Randy Ewing
Encyclopedia
Randy Lew Ewing is a Jackson Parish businessman who, as a Democrat
, represented District 35 (Jackson, Lincoln, Union, and part of Ouachita parishes) in the Louisiana State Senate
from 1988 to 2000. He was the State Senate President in his last term from 1996 to 2000, which corresponded with the first term of Republican
Governor
Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Ewing recalls his humble roots. His father was given a job at the Louisiana State University
student farm in Baton Rouge during the depths of the Great Depression
through the intervention of Governor
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. The senior Ewing was therefore able to study at LSU. Ewing explained accordingly: "My father's stories of LSU, Huey Long, and Baton Rouge because almost mystical in my family. This life-changing opportunity for a 19-year-old poverty-stricken boy from Chatham
[Jackson Parish] bore great influence on subsequent generations" of the Ewing family.
Ewing is married to the former Rosemary Upshaw. There have two grown children, Ashley and Brandon. He graduated in 1962 from Jonesboro-Hodge
High School
. In 1966, he received a bachelor of science
degree in business
and finance
from the E.J. Ourso College of Business at LSU
. He studied history
there under the famous professor
Stephen Ambrose
.
Ewing owns Ewing Timber Co., a business in Quitman
, a small town near the parish seat of Jonesboro
, in north Louisiana. Ewing maintained his Senate office in the nearby larger city of Ruston
, the seat of Lincoln Parish. In Ruston, he is a director of American Bank and the private Cedar Creek School. He has served on the board of the Louisiana Methodist Children's Home in Ruston. He and Mrs. Ewing have long supported Boy Scouts of America
and Girl Scouts of the USA
. Ewing is a member of the Lions Club.
He is a past president of the Louisiana Forestry
Association and a former chairman of the Louisiana Forestry Commission. He is also a former member of the Louisiana Ad Valorem Tax Commission.
In the Senate, Ewing authored the Louisiana "Balanced Budget Amendment" and the establishment of the state mineral trust fund. He was active in promoting government ethics, the treatment of substance abuse, the prevention of child abuse, and reforms in education. In 1998, Ewing served on a citizens Advisory Committee recommending reforms to the Louisiana Supreme Court
.
In 2003, Ewing launched an unsuccessful campaign for governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished in fifth place with some 123,936 votes (9 percent). Ewing won the endorsement of Democrats Ray Nagin
, then the mayor of New Orleans
; former state Representatives Kenneth Volentine
, then the sheriff of Claiborne Parish, and Virgil Orr
of Lincoln Parish, along with the Republicans, state Senator Robert J. Barham
of Oak Ridge
in Morehouse Parish and former state Senator Thomas H. Casanova, III
, a Crowley
ophthalmologist and a former LSU football
great. Though he is considered a generally conservative Democrat, the Christian Coalition rated Ewing at only 44 percent, compared to 90 percent for sitting Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter
. The winner of the gubernatorial race was Ewing's fellow Democrat, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
of Lafayette.
In 1996, Louisiana Governmental Services, Inc., called Ewing the "conscience of the Senate". In 1999, Ewing was inducted into the LSU Hall of Distinction.
In 2008, Ewing held a fund raiser at his home for Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu
, who defeated her Republican opponent, State Treasurer
John N. Kennedy
. to win a third term. Among those attending the gathering was the Republican U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander
.
On January 30, 2010, Ewing, along with Rodney Alexander and the late Charlton Lyons
, was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
.
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...
, represented District 35 (Jackson, Lincoln, Union, and part of Ouachita parishes) 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...
from 1988 to 2000. He was the State Senate President in his last term from 1996 to 2000, which corresponded with the first term of 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...
Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
Ewing recalls his humble roots. His father was given a job at the Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
student farm in Baton Rouge during the depths of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
through the intervention of Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. The senior Ewing was therefore able to study at LSU. Ewing explained accordingly: "My father's stories of LSU, Huey Long, and Baton Rouge because almost mystical in my family. This life-changing opportunity for a 19-year-old poverty-stricken boy from Chatham
Chatham, Louisiana
Chatham is a town in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 623 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area.Southwest of Chatham is Caney Lake and the Jimmie Davis State Park.'-Geography:...
[Jackson Parish] bore great influence on subsequent generations" of the Ewing family.
