Francis C. Thompson
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| Francis Coleman Thompson | |
 Francis Coleman Thompson |
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| Preceded by | Charles Jones |
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| In office 1975 – 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Benny Gay Christian |
| Succeeded by | Charles R. "Bubba" Chaney |
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| Born | October 29, 1941 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Marilyn Bryant Thompson |
| Children | Three children, including Francis Todd Thompson and Brant L. Thompson |
| Occupation | Real estate developer |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Francis Coleman Thompson (born October 29, 1941) is a wealthy developer from Delhi in Richland Parish, Louisiana, U.S., where he served as a senior Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He served continuously from 1975 until 2007. Because of state term limits, Thompson was ineligible to have sought a ninth four-year term in the jungle primary on October 20, 2007.
Instead, Thompson was elected outright over two fellow Democrats to the District 34 seat in the Louisiana State Senate vacated by the also term-limited Charles Jones (born 1950) of Monroe. Thompson received 13,763 votes (51 percent) to 10,937 (42 percent) for African-American State Representative Willie Hunter, Jr., of Monroe and 2,113 (8 percent) for Paxton J. Branch. Ten days after he vacated the seat to Thompson, Charles Jones was charged with two counts of making and subscribing a false federal income tax return and one count of tax evasion.
Hunter has charged irregularities in the primary election in part on grounds that certain Thompson supporters in heavily black East Carroll Parish distributed food packages to the poor with instructions that they should vote for Francis Thompson to keep such assistance forthcoming.
In addition to his own Richland Parish, Thompson's House district included all or portions of East Carroll, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, and West Carroll parishes in northeast Louisiana. His Senate district will include parts of Concordia, East Carroll, Madison, Ouachita, Richland, and Tensas parishes.
Thompson graduated from Delhi High School in 1959. He received his bachelor of science and master of science degrees from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish. He also procured an Ed.D. degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana University). Thompson was a teacher from 1963-1965, but he vacated the classroom to become vice president of a manufacturing company from 1965-1972. Later, he returned to the classroom as a ULM assistant professor of education.
From 1968-1975, Thompson was an elected member of the Richland Parish School Board. He won a special election in 1975 to fill the House seat vacated by the resignation of Democrat Benny Gay Christian (1925-1982), who had served in the state House since 1964. Later in the year, Thompson won a full term in the seat, which in time became the single-member District 19. Prior to his legislative years, Thompson worked for the Louisiana Department of Education under Superintendent Louis J. Michot from 1974-1975. He was a member of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement from 1973-1974. Thompson has also been a member of the Southern Regional Education Board and the Education Commisson of the States. He has been active in the Retarded Children's Association and the Louisiana Mental Health Drug Advisory Council. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and the Lions Club.
Thompson is married to the former Marilyn Bryant. They have three children, including sons Francis Todd Thompson (born 1965) and Brant L. Thompson (born 1966). Thompson is Presbyterian.
In 2000, Thompson was named chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. In 2003, he authored the "Master Farmer" program, which the legislature approved without dissent. The program was developed by the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center and sponsored by the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. It is an environmental education program designed to help farmers and ranchers identify and adopt best management practices to improve water quality in lakes, streams and bayous. It involves classroom instruction, field days and implementation of farm-specific conservation plans to maximize productivity while minimizing environmental impacts. Thompson's model program has been proposed for national acceptance.
In 1996, Thompson ran for the open Fifth District seat in the United States House of Representatives. He polled 50,144 votes (28 percent) and went into a general election with the Republican ophthalmologist John Cooksey of Monroe, who led in the jungle primary with 60,853 ballots (34 percent). Former U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway of Rapides Parish trailed in third place with 48,226 (27 percent). Holloway then endorsed Cooksey, who defeated Thompson by a comfortable margin. Cooksey received 135,990 votes (58 percent) to the more liberal Thompson's 97,363 (42 percent). Cooksey served three terms before leaving the U.S. House early in 2003.
Though he is a Democrat, Thompson broke party ranks in the 2003 gubernatorial primary to support Republican candidate Hunt Downer of Houma, a former state House Speaker, who finished sixth in the balloting though he had the support of a cross-section of state legislators from both parties.
Francis Thompson was inducted in 2005 into the Louisiana Political Museum Hall of Fame in Winnfield.
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[edit] External links
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The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. |
- http://www.louisianaconservative.com/?p=33
- http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=173#more-173
- http://katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6649295
- http://www.edailynews.info/articles/2002/11/01/news01.txt
- http://www.enlou.com/officeholders/housedistrict19.htm
- http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=4610
- http://deltafarmpress.com/mag/farming_master_farmer_program/index.html
- http://house.legis.state.la.us/pubinfo/Press_Releases/Thompson_Chair_Agric.htm
- http://capwiz.com/pc/bio/fec/?commid=C00315564
- http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms2&rqsdta=110596
- http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcmp&rqsdta=09219614519066
- http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms3&rqsdta=102007
- http://www.cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html
- http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
- http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/NEWS01/711100313 (Willie Hunter accusations)
- http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080125/NEWS01/801250314 (tax charges against Charles Jones)
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Charles Jones (D) |
Louisiana State Senator (District 19)
Francis Coleman Thompson (D) |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Benny Gay Christian |
Louisiana State Representative from District 19
Francis Coleman Thompson |
Succeeded by Charles R. "Bubba" Chaney |
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