Joe McPherson
Encyclopedia
William Joseph "Joe" McPherson, Jr., (born December 18, 1950) 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. McPherson’s service extends from 1984 to 1996 and 2000 to 2012, when his current term expires.
McPherson is a graduate of Northwestern State University
in Natchitoches
. He also attended Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge
. His business activities include retail, commercial property, and health care
facilities. He and his wife, Karen, have a son, Joe, III.
. He unseated incumbent fellow Democrat Ned Randolph
, who subsequently served twenty years (1986–2006) as the mayor
of Alexandria
. Randolph’s defeat came in the same election cycle that Edwin Washington Edwards staged his gubernatorial comeback for a third nonconsecutive term against incumbent Republican David C. Treen
.
In 1987, McPherson defeated the Republican
Jock Scott
(1947–2009), an outgoing member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
who sought to move up to the Senate, and former senator Cecil R. Blair
of Lecompte
, who was seeking a comeback, having been defeated in 1975 by Ned Randolph. McPherson won again on November 16, 1991, over the Republican Robert Bates, 23,428 votes (56.8 percent) to 17,819 (43.2 percent).
McPherson did not seek a fourth consecutive term in 1995. Voters chose the Democrat B.G. Dyess
, an ordained Baptist
minister who had been the Rapides Parish registrar of voters from 1964 to 1988. When Dyess did not seek a second term in 1999, McPherson returned to claim the seat once again, having defeated the Republican State Representative Randy Wiggins
of Pineville.
McPherson was reelected in 2003 and 2007 by wide margins in each election over his fellow Democrat Jerry M. Guillory, who had also run in the 1999 McPherson-Wiggins race.
McPherson was ineligible to seek a fourth consecutive Senate term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. In all, he served a total of six full terms in the Senate and will be succeeded by the African American
outgoing state Representative Rick Gallot
of Grambling
, who polled just over 50 percent of the vote in the primary. After the 2010 census, District 29 was reconfigured to include the black communities in seven parishes: Bienville
, Grant
, Jackson
, Lincoln
, Natchitoches
, Rapides
, and Winn
.
in 1990 and twice for the Louisiana Public Service Commission
, in the primary on October 21, 1995, and in a special election on April 4, 2009.
In 1990, McPherson, then residing in Pineville
in Rapides Parish, challenged incumbent Republican Representative Clyde Holloway, a conservative from Forest Hill
, also in Rapides Parish, in the since defunct Eighth District House seat. Holloway won the race but was himself narrowly unseated in 1992 in a revised districting plan by a fellow Republican, Richard H. Baker of Baton Rouge.
In 1995, McPherson did not seek a fourth term in the Senate but instead challenged state Representative C. Dale Sittig
of Eunice
in St. Landry Parish
, for the District IV seat on the Public Service Commission. Sittig polled 141,473 votes (52.8 percent) to McPherson's 126,452 (47.2 percent). Sittig cemented his margin with comfortable wins in his own St. Landry Parish as well as Evangeline
, Acadia
, and Calcasieu
parshes. Surprisingly, McPherson won his own Rapides Parish by fewer than two thousand votes.
Thirteen years later, Sittig resigned on September 15, 2008, from the PSC to accept the appointment from Governor Bobby Jindal
to the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority. McPherson then entered the special election for the PSC seat that Sittig had vacated. His rivals were Republican Clyde Holloway, whom he had opposed for Congress in 1990, and the Democrat-turned-Republican former State Representative Gil Pinac
. Though he had predicted a solid victory on his website
and trailed Holloway in the first round of balloting by only 648 raw votes (less than 1 percent), primarily because of a strong showing in Lake Charles
McPherson withdrew from the runoff election. Holloway thus claimed the PSC seat, his first elected position since 1993, when he left Congress. In the meantime, Holloway lost attempts to return to the U.S. House in 1994, 1996, and 2002, and to be elected lieutenant governor
in 2003 on an ill-fated ticket with former PSC member Jay Blossman
, who had left the commission by the time Holloway won the former Sittig seat.
, a pro-business interest group, reach nearly 60 percent. The Louisiana National Federation of Independent Business ranked McPherson at 22 percent in support of its goals. Social conservatives often oppose him, but he has ranked nearly 80 percent in a rating from the Louisiana Family Forum.
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 Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from 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....
, a small community south of 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....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, the seat of government of Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
and the largest city in the Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana , also known as the Crossroads region, is the part of Louisiana that includes the following parishes: Allen Parish, Beauregard Parish, Catahoula Parish, Concordia Parish, Grant Parish, La Salle Parish, Natchitoches Parish, Rapides Parish, Sabine Parish and Vernon Parish.The five...
region. McPherson’s service extends from 1984 to 1996 and 2000 to 2012, when his current term expires.
McPherson is a graduate of Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...
in 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...
. He also attended 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
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. His business activities include retail, commercial property, and health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
facilities. He and his wife, Karen, have a son, Joe, III.
State senate elections
McPherson was first elected to the Senate in 1983, when he resided in 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....
. He unseated incumbent fellow Democrat Ned Randolph
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...
, who subsequently served twenty years (1986–2006) as the 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
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....
. Randolph’s defeat came in the same election cycle that Edwin Washington Edwards staged his gubernatorial comeback for a third nonconsecutive term against incumbent Republican David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
.
In 1987, McPherson defeated the 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...
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...
(1947–2009), an outgoing member of 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...
who sought to move up to the Senate, and former senator Cecil R. Blair
Cecil R. Blair
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...
of 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....
