Max T. Malone

Max Tatum Malone
Louisiana State Senator for District 37 (Caddo and Bossier parishes)
In office January 1996 – January 2008
Preceded by	Greg Barro
Succeeded by	B. L. "Buddy" Shaw
Born	March 3, 1953 Louisiana (place of birth missing) Long-term resident of Shreveport
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Anderson Malone
Children	Mark, Mitch, and Marianne Malone
Alma mater	Homer High School Louisiana Tech University Centenary College of Louisiana
Occupation	Petroleum and natural gas businessman
Religion	United Methodist

Max Tatum Malone (born March 3, 1953) is the president of Malone Oil and Gas Exploration Company in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served as a Republican state senator from 1996 until January 14, 2008. Term-limited in the District 37 seat, which includes portions of Caddo and Bossier parishes in northwestern Louisiana,Malone could not seek a fourth senatorial term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007.

Malone graduated in 1971 from Homer High School in Homer in Claiborne Parish]] in north Louisiana. He first attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. There Malone and his brother John "Johnny" Malone were members of the Beta-Zeta Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He transferred to United Methodist-affiliated Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, from which he obtained both a bachelor of science degree in geology and a Bachelor of Arts in religion. ^[1]

From 1981 to 1986, Malone was a geologist for PAR Oil Corporation. In 1987, he formed his own company, Malone Oil & Gas Exploration. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Shreveport Geological Society. In community affair, he is a Methodist Sunday school teacher as well as a former assistant cub master for the Boy Scouts^[1]

Malone and his wife, the former Elizabeth Anne "Betsy" Anderson, reside in Shreveport along with their children, Mark, Mitch Tatum Malone, and Marianne Elizabeth Malone.^[1]

Malone's Senate record reflected a conservative bent: 90 to 100 percent support from the pro-business Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, 0 percent from Planned Parenthood, 100 percent from the Louisiana Family Forum, 77 percent from the Christian Coalition, and 22 percent from the Louisiana Environmental Action Network. Malone, however, has accumulated a 71 percent rating from the AFL-CIO and 60 percent from the Louisiana Association of Educators, the state's largest teachers' organization.^[2]

Malone rarely voted to raise taxes and was hence nicknamed "No Tax Max." He opposed the gaming industry by rejecting a proposed $50 million bailout for Harrah's Entertainment casino in New Orleans. He also opposed permanent dockside gambling in exchange for an increased tax with the proceeds earmarked for teacher pay raises.

Election history

In his initial election to the state Senate, Malone led in the primary with 10,422 votes (36 percent). Two Democrats, state Representative Melissa Scott Flournoy and incumbent state Senator Greg Barro, narrowly trailed with 9,470 (33 percent) and 9,166 (32 percent), respectively.^[3] In the general election, Malone defeated Flournoy—Barro was eliminated from the second round of balloting—by a comfortable margin. The outcome was 17,075 (59 percent) to Flournoy's 11,961 (41 percent). Malone may have benefited from being on the Republican ballot with successful gubernatorial candidate Murphy James Foster, Jr.^[4]

Four years earlier, Flournoy had unseated incumbent Republican Representative Arthur W. "Art" Sour, Jr., to win a seat held for twenty years by the GOP.^[5] Also in 1991, Barro had defeated the conservative Republican Ronald Bradford "Ron" Fayard (1946–2011), a Realtor from Bossier City,^[6] by a margin of 59-41 percent, an exact reversal of the 1995 result.

In 1999, Malone was challenged by a somewhat conservative Republican state representative, Robert E. Barton, and a Democrat, Donald M. "Don" Pierson, Jr. In the primary, Malone led with 8,830 votes (41 percent) to Pierson's 6,973 (32 percent), and Barton's 5,966 (27 percent).^[7] Malone went on to defeat Pierson in the general election by 249 votes: 7,297 (51 percent) to 7,048 (49 percent).^[8] In 2003, Malone again defeated Pierson but by a larger margin in the two-man primary than he had in the 1999 general election matchup: 14,790 votes (60 percent) to 10,010 (40 percent).^[9]

In 2006, Malone was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for mayor of Shreveport. He was a late entry into the race and was unable to procure sufficient campaign funding because many Republican donors had already decided months earlier to support former city attorney Jerry Jones. Television personality Liz Swaine also sought the mayor's position. Malone not only failed to win a general election berth but finished in sixth place among eleven candidates with only 602 votes (1 percent) in the primary held on September 30.^[10]

Prior to the city elections, Malone filed suit in a bid to force Democratic city council candidate Joe Shyne off the ballot because Shyne is a former felon. However, the courts ruled in Shyne's favor because Shyne had been pardoned by Governor Foster for a crime in which he had been convicted in a federal, rather than state, court.^[11]

Among those who sought to succeed Senator Malone were outgoing District 9 state Representative Billy Wayne "Coach" Montgomery of Bossier City, who was term-limited himself as a state House member, and Montgomery's former House colleague, B. L. "Buddy" Shaw, a retired Shreveport educator and parish school board member. Shaw defeated Montgomery, 57-43 percent, for the right to succeed Malone.^[12]