Dan Richey
Encyclopedia
Daniel Wesley "Dan" Richey (born October 31, 1948) is a Baton Rouge-based political consultant for "pro-family" candidates and organizations, including Louisiana Family Forum
. From 1997 to 2004, Richey served under appointment of Republican
Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
, as director of the federally-funded Governor's Program on Abstinence
.
Richey was a Democratic
member of the state House
(1976–1980) and the Senate (1980–1984). He left the Democrats in 1984 because of the party's abortion
stance, became an independent
for a decade
, and then switched to the Republican Party in 1994 when the party won majorities in the U.S. Congress. In 2004, Richey was elected to the Republican State Central Committee from state Representative District 61 (East Baton Rouge Parish). He defeated the African American
Kirt Bennett
(1967–2010), 102-65, in a low-turnout closed primary. Bennett had been a candidate for lieutenant governor
in 2003. Richey was reelected to the central committee in the closed primary for party offices held on February 9, 2008. He defeated Cyrus Greco, 414 (57 percent) to 313 (43 percent).
in Concordia Parish near the Mississippi River
. Though its population is under 4,000, Ferriday is the hometown of some half dozen well-known personalities, including the cousins Jimmy Swaggart
and Jerry Lee Lewis
, and the television news commentators Howard K. Smith
and Campbell Brown
.
Richey is one of five children born to Verne Richey (1914–1993) of Beauregard Parish and his wife, the former Johnnie McIntire (1919–1996) of Baton Rouge. After World War II
, the Richeys settled in Ferriday because Verne became the business manager for the Concordia Parish School Board. Mrs. Richey was a sixth-grade teacher. The Richeys are interred at Magnolia Cemetery
in Beauregard Parish.
At Ferriday High School, Richey set the school scoring record in basketball
. He was the first freshman and four-year starter in the history of the school. He was also first-string All-District for his last three seasons. On of his Ferriday classmates, Rick Nowlin
, currently serves in the Louisiana House from Natchitoches
.
In 1965, Richey was elected president of the Kiwanis
-sponsored Key Club
International, a high school service organization. He traveled some 30000 miles (48,280.2 km) during his senior year to attend Key Club activities and conventions. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
After high school graduation in 1966, Richey studied for two years at Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge, where he was a student senator. He and Pete Maravich
were freshmen teammates on the LSU basketball team. In 1968, Richey transferred under a basketball scholarship to McNeese State University
in Lake Charles
(Calcasieu Parish). He graduated from McNeese in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science
degree in business education
and a minor in physical education
. He continued as a graduate assistant at McNeese while he obtained a Master's degree
in physical education and a minor in school administration. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
In the fall of 1972, Richey entered the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
in New Orleans
. In his second year, he was on the undergraduate faculty as an instructor in physical education. He obtained his law degree in 1975. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
J.C. "Sonny" Gilbert of Sicily Island
in Catahoula Parish, who is also a former state senator, did not seek reelection and supported Richey. The all-Democratic field included Gilbert's predecessor, the late Representative David I. Patten
, a construction company owner from Harrisonburg
, the seat of Catahoula Parish, John Young of Jonesville
(also Catahoula Parish), and Troyce Guice
(1932–2008), a Ferriday businessman originally from St. Joseph
in Tensas Parish who then resided in the neighborhood near the Richeys. According to Richey, Guice was the candidate of the Concordia Parish sheriff
, and Patten was the choice of the Catahoula Parish sheriff. John Young was the preferred candidate of state Senator James Harvey "Jim" Brown, Jr., of Ferriday, a floor leader for Governor Edwin Washington Edwards and the father of Campbell Brown. Using the slogan "No Strings Attached", Richey ran first in the primary and, with Gilbert's support, defeated Patten in the general election
, popularly called the runoff, by a margin of some 57-43 percent. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
. Peters' boss and law partner was District Attorney (and former U.S. Representative) Speedy O. Long
of Jena. Peters thereafter became a judge of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals. No candidate came from Franklin Parish. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Richey recalled that he met in Columbia
with former Governor John Julian McKeithen
, who had been instrumental in Mrs. Winters' election as national committeewoman. Richey found that the two were "apparently . . . on the outs . . . at the time of our election. At one meeting . . . he suggested that I make a big push with black voters by informing them that 'Mary Lou Winters was a member of not one, but two Lilly-white country clubs.' That exact line appeared in campaign letters from me to black voters in the waning days of the election." Once again, Richey ran first in the primary and defeated Mrs. Winters in the second balloting by 58-42 percent. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch]) Mrs. Winters went on to become an elector for President Bill Clinton
in 1996 and later state vice chairman of her party.
