The era of term limits has certainly changed some traditions around the Legislature, particularly when it comes to seniority. With members now locked into fixed amounts time, it can create some intrigue, particularly when determining who will be the dean in each chamber.
With the 2019 elections approaching and next term on the horizon, some in Capitoland have begun asking about who could be the new dean of the House. The position is currently held by Rep. Andy Anders, who is termed out. Anders holds the post because he won a special election in 2006 to succeed Bryant Hammett, giving him an extra year over the members that were elected in the regularly scheduled races in 2007.
However, next term, things may be further complicated on the seniority front by some members such as Sen. Francis Thompson, who previously spent 33 years in House and is looking to return to the lower chamber.
Should Thompson win, he could feasibly make an argument that he is the dean of the House. But according to House Clerk Butch Speer, there are no set rules around the process. “That’s really up to the House itself and how the members choose to treat the members who come back,” he said.
Speer did point to the 2007 cycle as somewhat of a precedent, when then-Rep. Noble Ellington returned to the lower chamber after a pervious stint, but was classified as a freshman in the seniority pecking order.
According to Speer, should members returning to the lower chamber be grouped in with the other freshmen, Rep. Alan Seabaugh would be the new dean of the house. Since Seabaugh is up for a federal judgeship, the title could feasibly fall to Rep. Mike Huval, the next person in line.
However, if Huval doesn’t return in 2020, things could get really complicated. There are no members left with seniority because of special elections, meaning everybody who was sworn into the House in 2012 could theoretically be the most senior member.
“They all took the oath at the same time,” Speer said. “All 22 could have an argument that they are the dean.”
Your Political History: Xmas with Uncle Earl
If you’ve spent any time around Louisiana politics, it’s a safe bet you’ve heard a story or two — or probably 100 — about late Gov. Earl K. Long. Legendary were the escapades of this pea-patch planting, hospital-escaping, stripper-dating, microphone-screaming, linen suit-wearing, lawmaker-punching chief executive.
While the governor was a man who frequently referred to himself as “The Last of the Red Hot Poppas,” younger generations are likely unaware of Long’s spiritual side and his holiday gift-giving.
Long had been quoting the Bible out on the stump his entire career, and telling voters he was the best friend they could have, besides “Jesus Christ and Sears and Roebuck.” But he didn’t start regularly attending services until he was baptized by the First Baptist Church of Baton Rouge in 1955.
(According to historian Morgan D. Peoples, Long didn’t want to offend voters in Catholic south Louisiana, so he made a point of telling crowds in Acadiana that he was “about 40 percent Catholic and 60 percent Baptist,” by virtue of his attendance at Loyola University’s Law School.)
As Christmas neared following his baptism in 1955, Long painstakingly worked at his Pea Patch Farm in Winnfield, preparing the fruits of his agricultural spread to give out to voters as gifts. The breads, vegetables and milk became an annual tradition that Long maintained until his death.
While lawmakers usually didn’t get much out of Long if it wasn’t connected to a piece of legislation, Uncle Earl was rather kind during the holidays to his favorite preachers in Baton Rouge and Winnfield. Every year they received fully-dressed hogs, slaughtered personally by The Governor.
Field Notes: From Richmond to Gleason
— NO. 4 IN THE HOUSE: New Orleans Congressman Cedric Richmond, a Democrat who represents portions of the greater Baton Rouge area, has landed a new post in the incoming House Democratic leadership. Richmond’s new role will be assistant to the Majority Whip, a job that will make him the “right-hand man” to incoming Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina. The position is a new one, created by Clyburn and incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and it will make Richmond the number four man in the leadership. With Pelosi already announcing her intentions to step aside in 2022, the New Orleans pitching ace is in a prime position to move up the Democrats’ pecking order.
— KNOW YOUR DISTRICTS: The Louisiana Budget Project has released a new set district fact sheets, tabulating figures such as “district-by-district data on poverty, Medicaid enrollment, education, incomes, the safety net, and other important statistics.” LBP has complied sheets for all 105 House districts and 39 Senate seats. See the district level fact sheets at labudget.org/district-level-fact-sheets/
— U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and his wife, Laura, have authored an op-ed for The Hill, advocating for increased dyslexia treatment, which they see as key to addressing criminal justice reform and illiteracy.
— The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to award the Congressional Gold Medal to former New Orleans Saints player and ALS advocate Steve Gleason.
They Said It: Johnson and Edwards
“Nerdy constitutional writer.”
--Congressman Mike Johnson, R-Shreveport, when asked by a reporter with The Hill to describe himself.
“I just paid off my law school loans myself in the last few months.”
—Gov. John Bel Edwards, on getting rid of his student loan debt, on the “Ask the Governor” radio program.
For more Louisiana political news, visit LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.
