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|death_cause =​

|death_cause =​

|resting_place=​

|resting_place=​

| office=[[Louisiana]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] National Committeeman

|office=[[Louisiana]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] National Committeeman

|term_start=1976

|term_start=1976

|term_end=1985

|term_end=1985

|spouse =Mary Flippo Spooner​<br>

|spouse =Mary Flippo Spooner​<br>

|children=Three daughters

|children=Three daughters

|parents=Harry, Sr., and Willie Green Spooner​}}

|parents=Harry, Sr., and Willie Green Spoon

|religion=[[United Methodist]]}}

'''William Franklin Spooner''', known as '''Frank Spooner''' (born September 9, 1937), is an [[oil]] and [[natural gas]] producer in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in Ouachita Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]], who has been active since the early 1970s in his state's [[Republican Party]]. In the fall of 1976, Spooner waged a strong but losing race for the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Louisiana's 5th congressional district in a bid to succeed incumbent Otto Ernest Passman, who had been unseated in the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]] by [[farmer]]/[[business]]man Thomas Jerald "Jerry" Huckaby, then from Ringgold in Bienville Parish. Therefore, instead of facing Passman, as he had expected, Spooner competed with Huckaby for a relatively rare open seat in the state's congressional delegation.​

'''William Franklin Spooner''', known as '''Frank Spooner''' (born September 9, 1937), is an [[oil]] and [[natural gas]] producer in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] in Ouachita Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]], who has been active since the early 1970s in his state's [[Republican Party]]. In the fall of 1976, Spooner waged a strong but losing race for the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Louisiana's 5th congressional district in a bid to succeed incumbent Otto Ernest Passman, who had been unseated in the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]] by [[farmer]]/[[business]]man Thomas Jerald "Jerry" Huckaby, then from Ringgold in Bienville Parish. Therefore, instead of facing Passman, as he had expected, Spooner competed with Huckaby for a relatively rare open seat in the state's congressional delegation.​

==Background==​

==Background==​

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Carter's statewide victory in Louisiana (and in nine other former [[Confederate States of American|Confederate]] states) worked to Huckaby's advantage. Huckaby received 83,696 votes (52.5 percent); Spooner, 75,574 ballots (47.5 percent). Spooner surpassed Passman's primary showing by 35,000 votes, which translated only into a 0.2 percent gain over Passman's primary share of the vote because of the much larger turnout in the general election. Spooner polled 59 percent in Ouachita Parish and also won in the parishes of Lincoln (Ruston),  Morehouse (Bastrop), Union (Farmerville]], and Richland (Rayville), but his strength was insufficient to overcome large Democratic margins stretching from Huckaby's Bienville Parish on the west to Madison Parish (Tallulah) on the northeast, Concordia (Vidalia) on the southeast, and the most northern precincts of Rapides Parish ([[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]) on the south. Spooner received just 27 percent in Bienville Parish and less than 40 percent in Madison and Winn parishes, the latter the ancestral home of the [[Huey Long|Long]] political faction.<ref>Office of the [[Louisiana Secretary of State]], Congressional Election Returns, 1976</ref><ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 349.</ref>​

Carter's statewide victory in Louisiana (and in nine other former [[Confederate States of American|Confederate]] states) worked to Huckaby's advantage. Huckaby received 83,696 votes (52.5 percent); Spooner, 75,574 ballots (47.5 percent). Spooner surpassed Passman's primary showing by 35,000 votes, which translated only into a 0.2 percent gain over Passman's primary share of the vote because of the much larger turnout in the general election. Spooner polled 59 percent in Ouachita Parish and also won in the parishes of Lincoln (Ruston),  Morehouse (Bastrop), Union (Farmerville]], and Richland (Rayville), but his strength was insufficient to overcome large Democratic margins stretching from Huckaby's Bienville Parish on the west to Madison Parish (Tallulah) on the northeast, Concordia (Vidalia) on the southeast, and the most northern precincts of Rapides Parish ([[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]) on the south. Spooner received just 27 percent in Bienville Parish and less than 40 percent in Madison and Winn parishes, the latter the ancestral home of the [[Huey Long|Long]] political faction.<ref>Office of the [[Louisiana Secretary of State]], Congressional Election Returns, 1976</ref><ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 349.</ref>​

 

==Later political activities==​

==Later political activities==​

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Spooner is a [[United Methodist]]<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 343.</ref> and a donor to the Louisiana Methodist Children's Home orphanage in Monroe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmch.org/pathways/v37PathwaysSpring06.pdf|title=Donors: January 1, 2006 – April 30, 2006|publisher=Louisiana Methodist Children's Home|accessdate=September 17, 2013}}</ref>He was a member of the Optimist Club.<ref name=whoswho/>He and his wife have three daughters and eight grandchildren.​<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 354.</ref>

Spooner is a [[United Methodist]]<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 343.</ref> and a donor to the Louisiana Methodist Children's Home orphanage in Monroe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmch.org/pathways/v37PathwaysSpring06.pdf|title=Donors: January 1, 2006 – April 30, 2006|publisher=Louisiana Methodist Children's Home|accessdate=September 17, 2013}}</ref>He was a member of the Optimist Club.<ref name=whoswho/>He and his wife have three daughters and eight grandchildren.​<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 354.</ref>

 

==References==​

==References==​

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