Woody Jenkins
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Louis Elwood Jenkins Jr., known as Woody Jenkins (born January 3, 1947), is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge and Central City, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
Woody Jenkins | |
|---|---|
| Louisiana State Representative from East Baton Rouge Parish | |
| In office 1972–2000 | |
| Preceded by | At-large members: Irving R. Boudreaux |
| Succeeded by | Mike Futrell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Louis Elwood Jenkins Jr. January 3, 1947 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (c. 1968–1971, 1994–present) Democratic (1971–1994) |
| Spouse | Diane Jenkins |
| Residence(s) | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University (BA, JD) |
State constitutional convention edit
Jenkins was elected as a delegate to Louisiana's state constitutional convention, which met from late 1972 to early 1974. His colleagues included fellow Representative R. Harmon Drew Sr., future Governor Buddy Roemer and later Secretary of State and Insurance Commissioner James H. "Jim" Brown. He served on the convention's Committee on Bill of Rights and Elections, and he authored much of the new constitution's Declaration of Rights. The proposed constitution was approved by the delegates and ratified by the voters in a statewide election held in April 1974. Formally coming into force in 1975, the document is still in effect,[1] though it has been subsequently amended.
Other political ventures edit
When Republicans failed to field candidates for the United States Senate in 1978 against the incumbent Democrat J. Bennett Johnston Jr., and again in 1980 against Russell B. Long, Jenkins opposed both incumbents, himself running as a Democrat. In a campaign appearance in Minden in Webster Parish, Jenkins vowed to secure funds for the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, which has since closed, and Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City. He claimed that Johnston had voted "too closely" with proposals advanced by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He questioned why Johnston had voted to divert intrastate natural gas from Louisiana industries to residential areas in such states as New York and Ohio.[2]
In 1976, Jenkins and Dan Richey of Ferriday in Concordia Parish were the only House members to oppose the state appropriations bill, which passed 88-2. Richey stumped for Jenkins during his 1978 and 1980 U.S. Senate election runs, and Jenkins returned the favor by campaigning for Richey's election to the state Senate in 1979.[3]
In 1981, Jenkins and later U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway of Rapides Parish, one of the four parishes that Jenkins had carried in his 1980 Senate race against Russell Long, spoke at a rally in Alexandria. There the two endorsed proposed constitutional amendments to halt forced bussing for the purpose of desegregating public schools and to require the election, instead of presidential appointment and U.S. Senate confirmation, of U.S. judges. Jenkins told the rally:
What we need in America is a constitutional amendment against forced bussing, and any American who says he is against bussing and won't support a constitutional amendment is a liar.[4]
U.S. House special election, 2008 edit
This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. (February 2021) |
On January 16, 2008, U.S. Representative Richard Hugh Baker, representing Louisiana's 6th congressional district, announced that he would soon resign from Congress. The political careers of Jenkins and Baker actually began on the same day thirty-four years earlier in 1972, when both were freshman Democratic members of the East Baton Rouge Parish state House delegation.[5]
On January 17, 2008, Jenkins announced his candidacy[6] for the GOP nomination in the special election. Jenkins received the endorsements of Pat Toomey's Club for Growth Political Action Committee,[7] and Dr. James Dobson,[8] founder of Focus on the Family. He also received the endorsement of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Party.[9] Jenkins later received the endorsement of the NRA Political Victory Fund.[10][11]
In the primary, he faced Paul Sawyer, Baker's congressional aide,[12] Laurinda L. Calongne, president of Robert Rose Consulting;[13] and Michael Cloonan, a veteran of the United States Navy from East Feliciana Parish.[14]
Jenkins led in public opinion polls prior to the primary but fell eighty-four votes short of an outright majority to win the GOP nomination. Calongne, with 7,584 ballots (25 percent), finished second and forced Jenkins, with 14,849 votes (just under 50 percent), into a runoff. Sawyer trailed with 6,924 (23 percent). Cloonan held the critical balance of 425 votes (1 percent).[15]
In the April 5 Republican runoff against Calongne, Jenkins won handily, taking 15,179 (62 percent) of the vote to Calongne's 9,327 (38 percent) votes.[16] He faced Democratic State Representative Don Cazayoux of New Roads in the special election. Jenkins was immediately endorsed by Governor Jindal.[17]
In Congress, Senator David Vitter and the three Republicans in Louisiana's House delegation – Jim McCrery, Rodney Alexander, and Charles Boustany endorsed Jenkins.[18] Jenkins was also supported by House Minority Leader John Boehner, Minority Whip Roy Blunt, and Assistant Whip Eric Cantor. On April 25, former U.S. Senator John Breaux, now a resident of Maryland, endorsed Cazayoux on grounds that the self-styled "John Breaux Democrat" could work across party lines. In 1996, Breaux had also opposed Jenkins in the race against Mary Landrieu.[19]