. Atkins had also succeeded Richey in the state House four years earlier. Atkins was succeeded in the House by future Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater
, also of Ferriday. Richey said that his close identification with Treen worked against him. Atkins was the choice of powerful Louisiana AFL-CIO
President Victor Bussie
. "Like my colleague from Alexandria, Ned Randolph [later mayor], we were ousted in the Edwards wave of 1983. I lost by about the same margin that I had won on the two previous occasions, 57-43 percent," Richey explained. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Earlier, Richey had warned Edwards that the Reagan election would mean Republican U.S. attorneys, who might launch investigations of the governor and his business and gubernatorial connections: "What better way to protect an incumbent Republican Governor like Dave Treen than by having his chief opponent under investigation or indictment leading up to the 1983 election? While Richey was wrong about the White House protecting Treen, he was prophetic about the later investigations of Edwin Edwards.
. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Richey supported Jenkins' Democratic campaigns for the U.S. Senate in the 1978 jungle primary
and again in 1980, but Jenkins lost to the popular incumbents, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., of Shreveport and Russell B. Long
of Baton Rouge, respectively. Jenkins, like Richey, switched to Republican registration in 1994. In 1996, Jenkins ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Senate against the retiring Johnston's preferred choice, former state Treasurer Mary Landrieu
. Many Republicans charged that Landrieu's narrow victory was based on "phantom voters" from Orleans Parish.
In the middle 1980s, Richey served as vice chairman of Friends of the Americas, a nonprofit organization
founded by Woody Jenkins and his wife, the former Diane Aker. FOA was a "non-political" group which attempted to establish humanitarian programs in Latin America to help the people overcome poverty, natural disasters, or war. The group became a major relief organization with principal operations based in Honduras
along the Nicaragua
n border.
Jenkins and Richey are members of the Council for National Policy
, a conservative think-tank. The group also includes Nelson Bunker Hunt
of Texas
, Phyllis Schlafly
of Missouri
, and until his death, Paul Weyrich
, a Washington-based political activist.
. ERA critics saw the measure as a "federal power grab" that would increase the discretionary powers of federal judges and set aside state laws in regard to the family. Richey worked behind the scenes to convince four fellow committee members, John W. "Jock" Scott
of Alexandria, Michael F. "Mike" Thompson of Lafayette
, A.J. "Buddy" McNamara
of Metairie
, and Lane A. Carson
of New Orleans, to withdraw their earlier support for the ERA. The surprise turnaround of the four members, all of whom later switched to Republican affiliation, killed ERA ratification prospects in Louisiana, much to the consternation of feminist backers of the proposed amendment as well as House Speaker E. L. "Bubba" Henry
of Jonesboro
in Jackson Parish, who thought that he had placed ERA supporters on the committee. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
When the extended deadline for ERA ratification expired, Richey said that the proposed amendment would have been a "radical assault on the Constitution." While the ERA was, in Richey's words, "officially buried", he warned that there would be future battles to "promote a radical social agenda on America." (Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, July 1, 1982)
, which had been strongly opposed by the AFL-CIO. Victor Bussie years later was still calling for the repeal of the measure.
In 1978, Richey was elected to the board of directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council
and later became the group's national secretary.
In 1980, Governor Treen named Richey as the Louisiana chairman of the White House Conference on Families in the Jimmy Carter
administration. In the conference, Richey co-authored with Dr. James Dobson
of Focus on the Family
the panel's minority report. In February 1981, Richey was the first Louisiana elected official to meet in the White House
with newly elected President Ronald W. Reagan, whom he and Jenkins had both endorsed.
Richey and Jenkins were leaders of the movement to legalize home schooling in 1980. The Louisiana Conservative Union named him "Legislator of the Year" in 1979, and the Shreveport-Bossier Pro-Family Forum accorded him similar recognition in 1980.
