Cecil R. Blair
Encyclopedia
Cecil Ray Blair was a Rapides Parish farmer
and businessman who was a Democratic
member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature
during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives
from 1952 to 1956. His service in the Louisiana State Senate
came in two segments, 1960–1964 and 1966-1976.
He lived, first, in the Paradise Community north of the Red River in northern Rapides Parish and, later, on Jackson Street Extension in Alexandria
. He is most associated, however, with his farm near Lecompte
, a community located south of Alexandria, the Rapides Parish seat of government
and the largest city
in central Louisiana.
family to Alabama
native Homer Franklin Blair (1889–1956) and the Mississippi
native, the former Hersie Elnora Pearson (1888–1979), in tiny Morgantown in Marion County
near Columbia
in southwestern Mississippi. Blair grew up in Sicily Island
, a small community in Catahoula Parish northeast of Alexandria.
After he graduated from Sicily Island High School
in 1934, 18-year-old Cecil Blair, with virtually no money, went to Ruston
, the seat of Lincoln Parish to attend Louisiana Tech University
. He worked his way through college and completed a bachelor of science
degree in biology
in 1938. At Tech, he met the love of his life, the former Virginia Susan Ruth "Susie" George (March 4, 1917 - May 1, 2005). After graduation, Cecil decided to enroll in graduate school
at Louisiana State University
to procure a master of science
degree in his chosen field of entomology
, and Susie joined him at LSU to complete her studies.
Susie Blair, the daughter of the Reverend Albert George and the former Ruth Hoffpauir, grew up in Methodist parsonages throughout the state. She was born in the village
of Bonita
in Morehouse Parish in northeast Louisiana. Susie was an author
of two children's books, which focused on life around the Blair farm. The book Easter Pony received international acclaim and was listed as one of the year's best books by the American Library Association
in the year it was published. She also had unrealized talent for art
, which particularly showed up in the next generation through her older son and younger daughter.
The couple moved to Alexandria in 1940. They had four children: Rebecca "Becky" Blair Tisdale (born 1942), Richard "Nippy" Blair (born 1943), Robert Blair (born 1948), all of Alexandria, and Jane Blair Couvillon (1950-1988: a cancer
victim). Becky is a retired teacher
and the widow of history
professor
Garry Lee Tisdale, a native of Tyler, Texas
. Tisdale began teaching at Louisiana State University at Alexandria
in 1966. He died of brain cancer in 2000 at the age of fifty-six, and LSUA subsequently honored him with the naming of Garry Tisdale Drive on the campus. Robert "Bobby" Blair runs the Blair farm and Blair's former vegetable stand called the "Old Gray Mule", a favorite gathering place for Louisiana politicos off U.S. Highway 71 near the farm. It was at the Old Gray Mule that Blair developed his skills as a raconteur. He dubbed his farm "The Sweet Corn Capital of Louisiana." Nippy Blair is a well-known regional artist and the building superintendent of Emmanuel Baptist Church in downtown Alexandria.
In 1944, Blair, though he had two small children, enlisted in the United States Navy
and served in the Pacific Theatre for the remainder of World War II
.
faction
of his state's party, principally because he loathed corruption and favoritism in government.
As a House member, Blair supported farmers who needed open range
lands. During the administration of Governor
Robert F. Kennon
, Blair authored the bill to fence the highways to keep roaming cattle
off the roads. He worked to obtain the relocation to Alexandria of St. Mary's Training School for the handicapped. In the Senate, Blair pushed for the creation of Buhlow Lake adjacent to the Red River in Pineville, where popular boat
races are held. In the House multi-district, Blair served with two colleagues from Rapides Parish, Lloyd George Teekell and H.N. Goff. In effect, Blair replaced W. George Bowdon, Jr.
, who left the legislature after a single term to run successfully for mayor
of Alexandria in 1953.
Blair worked for the establishment of the original two-year LSUA, which is located near his Lecompte farm in south Rapides Parish. Years later, the school was given four-year status, a breakthrough which came only a few weeks before Blair's death.
Blair was known for his constituent services and his efforts to improve Louisiana Highway 1
between Shreveport
and Baton Rouge. He also supported highway beautification
and personally planted flowers along U.S. Highway 71 near his farm. He opposed having the office of state superintendent of education be made appointive, having explaiend that would prefer the judgment of three million voters, rather than a small group deciding who should hold the top post in education.