, who was seeking a comeback, having been defeated in 1975 by Ned Randolph. McPherson won again on November 16, 1991, over the Republican Robert Bates, 23,428 votes (56.8 percent) to 17,819 (43.2 percent).
McPherson did not seek a fourth consecutive term in 1995. Voters chose the Democrat 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...
, an ordained Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister who had been the Rapides Parish registrar of voters from 1964 to 1988. When Dyess did not seek a second term in 1999, McPherson returned to claim the seat once again, having defeated the Republican State Representative Randy Wiggins
Randy Wiggins
Randy E. Wiggins is a State Farm Insurance agent in Alexandria, Louisiana, who is the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected from Rapides Parish to the Louisiana House of Representatives. Wiggins served only a single term in the Pineville-based District 27 from 1996 to 2000...
of Pineville.
McPherson was reelected in 2003 and 2007 by wide margins in each election over his fellow Democrat Jerry M. Guillory, who had also run in the 1999 McPherson-Wiggins race.
McPherson was ineligible to seek a fourth consecutive Senate term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. In all, he served a total of six full terms in the Senate and will be succeeded by 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...
outgoing state Representative Rick Gallot
Rick Gallot
Richard Gallot, Jr., known as Rick Gallot , is an incoming Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 29, which encompasses the African American portions of seven parishes: Bienville, Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Rapides, and Winn parishes...
of Grambling
Grambling, Louisiana
Grambling is a city in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,693 at the 2000 census. The city is home to Grambling State University and is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, who polled just over 50 percent of the vote in the primary. After the 2010 census, District 29 was reconfigured to include the black communities in seven parishes: Bienville
Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Bienville Parish is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Arcadia and as of the 2000 census, the population is 15,752....
, Grant
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...
, Jackson
Jackson Parish, Louisiana
Jackson Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1845 from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes. In 2010, its population was 16,274. The parish seat is Jonesboro...
, Lincoln
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Lincoln Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Ruston. In 2004, its population was estimated to be 42,382...
, Natchitoches
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Natchitoches Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Natchitoches. As of 2000, the population was 39,080. This is the heart of the Cane River Louisiana Creole community...
, Rapides
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
, and Winn
Winn Parish, Louisiana
Winn Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Winnfield. In 2000, its population was 16,894.The parish has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
.
Other Campaigns
In the meantime, he has lost an election for the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 1990 and twice for the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...
, in the primary on October 21, 1995, and in a special election on April 4, 2009.
In 1990, McPherson, then residing in Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....
in Rapides Parish, challenged incumbent Republican Representative Clyde Holloway, a conservative from Forest Hill
Forest Hill, Louisiana
Forest Hill is a village in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 456 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Forest Hill is located at ....
, also in Rapides Parish, in the since defunct Eighth District House seat. Holloway won the race but was himself narrowly unseated in 1992 in a revised districting plan by a fellow Republican, Richard H. Baker of Baton Rouge.
In 1995, McPherson did not seek a fourth term in the Senate but instead challenged state Representative C. 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...
in St. Landry Parish
St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is at the heart of Acadian/Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana. The parish seat is Opelousas. According to the 2010 census, the population of St. Landry Parish is 83,384.St...
, for the District IV seat on the Public Service Commission. Sittig polled 141,473 votes (52.8 percent) to McPherson's 126,452 (47.2 percent). Sittig cemented his margin with comfortable wins in his own St. Landry Parish as well as Evangeline
Evangeline Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 35,434 people, 12,736 households, and 9,157 families residing in the parish. The population density was 53 people per square mile . There were 14,258 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
, Acadia
Acadia Parish, Louisiana
Acadia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Crowley. According to the 2010 census, the population of Acadia Parish is 61,773. The parish was founded from parts of St...
, and Calcasieu
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Calcasieu Parish[p] is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Lake Charles. As of 2010, the parish population was 192,768...
parshes. Surprisingly, McPherson won his own Rapides Parish by fewer than two thousand votes.
Thirteen years later, Sittig resigned on September 15, 2008, from the PSC to accept the appointment from Governor Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
to the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority. McPherson then entered the special election for the PSC seat that Sittig had vacated. His rivals were Republican Clyde Holloway, whom he had opposed for Congress in 1990, and the Democrat-turned-Republican former State Representative Gil Pinac
Gil Pinac
Gillis James Pinac, known as Gil Pinac is a former 12-year Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Crowley, the seat of Acadia Parish...
. Though he had predicted a solid victory on his website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and trailed Holloway in the first round of balloting by only 648 raw votes (less than 1 percent), primarily because of a strong showing 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...
McPherson withdrew from the runoff election. Holloway thus claimed the PSC seat, his first elected position since 1993, when he left Congress. In the meantime, Holloway lost attempts to return to the U.S. House in 1994, 1996, and 2002, and to be elected 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 on an ill-fated ticket with former PSC member Jay Blossman
Jay Blossman
Jack Arthur Blossman, Jr., known as Jay Blossman , is a Mandeville, Louisiana, attorney who is a former Republican member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Blossman was named PSC chairman by his colleagues early in 2007....
, who had left the commission by the time Holloway won the former Sittig seat.
Senatorial voting record
McPherson is considered an ally of organized labor in the Senate, but his ratings from the Louisiana Association of Business and IndustryLouisiana Association of Business and Industry
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, known by the acronym LABI, is the largest and most successful business lobbying group in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded in Baton Rouge in 1976, when Louisiana adopted a new right-to-work law during the administration of Democratic...
, a pro-business interest group, reach nearly 60 percent. The Louisiana National Federation of Independent Business ranked McPherson at 22 percent in support of its goals. Social conservatives often oppose him, but he has ranked nearly 80 percent in a rating from the Louisiana Family Forum.