Jenkins, Richey, Scott, Carson, and Representatives B.F. O'Neal, Jr., of Shreveport and Clark Gaudin
of Baton Rouge formed the Independent Legislative Study Group (ILSG), an informal mix of conservatives who met daily when the House was in session or when important business was pending before committees. "The ILSG enabled us to maximize our fire power against the Edwards machine. We seldom won, but had a good time setting small fires all over the place," Richey recalled. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
, the seat of Concordia Parish, in the firm Koerber and Richey. After five years as a small-town lawyer, Richey decided not to pursue a legal career. Instead, he became the director of development at Magdalen College
, a small private institution in Warner, New Hampshire
.
In 1991, Richey returned to Louisiana as a basketball coach and teacher at South Beauregard High School in Longville in Beauregard Parish, where his parents were retired. In 1993, he became the news director/commentator at WBTR-TV (Channel 19) in Baton Rouge, an independent station then owned by Jenkins. He left the station to head Louisiana’s Governor's Program on Abstinence (GPA).
: "For every one teenager who gets pregnant, ten get a disease." The only way to avoid this, Richey contended, is abstinence until marriage.
The GPA is funded by the federal welfare reform
act of 1996. According to Richey, congressional Republicans knew that Clinton would sign the welfare-reform measure; so they attached a bill to create an abstinence-only education program and authorized its funding with $250 million over five years. The Louisiana program was a national model acclaimed by Focus on the Family and other pro-family organizations. The 36-week program stresses awareness of sexuality, education, behavioral changes, and physical and emotional health.
As GPA director, Richey spoke throughout the state to seventh and eighth graders. He warned of the dangers of premarital intercourse: "My generation participated in the absurdity of 'free love' and now everyone is under the absurd notion of 'safe sex' … Condoms were advertised as the ticket to the party. The bottom line is that the so-called 'safe sex' message is the wrong message. It is a lie," Richey said.
Richey's appointment spurred the opposition of liberals because he came from a religious, not a health background. "I am a faith-based guy," asserted Richey "but there's a component of faith in every civilized institution and every law, for that matter." Richey noted that under the federal law, religion could not be included as an essential aspect of the program.
(St. Tammany Parish) and Lafayette
, however, incorporated religious-based themes in the instruction. Therefore, the American Civil Liberties Union
sued the GPA for violating the First Amendment "establishment clause". Richey pronounced the suit unfounded and without legal merit because he had already corrected the irregularities cited by the ACLU.
After a 2002 hearing, U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.
, of Baton Rouge, a Clinton appointee, ordered the abstinence program to halt the allocation of federal funds to organizations or persons who "advance religion in any way in the course of any event supported in whole or in part by GPA funds." Louisiana ACLU director Joe Cook said that Porteous' ruling, which he termed "very well-reasoned, well-written", marked the first successful court challenge to the federal abstinence program.
Governor Foster said that he would take steps to assure that the GPA complied with the law but he would appeal Porteous' decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. "I have always made it clear that the courts will not allow the use of state or federal funds to promote religion. . . . It's a sad day when such a worthwhile program is attacked by the very people who are supposed to protect the interests of the citizens of Louisiana," Foster added.
In addition to hosting its own events to promote abstinence, the GPA had then awarded more than $1 million to community groups seeking to promote the same message. Porteous said that the GPA must install an oversight program to monitor the use of its money and to provide written notification to any group that it finds to have misused the funds.
A settlement was reached before the circuit court heard Foster's appeal. The state agreed to require all organizations that received support from the GPA to submit monthly reports verifying that none of the funds are used to promote religion. GPA officials were also required to conduct quarterly in-person reviews of the organizations that receive funding and to post the following message on its Web site and on promotional materials: "The GPA is a health and education program committed to promoting and publicizing the benefits of abstinence. Under limits imposed by the Constitution, the GPA's funds may not be used for activities, events, or materials that include religious messages or otherwise promote or advance religion."
The GPA was first placed in the Office of Public Health. Foster transferred it to his office in July 1997, when he named Richey to head the operation. Richey was replaced in 2004, when the Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco became governor. She named lifelong Republican, Gail Dignam, as head of the GPA.