Blair first ran for the state Senate in 1956 but was defeated in the Earl Long
landslide by the Longite choice, Crawford Hugh "Sammy" Downs, of Alexandria. In 1960, Blair unseated Downs in the Democratic primary. In 1964, Blair was beaten by George Ray Lee, who died in office midway through his term. In the 1966 special election to replace Lee, Blair waged a victorious comeback. He won again in 1968 and 1972. From 1969 to 1972, he and Sylvan Friedman
of Natchitoches Parish represented a two-member district that included Grant Parish
.
In his last Senate term, Blair was also elected on a nonpartisan
ballot as a delegate to the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which drafted the state's current framework of government, as approved by voters in the spring of 1974.
Councilman at-large and former Mayor Floyd W. Smith, Jr.
(1932–2010). The third-place candidate, future Alexandria Finance and Utilities Commissioner Arnold Jack Rosenthal
(1923–2010), threw his support to Smith. Blair, however, defeated Smith by some 2,000 votes. It was something of a Long v. anti-Long battle in that Smith's mother was a Long. There was no Republican
opposition in the general election
held on February 1, 1972; so Blair secured his fourth and final term in the new single-member Senate District 29.
by then State Representative
and later Alexandria Mayor Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr.
Thereafter, he failed in comeback attempts for his former Senate seat in 1979, 1983, and 1987. While Randolph unseated Blair, in the same election, then Democrat John W. "Jock" Scott
won Randolph's House seat. Randolph and Scott purported to be "new" politicians not molded to failures of the past. It was the same kind of environment which a year later enabled former Georgia
Governor Jimmy Carter
to win the presidency. In fact, Randolph and Scott comanaged Carter's Rapides Parish campaign in 1976.
classmate of Blair's two older children. He tried to dislodge Randolph in the 1979 primary and failed. In 1983, Blair attempted again. In a surprise of sorts, Randolph was unseated, not by Blair, but by Pineville businessman William Joseph "Joe" McPherson, Jr.
, later of Woodworth
. Randolph led in the initial balloting with 13,501 votes (38.4 percent) to McPherson's 11,032 ballots (31.4 percent). Blair received 6,096 votes (17.4 percent), and Alexandria Mayor John K. Snyder
, in fourth place, received only 4,496 votes (12.8 percent). In the runoff—officially the Louisiana general election—McPherson won, 16,360 votes (53.9 percent) to Randolph's 13,973 (46.1 percent).
In 1987, Blair attempted to regain the Senate seat. He and outgoing state Representative Jock Scott, then a convert to the Republican Party, challenged McPherson, who had the support of organized labor. McPherson polled 16,950 (51 percent) in the primary and hence retained the seat outright. Scott trailed with 12,346 votes (37 percent). Blair netted 4,245 votes (13 percent). In 1995, Blair once more attempted to regain the Senate seat but failed to make the general election runoff in a field of seven candidates. The Senate seat was won by the Reverend B.G. Dyess
, the retired Rapides Parish voter registrar and a Baptist clergyman who campaigned against gambling
. Dyess served for four years and, because of his wife's health, did not seek a second term in 1999. McPherson made an unsuccessful bid for Public Service Commissioner in 1995 and lost to Dale Sittig
of Eunice
. McPherson returned to the Senate in 2000 and easily won a third consecutive term in the jungle primary held on October 20, 2007.
Blair was active in community affairs, having been a former president of the Alexandria-Pineville
Chamber of Commerce
and the Kiwanis Club. In the late 1950s, while he was returning from church with his family when the Blairs resided in the Paradise community, he once saved from drowning
two young men that he saw floundering in the Red River from an overturned boat.
Blair, who had smoked cigar
s since he was a teenager, died of heart
failure at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
in Houston
. He had undergone open-heart surgery for a valve replacement. While he appeared to have recovered from the surgery itself, his systems shut down thereafter. Politicos from throughout central Louisiana attended the funeral, including legendary attorney Camille F. Gravel, Jr.
, Rapides Parish Sheriff
William Earl Hilton, then Alexandria Mayor Randolph, who had ended Blair's Senate career, and District Attorney
James "Jam" Downs, the son of Blair's old rival C.H. Downs.
The Reverend Larry Taylor, pastor of Blair's Emmanuel Baptist Church, said that the first time he met Blair he thought that he had seen "a figure who had stepped out of the pages of southern literature." Taylor lamented that "Even someone with a heart as big as Cecil R. Blair's couldn't keep going forever. Cecil had a big heart that finally gave out."
Cecil and Susie Blair are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.
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 businessman who was a 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...
member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature
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...
during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives
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 1952 to 1956. His service 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...
came in two segments, 1960–1964 and 1966-1976.
