. , was a businessman from Shongaloo, Louisiana, who was from 1960 to 1972 a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from what is now District 10 in Webster Parish...
of Shongaloo
Shongaloo, Louisiana
Shongaloo is a village in Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States.West of Shongaloo on Louisiana Highway 2 is Munn Hill, a homestead of Daniel and Rebecca Munn, established on July 26, 1900....
and former lawmaker Wellborn Jack of Shreveport, were eliminated, Hunt and Garrett met in the September 24, runoff election. Hunt had enjoyed a considerable plurality in the primary.
Garrett claimed after the primary that Hunt had received 93.1 percent of the votes of 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...
s in nine selected precincts throughout the district, which then embraced a third of the state., but the runoff results were much closer. Hunt and Garrett each carried fourteen parishes ; there were then twenty-eight parishes in the district. Hunt prevailed by 9,896 votes: 91,971 (52.5 percent) to 83,075 (47.5 percent). Hunt led in the more populous parishes of Rapides
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
, Natchitoches, and three others where he had resided at one time or the other: Caddo
Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Caddo Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Shreveport; as of 2000, the population was 252,161...
, Lincoln, and Ouachita. Garrett won the entire northern tier of parishes which borders Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
except for Caddo on the west and East Carroll Parish
East Carroll Parish, Louisiana
East Carroll Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Lake Providence and as of 2010, the population was 7,759.-Law and government:In the 2004 presidential race, East Carroll gave the George W. Bush - Richard B...
on the far northeast. He also won several parishes in north central and northeastern Louisiana: Grant, La Salle, Catahoula, Franklin, Richland, and Winn, the ancestral home of the Longs, who had traditionally remained loyal Democrats.
In the campaign, Hunt defended his two-year record on the PSC, which regulates all interstate transportation and utility services within the state except those owned by a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
. He said that utility companies should make a "fair profit but no more." He listed his goals in a full term as providing parishwide toll-free telephone service and to reduce intrastate tolls on calls.".
A self-described "conservative Democrat", Hunt had endorsed Republican
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...
presidential nominee U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in 1964. Hunt's cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
, U.S. Senator Russell B. Long
Russell B. Long
Russell Billiu Long was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987.-Early life:...
, however, had worked unsuccessfully to carry Louisiana for U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
. Garrett, a member of the state House since 1948, was the chairman of the former Joint Legislative Committee on Segregation, a panel once chaired by legendary State Senator
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...
William M. Rainach
William M. Rainach
William Monroe Rainach, Sr., known as Willie Rainach , was a state legislator from rural Summerfield in Claiborne Parish who led Louisiana's "Massive Resistance" to desegregation during the last half of the 1950s...
, also of Claiborne Parish. This particular runoff election was the first significant test in Louisiana politics between party factions since President Johnson had signed the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
into law the preceding year. The new law, which enforced the Fifteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"...
to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
led to the registration of large numbers of 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...
voters throughout the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
. Many of these newer voters provided crucial support to Hunt, who was seen as more moderate on the racial issue than the segregationist Garrett. In fact, Garrett, who won the backing of three of the eliminated primary candidates, had claimed that Hunt was dependent on the "black bloc vote". Some even accused Hunt of having catered to "black power" elements.
In his victory statement, Hunt said that he had "overcome a slanderous campaign, and by winning I have tremendously enhanced the image of this state. . . . I was known by my opponent and his associates to be a conservative, but in spite of this, they attacked my character and made charges that I was a liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, despite my public record to the contrary."
The 1972 campaign
Hunt sought a second term in 1972. He told voters that he had never missed a PSC meeting during his eight years on the panel and had handled more than two thousand cases. He ran into serious opposition from Edward Kennon, the man who had placed third in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governorLieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
in 1971. In a first primary in August, Hunt trailed Kennon, 106,212 (40.8 percent) to 122,573 (47.1 percent). Another 31,692 votes (12.2 percent) were cast for a Long kinsman, "Huey P. Long" (1929–2004), then of Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....
in Rapides Parish Hunt won only ten of the then thirty-three parishes in the district, including his home bases of Lincoln and Ouachita. Hunt accused Kennon of having recruited Long into the race to split Hunt's pro-Long backing. Kennon led in twenty-three parishes in the sprawling district, which then stretched as far south as West Baton Rouge Parish. He won 58 percent in his native Webster Parish and also procured pluralities in Natchitoches, La Salle, De Soto, Avoyelles, St. Landry, and the Long traditional stronghold of Winn, which Hunt had also lost despite his family connections in 1966 to Garrett. Hunt's strongest parishes were Caddo, Bossier, Lincoln, Ouachita, and Jackson.
In the September 30 party runoff, Kennon easily defeated Hunt, 125,877 votes (58 percent) to 90,833 (42 percent), having procured twenty-nine parishes to Hunt's four. Hunt lost his native Lincoln Parish in the runoff by 176 votes and held his home base, Ouachita Parish, by a single vote, 15,502 to 15,501, presumably his own. Kennon was unopposed in the November 7 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...
because, as in 1966, no Republican candidate qualified for the ballot. Kennon was also a nephew of a former Louisiana governor, Robert F. Kennon
Robert F. Kennon
Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
, who served from 1952-1956. Three Louisiana governors, Long, McKeithen, and James Houston "Jimmie" Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
all served on the PSC prior to having been elected to the state's top political position. A fourth, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, served on the PSC prior to having become lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
.