Diocese of Baton Rouge. Richey's three brothers are physician
s, and his sister is a teacher.
In addition to political consulting, Richey is a blogger who writes on Louisiana politics, culture, and public affairs, usually with a take-no-prisoners approach.
Louisiana Family Forum
Louisiana Family Forum is a social conservative non-profit advocacy group based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The organization supports Louisiana's covenant marriage law and opposes abortion and same-sex marriage...
. From 1997 to 2004, Richey served under appointment 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 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...
, as director of the federally-funded Governor's Program on Abstinence
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...
.
Richey 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 the state House
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
(1976–1980) and the Senate (1980–1984). He left the Democrats in 1984 because of the party's abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
stance, became an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
for a decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
, and then switched to the Republican Party in 1994 when the party won majorities in the U.S. Congress. In 2004, Richey was elected to the Republican State Central Committee from state Representative District 61 (East Baton Rouge Parish). He defeated the 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...
Kirt Bennett
Kirt Bennett
Kirt Bruce Bennett was an African-American Republican political activist, businessman, and educational leader in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.-Early years:...
(1967–2010), 102-65, in a low-turnout closed primary. Bennett had been a candidate for 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"...
in 2003. Richey was reelected to the central committee in the closed primary for party offices held on February 9, 2008. He defeated Cyrus Greco, 414 (57 percent) to 313 (43 percent).
Early years and education
Richey was born into a middle-class family and reared in the Woodland subdivision of FerridayFerriday, 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 near 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...
. Though its population is under 4,000, Ferriday is the hometown of some half dozen well-known personalities, including the cousins Jimmy Swaggart
Jimmy Swaggart
Jimmy Lee Swaggart is a Pentecostal American pastor, teacher, musician, television host, and televangelist. He has preached to crowds around the world through his weekly telecast...
and Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, and the television news commentators Howard K. Smith
Howard K. Smith
Howard Kingsbury Smith was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original Edward R. Murrow boys.-Early life:...
and Campbell Brown
Campbell Brown
Campbell Brown is an American television news reporter and anchor. She previously hosted an eponymous primetime show on CNN and was formerly co-anchor of NBC's Weekend Today...
.
Richey is one of five children born to Verne Richey (1914–1993) of Beauregard Parish and his wife, the former Johnnie McIntire (1919–1996) of Baton Rouge. After 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...
, the Richeys settled in Ferriday because Verne became the business manager for the Concordia Parish School Board. Mrs. Richey was a sixth-grade teacher. The Richeys are interred at Magnolia Cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Beauregard Parish.
At Ferriday High School, Richey set the school scoring record in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. He was the first freshman and four-year starter in the history of the school. He was also first-string All-District for his last three seasons. On of his Ferriday classmates, Rick Nowlin
Rick Nowlin
Rickey L. "Rick" Nowlin is a Natchitoches engineer and businessman who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 23 ....
, currently serves in the Louisiana House from 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...
.
In 1965, Richey was elected president of the Kiwanis
Kiwanis
Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...
-sponsored Key Club
Key Club
Key Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...
International, a high school service organization. He traveled some 30000 miles (48,280.2 km) during his senior year to attend Key Club activities and conventions. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
After high school graduation in 1966, Richey studied for two years 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...
in Baton Rouge, where he was a student senator. He and Pete Maravich
Pete Maravich
Peter "Pistol Pete" Press Maravich was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University and played for three NBA teams until injuries induced him to retire in 1980...
were freshmen teammates on the LSU basketball team. In 1968, Richey transferred under a basketball scholarship to McNeese State University
McNeese State University
McNeese State University is a public university located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the United States. Founded in 1939 as a junior college, McNeese experienced growth due to economic activity in the region. It adopted its present name in 1970....
in 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...
(Calcasieu Parish). He graduated from McNeese in 1971 with 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 education
Business education
Business education involves teaching students the fundamentals, theories, and processes of business. Education in this field occurs at several levels, including secondary education and higher education or university education. Approximately 38% of student enroll in one or more business courses...
and a minor in physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
. He continued as a graduate assistant at McNeese while he obtained a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in physical education and a minor in school administration. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
In the fall of 1972, Richey entered the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is a private law school in New Orleans, Louisiana affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola's law school opened in 1914 and is now located on the Broadway Campus of the University in the historic Audubon Park District of the city. The College...
in 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...