Before the 1996 Senate general election, Jenkins' campaign retained a firm to do automated phone calls to voters. The firm had previously done work for David Duke, a white supremacist and fellow republican candidate in the primary for the 1996 senate election. He was fined $3,000 by the Federal Election Commission because the purchase was paid for by his ad agency instead of directly by the campaign.[20] Later Jenkins learned that Duke received a commission from the firm he had hired, but Jenkins insisted that he had no knowledge that Duke would profit from the transaction.[21] However, his signed agreement with the FEC admitted that he knew Duke had used the same firm.[22]
Later developments edit
Election denialism edit
In the Fall of 2020 and Winter of 2020/2021, Jenkins published a series of articles supportive of the stolen-election claims being made by former President Donald Trump and his supporters.[23][24][25]
Electoral history edit
1996 US Senate election in Louisiana edit
| Primary, September 21, 1996 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Woody Jenkins | 322,244 | 26.23 | ||
| Democratic | Mary Landrieu | 264,268 | 21.51 | ||
| Democratic | Richard Ieyoub | 250,682 | 20.41 | ||
| Republican | David Duke | 141,489 | 11.52 | ||
| Republican | Jimmy Hayes | 71,699 | 5.84 | ||
| Republican | Bill Linder | 58,243 | 4.74 | ||
| Republican | Chuck McMains | 45,164 | 3.68 | ||
| Republican | Peggy Wilson | 31,877 | 2.6 | ||
| Democratic | Troyce Guice | 15,277 | 1.24 | ||
| Other | Nicholas J. Accardo | 10,035 | 0.82 | ||
| Other | Arthur D. "Jim" Nichols | 7,894 | 0.64 | ||
| Democratic | Sadie Roberts-Joseph | 4,660 | 0.38 | ||
| Other | Tom Kirk | 1,987 | 0.16 | ||
| Other | Darryl Paul Ward | 1,770 | 0.14 | ||
| Other | Sam Houston Melton Jr. | 1,270 | 0.1 | ||
| Total | 1,228,559 | 100 | |||
| Runoff, November 5, 1996 | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Democratic | Mary Landrieu | 852,945 | 50.17 | ||
| Republican | Woody Jenkins | 847,157 | 49.83 | ||
| Total | 1,700,102 | 100 | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
Louisiana's 6th congressional district special election, 2008 edit
| Republican primary, March 1, 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Woody Jenkins | 14,900 | 49.87 | ||
| Republican | Laurinda L. Calongne | 7,609 | 25.47 | ||
| Republican | Paul Sawyer | 6,939 | 23.23 | ||
| Republican | Michael Cloonan | 427 | 1.43 | ||
| Total | 29,875 | 100 | |||
| Republican primary runoff, April 5, 2008 | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Republican | Woody Jenkins | 15,179 | 61.94 | ||
| Republican | Laurinda L. Calongne | 9,327 | 38.06 | ||
| Total | 24,506 | 100 | |||
| General election, May 3, 2008 | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
| Democratic | Don Cazayoux | 49,702 | 49.20 | ||
| Republican | Woody Jenkins | 46,741 | 46.27 | ||
| None | Ashley Casey | 3,718 | 3.68 | ||
| None | Peter J. Aranyosi | 448 | 0.44 | ||
| Other | Randall T. Hayes | 402 | 0.40 | ||
| Total | 101,011 | 100 | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | |||||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ See Jenkins, "Declaration of Rights", Loyola Law Review, Spring 1975
- ^ "Jenkins vows to back defense projects at conference in Minden", Minden Press-Herald, March 10, 1978, p. 1
- ^ Minden Press-Herald, May 19, 1976, p. 1
- ^ "Hundreds rally in Alexandria", Minden Press-Herald, January 15, 1981, p. 1
- ^ (PDF). legis.state.la.us. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- ^ The Advocate: Washington Watch for January 21, 2008
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ Jenkins Endorsed by EBRP GOP
- ^ "NRA-PVF Endorses Woody Burton for Re-Election in Indiana's 58th House District Representative Burton Receives NRA-PVF's Highest "A+" Grade". nrapvf.org. NRA-PVF. April 23, 2010. from the original on August 12, 2014.
- ^ Jenkins Endorsed by NRA[permanent dead link]
- ^ The Advocate: Richard Baker to resign
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
- ^ Two more candidates in 6th Congressional District; no change in 1st – New Orleans News – NOLA.com
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State Unofficial Election Results Inquiry Results for Election Date:[permanent dead link] 2008-04-05
- ^ Jindal Endorses Jenkins For 6th District Seat
- ^ Jindal, Vitter, GOP Congressmen, Party: All Endorse Jenkins and Scalise
- ^ 2theadvocate.com | Legislature & Politics | Breaux endorses Cazayoux — Baton Rouge, LA
- ^ Davis, Susan (2008-04-07). "Democrats' Hopes Rise for House Seat". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- ^ "David Duke's name enters GOP race". Natchez Democrat. Associated Press. February 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ Conciliation agreement in Jenkins' FEC case
- ^ "Central City News - November 19, 2020". Central City News - Newspaper Archives. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
- ^ "Central City News - December 2020". Central City News - Newspaper Archives. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
- ^ "Central City News - January 2021". Central City News - Newspaper Archives. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
External links edit
- Biography
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Woody Jenkins Louisiana 6th Congressional District 2008-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Official Website
- Central City News
- Zachary Post
- The Big Sleazy: Politics in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Woody Jenkins' second chance