|
Gerald Long (born July 9, 1944), is a rare Republican member of the traditionally Democratic Long political dynasty in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Specifically, he is a third cousin of the late Governors Huey Pierce Long, Jr., and Earl Kemp Long.〔(The Town Talk - www.thetowntalk.com - Alexandria-Pineville, Louisiana )〕 Long was elected on October 20, 2007, to the Louisiana State Senate District 31, which includes Grant and Natchitoches parishes and parts of Rapides, Red River, Sabine, and Winn parishes in the north central portion and western portion of the state. Long and former State Representative Rick Nowlin are the first two Republicans since Reconstruction to represent Natchitoches Parish in the Louisiana legislature. Nowlin was subsequently defeated in a revised districting plan in 2011. ==Long political dynasty== Gerald Long is the only Long family member holding high office in Louisiana. Most Longites remained in the Democratic Party over the years. Another exception was the late Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen, who switched parties and won four statewide elections as a Republican. Fox McKeithen's father, the late Governor John McKeithen, was a leading Long figure in the 1960s and 1970s, but the McKeithens were not relatives of the Longs. Long and his twin brother, Carroll Long, were the last of eight sons born to Reuben Ray Long (1900–1966) and the former Ruby Smith (1906–1984). Ruby Smith's brother, P.K. Smith, later an automobile dealer in Winnfield, was a member of the Louisiana House from Winn Parish from 1960 to 1964. P.K. Smith's son, Mike Smith, served twelve years in the Louisiana State Senate as a Democrat from 1996 to 2008. Term-limited, Mike Smith preceded his cousin, Gerald Long, in the state Senate. Reuben Long was originally a Winn Parish sharecropper. Long's paternal grandparents were Thomas Jefferson Long (1861–1948) and the former Mary Ella Wright (1864–1902). Gillis William Long, a former U.S. representative or Louisiana's 8th congressional district, since disbanded, was also a paternal grandson of Thomas Jefferson Long and hence Gerald Long's first cousin. An older brother of Gerald Long, Jimmy D. Long, served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1968 to 2000 as a Democrat from Natchitoches. In that capacity, Jimmy Long became known as a leading legislative authority on education, an area which would also become important in Gerald Long's career as an educator and a motivational speaker. Another brother is Dr. William Jackson "Bill" Long (born 1940), a former planning commission executive in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish, who was the publisher of "The Louisiana Business Journal" and a former weekly newspaper in Pineville known as the ''Red River Journal''. Bill Long also owned Sunbelt Research Corporation. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1983. Gerald Long was a distant cousin of former Pineville Mayor Floyd W. Smith, Jr. (1932–2010), whose mother was a Long. Floyd Smith spent his later years near his native Winnfield in Winn Parish.〔(Yahoo! Search Results for jimmy d. long of natchitoches genealogy )〕 Though he is often cited as a resident of Winnfield, Gerald Long is listed to vote in Natchitoches Parish, according to the office of Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gerald Long, July 1944 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gerald Long」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|