. In his second year, he was on the undergraduate faculty as an instructor in physical education. He obtained his law degree in 1975. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Election to the Louisiana House, 1975
A month after he finished law school, Richey announced his candidacy for the state House of Representatives, District 21. IncumbentIncumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
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, who is also a former state senator, did not seek reelection and supported Richey. The all-Democratic field included Gilbert's predecessor, the late Representative David I. Patten
David I. Patten
David Ivy Patten was a building contractor and a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Catahoula Parish in the northeastern portion of his state. He served from 1964-1972....
, a construction company owner from Harrisonburg
Harrisonburg, Louisiana
Harrisonburg is a village in and the parish seat of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 746 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, the seat of Catahoula Parish, John Young of 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...
(also Catahoula Parish), and Troyce Guice
Troyce Guice
Troyce Eual Guice was a prominent businessman in northeastern Louisiana who twice ran for the United States Senate in campaigns thirty years apart, 1966 and 1996. A conservative Democrat, Guice later, as a Mississippi voter, became a donor to the Republican Party...
(1932–2008), a Ferriday businessman originally from 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...
in Tensas Parish who then resided in the neighborhood near the Richeys. According to Richey, Guice was the candidate of the Concordia 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....
, and Patten was the choice of the Catahoula Parish sheriff. John Young was the preferred candidate of state Senator James Harvey "Jim" Brown, Jr., of Ferriday, a floor leader for Governor Edwin Washington Edwards and the father of Campbell Brown. Using the slogan "No Strings Attached", Richey ran first in the primary and, with Gilbert's support, defeated Patten 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...
, popularly called the runoff, by a margin of some 57-43 percent. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Election as state senator, 1979
In 1979, Richey won the open Senate seat previously held by Jim Brown, who would be elected secretary of state. The six-parish district had candidates from five parishes – Richey (Concordia), Patten again (Catahoula), State Representative Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson (Tensas), Assistant District Attorney Jimmie C. Peters (La Salle) and Democratic National Committeewoman Mary Lou Winters (Caldwell), the wife of Dr. Harry H. Winters of ColumbiaColumbia, 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 ....
. Peters' boss and law partner was District Attorney (and former U.S. Representative) Speedy O. Long
Speedy O. Long
Speedy Oteria Long was a Jena lawyer who was a Democratic U.S. Representative from central Louisiana between 1965 and 1973. Prior to his tenure in the since disbanded Eighth Congressional District, Speedy Long had been a member of the Louisiana state Senate...
of Jena. Peters thereafter became a judge of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals. No candidate came from Franklin Parish. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Richey recalled that he met in 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 ....
with former 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...
, who had been instrumental in Mrs. Winters' election as national committeewoman. Richey found that the two were "apparently . . . on the outs . . . at the time of our election. At one meeting . . . he suggested that I make a big push with black voters by informing them that 'Mary Lou Winters was a member of not one, but two Lilly-white country clubs.' That exact line appeared in campaign letters from me to black voters in the waning days of the election." Once again, Richey ran first in the primary and defeated Mrs. Winters in the second balloting by 58-42 percent. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch]) Mrs. Winters went on to become an elector for President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
in 1996 and later state vice chairman of her party.
Defeat in 1983
In 1983, Richey was unseated by state Representative William "Billy" Atkins of Jonesville, when the Democrat Edwin Edwards scored a landslide over Republican Governor David C. TreenDavid 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...
. Atkins had also succeeded Richey in the state House four years earlier. Atkins was succeeded in the House by future Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater
Al Ater
Alan Ray Ater , known as Al Ater, is a farmer and businessman from Ferriday, Louisiana, who served from 1984-1992 as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 21 in the eastern portion of his state....
, also of Ferriday. Richey said that his close identification with Treen worked against him. Atkins was the choice of powerful Louisiana AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
President Victor Bussie
Victor Bussie
Victor V. Bussie was until his retirement in 1997 the 41-year unopposed president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO, having first assumed the mantle of union leadership in 1956. Journalists often described him as the most significant non-elected "official" in his state's politics...