He lived, first, in the Paradise Community north of the Red River in northern Rapides Parish and, later, on Jackson Street Extension in Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
. He is most associated, however, with his farm near Lecompte
Lecompte, Louisiana
Lecompte is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,366 at the 2000 census....
, a community located south of Alexandria, the Rapides Parish seat of government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and the largest city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in central Louisiana.
Early years, education, military, family
Blair was the third of eight children born in a sharecroppingSharecropping
Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land . This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of...
family to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
native Homer Franklin Blair (1889–1956) and the 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...
native, the former Hersie Elnora Pearson (1888–1979), in tiny Morgantown in Marion County
Marion County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 25,595 people, 9,336 households, and 6,880 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 10,395 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
near Columbia
Columbia, Mississippi
Columbia is a city in Marion County, Mississippi, United States, which was formed six years before Mississippi was admitted to statehood. Columbia was named for Columbia, South Carolina, from which many of the early settlers had migrated. The population was 6,603 as of the 2000 census. It is the...
in southwestern Mississippi. Blair grew up in 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 ....
, a small community in Catahoula Parish northeast of Alexandria.
After he graduated from Sicily Island 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 1934, 18-year-old Cecil Blair, with virtually no money, went to 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 to attend Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
. He worked his way through college and completed 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 biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
in 1938. At Tech, he met the love of his life, the former Virginia Susan Ruth "Susie" George (March 4, 1917 - May 1, 2005). After graduation, Cecil decided to enroll in graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
at 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...
to procure a master of science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree in his chosen field of entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
, and Susie joined him at LSU to complete her studies.
Susie Blair, the daughter of the Reverend Albert George and the former Ruth Hoffpauir, grew up in Methodist parsonages throughout the state. She was born in the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Bonita
Bonita, Louisiana
Bonita is a village in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 335 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bastrop Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Bonita is located at ....
in Morehouse Parish in northeast Louisiana. Susie was an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of two children's books, which focused on life around the Blair farm. The book Easter Pony received international acclaim and was listed as one of the year's best books by the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
in the year it was published. She also had unrealized talent for art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, which particularly showed up in the next generation through her older son and younger daughter.
The couple moved to Alexandria in 1940. They had four children: Rebecca "Becky" Blair Tisdale (born 1942), Richard "Nippy" Blair (born 1943), Robert Blair (born 1948), all of Alexandria, and Jane Blair Couvillon (1950-1988: a cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
victim). Becky is a retired 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...
and the widow of 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...
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...
Garry Lee Tisdale, a native of Tyler, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
. Tisdale began teaching 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...
in 1966. He died of brain cancer in 2000 at the age of fifty-six, and LSUA subsequently honored him with the naming of Garry Tisdale Drive on the campus. Robert "Bobby" Blair runs the Blair farm and Blair's former vegetable stand called the "Old Gray Mule", a favorite gathering place for Louisiana politicos off U.S. Highway 71 near the farm. It was at the Old Gray Mule that Blair developed his skills as a raconteur. He dubbed his farm "The Sweet Corn Capital of Louisiana." Nippy Blair is a well-known regional artist and the building superintendent of Emmanuel Baptist Church in downtown Alexandria.
In 1944, Blair, though he had two small children, enlisted in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and served in the Pacific Theatre for the remainder of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Legislative highlights
Blair was affiliated with the anti-LongEarl Long
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
faction
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
of his state's party, principally because he loathed corruption and favoritism in government.
As a House member, Blair supported farmers who needed open range
Open range
Open range may refer to: vast areas of grassy land that is owned by the federal government.*Rangeland, vast natural landscapes*Open Range, the 2003 Western movie co-starring, co-produced, and directed by Kevin Costner...
lands. During the administration 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...
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....
, Blair authored the bill to fence the highways to keep roaming cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
off the roads. He worked to obtain the relocation to Alexandria of St. Mary's Training School for the handicapped. In the Senate, Blair pushed for the creation of Buhlow Lake adjacent to the Red River in Pineville, where popular boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
races are held. In the House multi-district, Blair served with two colleagues from Rapides Parish, Lloyd George Teekell and H.N. Goff. In effect, Blair replaced W. George Bowdon, Jr.
W. George Bowdon, Jr.
William George Bowdon, Jr., was the Democratic mayor of Alexandria, the largest city in central Louisiana, from 1953–1969. At thirty-one, he was the youngest mayor in his city's history and the first to serve a four-year, instead of a two-year, term...
, who left the legislature after a single term to run successfully for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Alexandria in 1953.
