C. Kay Carter, Jr.
| Cecil Kay Carter, Jr. | |
| In office 1972 – 1976 | |
| Preceded by | At-large delegation:
Joe LeSage, Jr. |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Virginia Shehee |
| Born | October 19, 1929 Cleburne, Johnson County, Texas, USA |
| Died | August 31, 1987 (aged 57) Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Forest Park West Cemetery in Shreveport |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Smith Carter (married c. 1948-1987, his death) |
| Children | Vicki C. Bentel C. Kay Carter, III |
| Residence | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Fair Park High School (Shreveport)
Centenary College of Louisiana |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
Cecil Kay Carter, Jr., known as C. Kay Carter, Jr., or C. K. Carter (October 19, 1929 – August 31, 1987),[1] was a construction businessman from Shreveport, Louisiana, who served from 1972 to 1976 as a Democratic state senator for District 38 in Caddo and DeSoto parishes.[2]
Background
Carter was born in Cleburne in Johnson County near Fort Worth, Texas, to Cecil Carter, Sr. (1907-1967), a carpenter, and the former Nettie Carlock (1909-1982).[3]
The Carters moved from Cleburne to Shreveport, and he attended the since reorganized Fair Park High School and Centenary College of Louisiana.
Career
Before his legislative term, Carter on August 13, 1966, finished a strong third in the race for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat on the Louisiana State Board of Education, since reorganized as the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Incumbent Robert Houston "Bob" Curry, Jr., of Shreveport, son of a 19th century Louisiana state representative for Bossier Parish, had twice been elected by his colleagues as the board president and won another term as a board member. The other major candidate in the race was Lonnie O. Aulds, a real estate businessman from Shreveport who subsequently served for one term in the Louisiana House.[4] Carter ran newspaper advertising showing him shaking hands with George C. Wallace, former governor of Alabama, who was preparing for a 1968 independent run for the American presidency against Richard M. Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. In the advertisement, Carter stressed his support for "local control of education," rather than federal intervention spurred by civil rights advocates.[5] Governor John J. McKeithen appointed Carter to the Louisiana Board of Public Works.[6]
In 1975, Carter after one term was unseated in his Senate District 38 by twenty-three votes by a fellow Democrat, later Republican, Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee, an officer of the Kilpatrick Funeral Homes and Life Insurance companies in Shreveport.[7]
In 1980, Carter was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives for the 4th congressional district. He was eliminated in the nonpartisan blanket primary, and the position went to Buddy Roemer, later the governor from 1988 to 1992. Roemer defeated his then fellow Democrat, the incumbent Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr., in the 1980 general election.[8] In 1978, Leach succeeded the popular Representative Joe Waggonner, first elected in 1961 in a special election held to fill the seat of Thomas Overton Brooks (1897-1961), who died in office.
In 1983, Carter sought a state senatorial comeback but was blocked by incumbent Democratic Senator Richard Grady Neeson, Sr., who had unseated Shehee in 1979 after her single four-year term.[9]
Death and legacy
Athe time of his death in 1987 at the age of fifty-seven, Carter was again seeking public office. He was challenging two-term state Representative Robert P. "Bobby" Waddell, Sr. in District 4 in southwestern Shreveport. Waddell subsequently became a judges of the Louisiana 1st Judicial District Court and switched his registration to Republican. Carter had left a candidate forum early. An off-duty firefighter found him slumped in his idling car parked off Hollywood Avenue in Shreveport. He had died of a heart attack.[1] Mrs. Carter, whose first and maiden names are unavailable, was the district supervisor of the Louisiana Tourist Commission.[10]
Carter was a long-time member of the Ford Park Baptist Church. His funeral eulogy was delivered by the Republican state Representative Arthur William "Art" Sour, Jr. (1924-2000). He is interred, alongside his parents, at Forest Park West Cemetery in Shreveport.[11]
A scholarship in the field of construction is endowed in Carter's name at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "C. Kay Carter dies," Minden Press-Herald, September 1, 1987, p. 1.
- ↑ Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024. Louisiana State Senate. Retrieved on June 1, 2020.
- ↑ Cecil K. Carter in the United States 1930 Federal Census. search.ancestry.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2015; under pay wall.
- ↑ Minden Press-Herald, August 15, 1966, p. 1.
- ↑ Minden Press-Herald, August 1, 1966, p. 2.
- ↑ Minden Press-Herald, August 4, 1966, p. 6.
- ↑ Virginia Shehee: Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame. Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame. Retrieved on June 1, 2020.
- ↑ C. Kay Carter, Jr.. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on June 1, 2020.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Primary election returns, October 22, 1983.
- ↑ Minden Press-Herald, March 3, 1969, p. 5.
- ↑ Cecil Kay Carter, Jr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on June 1, 2020.
- ↑ University of Louisiana at Monroe scholarships, Meritaid.com, accessed May 2, 2010; no longer accessible; scholarship may be defunct.