. "Like my colleague from Alexandria, Ned Randolph [later mayor], we were ousted in the Edwards wave of 1983. I lost by about the same margin that I had won on the two previous occasions, 57-43 percent," Richey explained. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Earlier, Richey had warned Edwards that the Reagan election would mean Republican U.S. attorneys, who might launch investigations of the governor and his business and gubernatorial connections: "What better way to protect an incumbent Republican Governor like Dave Treen than by having his chief opponent under investigation or indictment leading up to the 1983 election? While Richey was wrong about the White House protecting Treen, he was prophetic about the later investigations of Edwin Edwards.
Dan Richey and Woody Jenkins
Richey met his future legislative colleague Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge through their Key Club activities. When Richey ran for international Key Club president, Jenkins managed the campaign. Jenkins was Richey's unofficial "campaign manager" during the three legislative races and was "Best Man" in Richey's wedding on January 4, 1976, to the former Jessie Valcarcel of San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Richey supported Jenkins' Democratic campaigns for the U.S. Senate in the 1978 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...
and again in 1980, but Jenkins lost to the popular incumbents, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., of Shreveport and 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:...
of Baton Rouge, respectively. Jenkins, like Richey, switched to Republican registration in 1994. In 1996, Jenkins ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Senate against the retiring Johnston's preferred choice, former state Treasurer 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...
. Many Republicans charged that Landrieu's narrow victory was based on "phantom voters" from Orleans Parish.
In the middle 1980s, Richey served as vice chairman of Friends of the Americas, a nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
founded by Woody Jenkins and his wife, the former Diane Aker. FOA was a "non-political" group which attempted to establish humanitarian programs in Latin America to help the people overcome poverty, natural disasters, or war. The group became a major relief organization with principal operations based in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
along the Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n border.
Jenkins and Richey are members of the Council for National Policy
Council for National Policy
The Council for National Policy , is an umbrella organization and networking group for social conservative activists in the United States...
, a conservative think-tank. The group also includes Nelson Bunker Hunt
Nelson Bunker Hunt
Nelson Bunker Hunt is an American oil company executive. He is best known as a former billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brother William Herbert Hunt tried but failed to corner the world market in silver. He is also a successful thoroughbred horse breeder.-Personal:Hunt was born...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis McAlpin Stewart Schlafly is a Constitutional lawyer and an American politically conservative activist and author who founded the Eagle Forum. She is known for her opposition to modern feminism ideas and for her campaign against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment...
of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and until his death, Paul Weyrich
Paul Weyrich
Paul M. Weyrich was an American conservativepolitical activist and commentator, most notable as a figurehead of the New Right. He co-founded the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and the Free Congress Foundation, another conservative think tank...
, a Washington-based political activist.
Equal Rights Amendment
In his freshman year in the legislature, Richey served on the Louisiana House Civil Law Committee that voted “unfavorably” on the unratified Equal Rights AmendmentEqual Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
. ERA critics saw the measure as a "federal power grab" that would increase the discretionary powers of federal judges and set aside state laws in regard to the family. Richey worked behind the scenes to convince four fellow committee members, 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...
of Alexandria, Michael F. "Mike" Thompson of Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, A.J. "Buddy" McNamara
A. J. McNamara
Abel J. "Buddy" McNamara , usually known as A.J. McNamara, is a former Louisiana politician and judge of the New Orleans-based United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who served full-time from June 21, 1982, until the fall of 2001, when he assumed senior status.The New...
of Metairie
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
, and Lane A. Carson
Lane Carson
Lane Anderson Carson is the head of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs in the administration of Governor Bobby Jindal. Carson is also a licensed building contractor and real estate broker, and an attorney in private practice. He resides in Covington, the seat of St. Tammany Parish...
of New Orleans, to withdraw their earlier support for the ERA. The surprise turnaround of the four members, all of whom later switched to Republican affiliation, killed ERA ratification prospects in Louisiana, much to the consternation of feminist backers of the proposed amendment as well as House Speaker E. L. "Bubba" Henry
E. L. Henry
Edgerton L. "Bubba" Henry is a Baton Rouge attorney, lobbyist, and partner of the high-powered firm Adams and Reese who served as a Democrat in the House of Representatives from 1968-1980. He was Speaker from 1972–1980. Henry was Governor Edwin Washington Edwards's choice for Speaker...