Ewing is married to the former Rosemary Upshaw. There have two grown children, Ashley and Brandon. He graduated in 1962 from Jonesboro-Hodge
Hodge, Louisiana
Hodge is a village in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 492 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. In 1966, he received a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
from the E.J. Ourso College of Business at LSU
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
. He studied history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
there under the famous professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long time professor of history at the University of New Orleans and the author of many best selling volumes of American popular history...
.
Ewing owns Ewing Timber Co., a business in Quitman
Quitman, Louisiana
Quitman is a village in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 168. Quitman is south of Ruston on U.S. Highway 167, and north of Jonesboro, the parish seat of Jackson Parish...
, a small town near the parish seat of Jonesboro
Jonesboro, Louisiana
Jonesboro is a town in and the parish seat of Jackson Parish in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 3,914 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, in north Louisiana. Ewing maintained his Senate office in the nearby larger city of 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...
, the seat of Lincoln Parish. In Ruston, he is a director of American Bank and the private Cedar Creek School. He has served on the board of the Louisiana Methodist Children's Home in Ruston. He and Mrs. Ewing have long supported Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
and Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts of the USA
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...
. Ewing is a member of the Lions Club.
He is a past president of the Louisiana Forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
Association and a former chairman of the Louisiana Forestry Commission. He is also a former member of the Louisiana Ad Valorem Tax Commission.
In the Senate, Ewing authored the Louisiana "Balanced Budget Amendment" and the establishment of the state mineral trust fund. He was active in promoting government ethics, the treatment of substance abuse, the prevention of child abuse, and reforms in education. In 1998, Ewing served on a citizens Advisory Committee recommending reforms to the Louisiana Supreme Court
Louisiana Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....
.
In 2003, Ewing launched an unsuccessful campaign for governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished in fifth place with some 123,936 votes (9 percent). Ewing won the endorsement of Democrats Ray Nagin
Ray Nagin
Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is a former mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Nagin gained international note in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the New Orleans area....
, then the mayor of New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
; former state Representatives Kenneth Volentine
Kenneth Volentine
Kenneth Lee Volentine is a livestock and dairy farmer who previously served as a state representative and sheriff of his native Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana.-Background:...
, then the sheriff of Claiborne Parish, and Virgil Orr
Virgil Orr
Virgil L. Orr is a retired engineering professor and administrator at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 12 from 1988-1992.-Background:Orr graduated in 1940 from Glenmora High School in Glenmora...
of Lincoln Parish, along with the Republicans, state Senator Robert J. Barham
Robert J. Barham
Robert Jocelyn Barham is a large-scale farmer from Morehouse Parish who has been appointed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as the secretary of the state's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries...
of Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge, Louisiana
Oak Ridge is a village in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 142 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bastrop Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Oak Ridge is located at ....
in Morehouse Parish and former state Senator Thomas H. Casanova, III
Tommy Casanova
Thomas Henry "Tommy" Casanova, III is an ophthalmologist in Crowley, Louisiana, and a former American football player and politician. He played football for the LSU Tigers and the Cincinnati Bengals...
, a Crowley
Crowley, Louisiana
Crowley is a city in and the parish seat of Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 14,225 at the 2000 census. The city is noted for its annual International Rice Festival. Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for...
ophthalmologist and a former LSU football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
great. Though he is considered a generally conservative Democrat, the Christian Coalition rated Ewing at only 44 percent, compared to 90 percent for sitting Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter
David Vitter
David Vitter is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of...
. The winner of the gubernatorial race was Ewing's fellow Democrat, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
Kathleen Blanco
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was the 54th Governor of Louisiana, having served from January 2004 until January 2008. She was the first woman to be elected to the office of governor of Louisiana....
of Lafayette.
In 1996, Louisiana Governmental Services, Inc., called Ewing the "conscience of the Senate". In 1999, Ewing was inducted into the LSU Hall of Distinction.
In 2008, Ewing held a fund raiser at his home for Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
, who defeated her Republican opponent, State Treasurer
State Treasurer
In the state governments of the United States, 49 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. Texas abolished the position of Texas State Treasurer in 1996....
John N. Kennedy
John N. Kennedy
John Neely Kennedy is the Republican state treasurer of Louisiana. He was re-elected without opposition to his fourth term as State Treasurer on September 8, 2011.-Early life and career:...
. to win a third term. Among those attending the gathering was the Republican U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander
Rodney Alexander
Rodney McKinnie Alexander is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district covers twenty-two parishes in roughly the northeast quadrant of the state...
.
On January 30, 2010, Ewing, along with Rodney Alexander and the late Charlton Lyons
Charlton Lyons
Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...
, was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
.