Blair worked for the establishment of the original two-year LSUA, which is located near his Lecompte farm in south Rapides Parish. Years later, the school was given four-year status, a breakthrough which came only a few weeks before Blair's death.
Blair was known for his constituent services and his efforts to improve Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 1 is a state highway in Louisiana. At 436.20 miles , it is the longest numbered highway of any class in Louisiana. It runs diagonally across the state, connecting the oil and gas fields near the island of Grand Isle with the northwest corner of the state, north of Shreveport.The...
between 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....
and Baton Rouge. He also supported highway beautification
Highway beautification
Highway beautification is landscaping and control of the usage of the land by highways.In the United States, highway beautification is subject the Highway Beautification Act, Section 131 of Title 23, United States Code , commonly referred to as "Title I of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, as...
and personally planted flowers along U.S. Highway 71 near his farm. He opposed having the office of state superintendent of education be made appointive, having explaiend that would prefer the judgment of three million voters, rather than a small group deciding who should hold the top post in education.
Blair first ran for the state Senate in 1956 but was defeated in the Earl Long
Earl Long
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
landslide by the Longite choice, Crawford Hugh "Sammy" Downs, of Alexandria. In 1960, Blair unseated Downs in the Democratic primary. In 1964, Blair was beaten by George Ray Lee, who died in office midway through his term. In the 1966 special election to replace Lee, Blair waged a victorious comeback. He won again in 1968 and 1972. From 1969 to 1972, he and Sylvan Friedman
Sylvan Friedman
Sylvan N. Friedman was a Louisiana politician, a rare Jewish member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature...
of Natchitoches Parish represented a two-member district that included Grant Parish
Grant Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 18,698 people, 7,073 households, and 5,276 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 8,531 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
.
In his last Senate term, Blair was also elected on a nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
ballot as a delegate to the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which drafted the state's current framework of government, as approved by voters in the spring of 1974.
The election of 1971
In the 1971 closed primary, the last held for Louisiana legislative races, Blair was forced into a second primary by PinevillePineville, 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....
Councilman at-large and former Mayor Floyd W. Smith, Jr.
Floyd Smith (Louisiana politician)
Floyd William Smith, Jr. , was a businessman from Winnfield, Louisiana, who served as the Democratic mayor of Pineville in Rapides Parish from 1966-1970. He was a maternal second cousin of former U.S. Representative Speedy O...
(1932–2010). The third-place candidate, future Alexandria Finance and Utilities Commissioner Arnold Jack Rosenthal
Arnold Jack Rosenthal
Arnold Jack Rosenthal was an attorney and businessman from Alexandria, Louisiana, who from 1973 to 1977 was his city's last elected municipal commissioner of finance and utilities.-Family and educational background:...
(1923–2010), threw his support to Smith. Blair, however, defeated Smith by some 2,000 votes. It was something of a Long v. anti-Long battle in that Smith's mother was a Long. There was no 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...
opposition 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...
held on February 1, 1972; so Blair secured his fourth and final term in the new single-member Senate District 29.
Defeat in 1975
After a total of eighteen years in both legislative chambers, Blair was unseated n the 1975 jungle primaryJungle 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...
by then State Representative
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...
and later Alexandria Mayor Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr.
Ned Randolph
Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. , is a veteran Democratic politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria in central Louisiana from 1986 to 2006. Randolph was also a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976 and the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 1984...
Thereafter, he failed in comeback attempts for his former Senate seat in 1979, 1983, and 1987. While Randolph unseated Blair, in the same election, then Democrat John W. "Jock" Scott
Jock Scott
John Wyeth "Jock" Scott, II was a lawyer and college professor in Alexandria, who served three terms from District 26 in the Louisiana House of Representatives, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican . He was defeated in a race for the Louisiana State Senate in 1987...
won Randolph's House seat. Randolph and Scott purported to be "new" politicians not molded to failures of the past. It was the same kind of environment which a year later enabled former Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Governor Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
to win the presidency. In fact, Randolph and Scott comanaged Carter's Rapides Parish campaign in 1976.
Four later campaigns
Blair was never reconciled to the election of Randolph, who had been a Bolton High SchoolBolton High School
Bolton High School is the name of several schools:*Bolton High School in Bolton, Connecticut*Bolton High School in Alexandria, Louisiana*Bolton High School in Arlington, Tennessee...
classmate of Blair's two older children. He tried to dislodge Randolph in the 1979 primary and failed. In 1983, Blair attempted again. In a surprise of sorts, Randolph was unseated, not by Blair, but by Pineville businessman William Joseph "Joe" McPherson, Jr.