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 Jackson Parish, who thought that he had placed ERA supporters on the committee. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
When the extended deadline for ERA ratification expired, Richey said that the proposed amendment would have been a "radical assault on the Constitution." While the ERA was, in Richey's words, "officially buried", he warned that there would be future battles to "promote a radical social agenda on America." (Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, July 1, 1982)
Other legislative highlights
In his freshman year in office, 1976, Richey worked for passage of the Louisiana right-to-work lawRight-to-work law
Right-to-work laws are statutes enforced in twenty-two U.S. states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the federal Taft–Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between labor unions and employers that make membership, payment of union dues, or fees a condition of...
, which had been strongly opposed by the AFL-CIO. Victor Bussie years later was still calling for the repeal of the measure.
In 1978, Richey was elected to the board of directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council
American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council is a politically conservative 501 non-profit Policy Organization, consisting of both state legislators and members of the private sector. ALEC's mission statement describes the organization's purpose as the advancement of free-market principles, limited...
and later became the group's national secretary.
In 1980, Governor Treen named Richey as the Louisiana chairman of the White House Conference on Families in the 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...
administration. In the conference, Richey co-authored with Dr. James Dobson
James Dobson
James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...
of Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
the panel's minority report. In February 1981, Richey was the first Louisiana elected official to meet in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
with newly elected President Ronald W. Reagan, whom he and Jenkins had both endorsed.
Richey and Jenkins were leaders of the movement to legalize home schooling in 1980. The Louisiana Conservative Union named him "Legislator of the Year" in 1979, and the Shreveport-Bossier Pro-Family Forum accorded him similar recognition in 1980.
Jenkins, Richey, Scott, Carson, and Representatives B.F. O'Neal, Jr., of Shreveport and Clark Gaudin
Clark Gaudin
Edward Clark Gaudin is a Baton Rouge attorney who served for twenty-one years in the Louisiana House of Representatives as the first Republican member from East Baton Rouge Parish in the 20th century....
of Baton Rouge formed the Independent Legislative Study Group (ILSG), an informal mix of conservatives who met daily when the House was in session or when important business was pending before committees. "The ILSG enabled us to maximize our fire power against the Edwards machine. We seldom won, but had a good time setting small fires all over the place," Richey recalled. ([Dan Richey biographical sketch])
Out of politics, 1984-1997
After his legislative years, Richey practiced law from 1984 to 1989 in VidaliaVidalia, Louisiana
Vidalia is a city in and the parish seat of Concordia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,543 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Vidalia is located at and has an elevation of ....
, the seat of Concordia Parish, in the firm Koerber and Richey. After five years as a small-town lawyer, Richey decided not to pursue a legal career. Instead, he became the director of development at Magdalen College
Magdalen College (New Hampshire)
The College of Saint Mary Magdalen, in Warner, New Hampshire, is a four-year coeducational Roman Catholic liberal arts college offering a curriculum based on the classic texts of Western civilization....
, a small private institution in Warner, New Hampshire
Warner, New Hampshire
Warner is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,833 at the 2010 census. The town is home to The College of Saint Mary Magdalen, Rollins State Park and Mount Kearsarge State Forest....
.
In 1991, Richey returned to Louisiana as a basketball coach and teacher at South Beauregard High School in Longville in Beauregard Parish, where his parents were retired. In 1993, he became the news director/commentator at WBTR-TV (Channel 19) in Baton Rouge, an independent station then owned by Jenkins. He left the station to head Louisiana’s Governor's Program on Abstinence (GPA).
Upholding the value of abstinence
Richey recalled that when he graduated, "there was not a single person at Ferriday High School with venereal disease. There were only two out-of-wedlock births, and both girls married the guys." Richey urged parents to emphasize the transmission of disease from premarital sex, rather than only unintended pregnancyUnintended pregnancy
Unintended pregnancies are those in which conception was not intended by the female sexual partner. Worldwide, 38% of pregnancies were unintended in 1999 . Unintended pregnancies are the primary cause of induced abortion, resulting in about 42 million induced abortions per year...