Joe McPherson
William Joseph "Joe" McPherson, Jr., is a retiring veteran Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from Woodworth, a small community south of Alexandria, Louisiana, the seat of government of Rapides Parish and the largest city in the Central Louisiana region...
, later of Woodworth
Woodworth, Louisiana
Woodworth is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,080 at the 2000 census....
. Randolph led in the initial balloting with 13,501 votes (38.4 percent) to McPherson's 11,032 ballots (31.4 percent). Blair received 6,096 votes (17.4 percent), and Alexandria Mayor John K. Snyder
John K. Snyder
John Kenneth Snyder, Sr., sometimes known as Tillie Snyder , was a colorful, outspoken Democratic mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, from 1973–1977 and again from 1982-1986....
, in fourth place, received only 4,496 votes (12.8 percent). In the runoff—officially the Louisiana general election—McPherson won, 16,360 votes (53.9 percent) to Randolph's 13,973 (46.1 percent).
In 1987, Blair attempted to regain the Senate seat. He and outgoing state Representative Jock Scott, then a convert to the Republican Party, challenged McPherson, who had the support of organized labor. McPherson polled 16,950 (51 percent) in the primary and hence retained the seat outright. Scott trailed with 12,346 votes (37 percent). Blair netted 4,245 votes (13 percent). In 1995, Blair once more attempted to regain the Senate seat but failed to make the general election runoff in a field of seven candidates. The Senate seat was won by the Reverend B.G. Dyess
B.G. Dyess
Bernice G. Dyess, known as B. G. Dyess , is a semi-retired Baptist minister from Alexandria, Louisiana, who served as a conservative Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1996 to 2000, in which capacity he was known for his opposition to gambling...
, the retired Rapides Parish voter registrar and a Baptist clergyman who campaigned against gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
. Dyess served for four years and, because of his wife's health, did not seek a second term in 1999. McPherson made an unsuccessful bid for Public Service Commissioner in 1995 and lost to Dale Sittig
Dale Sittig
Clifton Dale Sittig is the director of the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority, who previously served from 1995-2008 as a Democratic member of his state’s Public Service Commission and from 1983-1995 as a state representative from Eunice in St. Landry Parish in south Louisiana.Sittig graduated...
of Eunice
Eunice, Louisiana
Eunice is a city in Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 11,499 at the 2000 census.The St...
. McPherson returned to the Senate in 2000 and easily won a third consecutive term in the jungle primary held on October 20, 2007.
Blair's legacy and obituary
Blair put his entomological skills to use with his successful Blair Laboratories pesticide business, which he operated for many years in Alexandria. Daughter Rebecca Tisdale said that her father was too independent to work for others; so he chose self-employment in farming and pesticides. She said that her father struggled as a youth and was dismissed as "white trash" because of his poverty. Such obstacles made him exceptionally determined to succeed: he was the kind of man who could not easily accept rejection. His life story fits the Horatio Alger mode. Ironically, he would years later serve in the Senate with another Catahoula Parish native, the anti-Long J.C. "Sonny" Gilbert of Sicily Island.Blair was active in community affairs, having been a former president of the Alexandria-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....
Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and the Kiwanis Club. In the late 1950s, while he was returning from church with his family when the Blairs resided in the Paradise community, he once saved from drowning
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
two young men that he saw floundering in the Red River from an overturned boat.
Blair, who had smoked cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s since he was a teenager, died of heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
failure at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital serves as the lead hospital for St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, and is based at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. St. Luke's Episcopal Health System also includes St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital, St. Luke's Sugar Land...
in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. He had undergone open-heart surgery for a valve replacement. While he appeared to have recovered from the surgery itself, his systems shut down thereafter. Politicos from throughout central Louisiana attended the funeral, including legendary attorney Camille F. Gravel, Jr.
Camille Gravel
Camille Francis Gravel, Jr. , was a Louisiana, Democratic politician.Gravel spent much time and money supporting the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII honored Gravel with the "Order of St. Gregory" for his outstanding service to the church.-Education:Gravel graduated in 1935 from the University...
, Rapides Parish Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
William Earl Hilton, then Alexandria Mayor Randolph, who had ended Blair's Senate career, and District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
James "Jam" Downs, the son of Blair's old rival C.H. Downs.
The Reverend Larry Taylor, pastor of Blair's Emmanuel Baptist Church, said that the first time he met Blair he thought that he had seen "a figure who had stepped out of the pages of southern literature." Taylor lamented that "Even someone with a heart as big as Cecil R. Blair's couldn't keep going forever. Cecil had a big heart that finally gave out."
Cecil and Susie Blair are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.