: "For every one teenager who gets pregnant, ten get a disease." The only way to avoid this, Richey contended, is abstinence until marriage.
The GPA is funded by the federal welfare reform
Welfare reform
Welfare reform refers to the process of reforming the framework of social security and welfare provisions, but what is considered reform is a matter of opinion. The term was used in the United States to support the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act...
act of 1996. According to Richey, congressional Republicans knew that Clinton would sign the welfare-reform measure; so they attached a bill to create an abstinence-only education program and authorized its funding with $250 million over five years. The Louisiana program was a national model acclaimed by Focus on the Family and other pro-family organizations. The 36-week program stresses awareness of sexuality, education, behavioral changes, and physical and emotional health.
As GPA director, Richey spoke throughout the state to seventh and eighth graders. He warned of the dangers of premarital intercourse: "My generation participated in the absurdity of 'free love' and now everyone is under the absurd notion of 'safe sex' … Condoms were advertised as the ticket to the party. The bottom line is that the so-called 'safe sex' message is the wrong message. It is a lie," Richey said.
Richey's appointment spurred the opposition of liberals because he came from a religious, not a health background. "I am a faith-based guy," asserted Richey "but there's a component of faith in every civilized institution and every law, for that matter." Richey noted that under the federal law, religion could not be included as an essential aspect of the program.
The ACLU sues Foster and Richey
Some workers in the program in SlidellSlidell, Louisiana
Slidell is a city situated on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 25,695 at the 2000 census. The Greater Slidell Community has a population of about 90,000...
(St. Tammany Parish) and Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, however, incorporated religious-based themes in the instruction. Therefore, the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
sued the GPA for violating the First Amendment "establishment clause". Richey pronounced the suit unfounded and without legal merit because he had already corrected the irregularities cited by the ACLU.
After a 2002 hearing, U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.
Thomas Porteous
Gabriel Thomas Porteous, Jr. is a former United States federal judge who served for sixteen years before being impeached and removed from office in December 2010.-Background:...
, of Baton Rouge, a Clinton appointee, ordered the abstinence program to halt the allocation of federal funds to organizations or persons who "advance religion in any way in the course of any event supported in whole or in part by GPA funds." Louisiana ACLU director Joe Cook said that Porteous' ruling, which he termed "very well-reasoned, well-written", marked the first successful court challenge to the federal abstinence program.
Governor Foster said that he would take steps to assure that the GPA complied with the law but he would appeal Porteous' decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. "I have always made it clear that the courts will not allow the use of state or federal funds to promote religion. . . . It's a sad day when such a worthwhile program is attacked by the very people who are supposed to protect the interests of the citizens of Louisiana," Foster added.
In addition to hosting its own events to promote abstinence, the GPA had then awarded more than $1 million to community groups seeking to promote the same message. Porteous said that the GPA must install an oversight program to monitor the use of its money and to provide written notification to any group that it finds to have misused the funds.
A settlement was reached before the circuit court heard Foster's appeal. The state agreed to require all organizations that received support from the GPA to submit monthly reports verifying that none of the funds are used to promote religion. GPA officials were also required to conduct quarterly in-person reviews of the organizations that receive funding and to post the following message on its Web site and on promotional materials: "The GPA is a health and education program committed to promoting and publicizing the benefits of abstinence. Under limits imposed by the Constitution, the GPA's funds may not be used for activities, events, or materials that include religious messages or otherwise promote or advance religion."
The GPA was first placed in the Office of Public Health. Foster transferred it to his office in July 1997, when he named Richey to head the operation. Richey was replaced in 2004, when the Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco became governor. She named lifelong Republican, Gail Dignam, as head of the GPA.
Richey's family
Richey met Jessie when he was in law school, and she was an undergraduate at Loyola. They have three sons and a daughter: William Victor Richey (born 1977), Aida Lenn Richey (born 1980), Joseph Daniel Richey (born 1986), and John Paul Richey (born 1991). They are members of St. Agnes Parish in the CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Diocese of Baton Rouge. Richey's three brothers are physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s, and his sister is a teacher.
In addition to political consulting, Richey is a blogger who writes on Louisiana politics, culture, and public affairs, usually with a take-no-prisoners approach.