Changes

{{Infobox officeholder​

{{{Infobox officeholder

|name       = William Frank Spooner​

| name=William Frank Spooner​

|image      =​

|image      =​

|image_size  =​

|image_size  =​

'''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==

 

Spooner's father, Harry Spooner, Sr. (1893–1964), originally from [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[New York]], was injured in [[France]] during [[World War I]]. The senior Spooner came to [[Texas]] with the petroleum industry and settled in [[Arkansas]], first El Dorado, Smackover, and finally Stephens in Ouachita County.

Spooner's father, Harry Spooner, Sr. (1893–1964), originally from [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[New York]], was injured in [[France]] during [[World War I]]. The senior Spooner came to [[Texas]] with the petroleum industry and settled in [[Arkansas]], first El Dorado, Smackover, and finally Stephens in Ouachita County.

He married the former Willie Green (1905–2000). Frank Spooner was born in Stephens<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Frank Spooner", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007–2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2007), p. 672.</ref> and graduated in 1955 from Stephens High School] For two years thereafter he attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and then transferred to the [[University of Oklahoma]] at Norman, [[Oklahoma]], from which in 1960 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Land Management. After college, Spooner served in the [[United States Army]] and the Army Reserves, pre-[[Vietnam War]].  From 1960 to 1965, he worked for Humble Oil Company.​<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Otto Passman, Jerry Huckaby, and Frank Spooner: The Louisiana Fifth Congressional District Election of 1976", ''Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association'', LIV No. 3 (Summer 2013), p. 346.</ref>

He married the former Willie Green (1905–2000). Frank Spooner was born in Stephens<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Frank Spooner", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007–2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2007), p. 672.</ref> and graduated in 1955 from Stephens High School] For two years thereafter he attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and then transferred to the [[University of Oklahoma]] at Norman, [[Oklahoma]], from which in 1960 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Land Management. After college, Spooner served in the [[United States Army]] and the Army Reserves, pre-[[Vietnam War]].  From 1960 to 1965, he worked for Humble Oil Company.​<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Otto Passman, Jerry Huckaby, and Frank Spooner: The Louisiana Fifth Congressional District Election of 1976", ''Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association'', LIV No. 3 (Summer 2013), p. 346.</ref>

Top-name Republicans, including former Governors [[Ronald W. Reagan]] of California and [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], of Texas, later rivals for the party's presidential nomination in 1980, came into the sprawling district, with a large agricultural component, to urge voters to elect Spooner. Connally lashed out at the increased power of the House Democratic Caucus, which he maintained had undermined the influence of the more moderate party members, such as then U.S. Senator [[Russell B. Long]] of Louisiana.<ref>''The Alexandria Town Talk''', October 26, 1976.</ref> Connally did not know Spooner, but he had known Mrs. Spooner, the former Mary Flippo, when she was a child in the Connally neighborhood in [[Fort Worth]] in the 1950s. Reagan and Connally gave the race a high profile and helped to provide critical financial support for Spooner<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 348.</ref> Reagan appeared in Monroe and Connally in West Monroe and [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], the oldest city in the state. Huckaby, who like Spooner was a political newcomer, nevertheless developed effective television advertising critical of out-of-state politicians trying to influence voters in an otherwise unnoticed Louisiana district.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=22703104|title=At Monroe Motel, Reagan Views Debate|last=Spurlock|first=Kathy|date=September 24, 1976|work=''The Monroe News-Star''|access-date=August 12, 2018|author-link2=Photographer Jack Dietle}}</ref><ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 348.</ref>​

Top-name Republicans, including former Governors [[Ronald W. Reagan]] of California and [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], of Texas, later rivals for the party's presidential nomination in 1980, came into the sprawling district, with a large agricultural component, to urge voters to elect Spooner. Connally lashed out at the increased power of the House Democratic Caucus, which he maintained had undermined the influence of the more moderate party members, such as then U.S. Senator [[Russell B. Long]] of Louisiana.<ref>''The Alexandria Town Talk''', October 26, 1976.</ref> Connally did not know Spooner, but he had known Mrs. Spooner, the former Mary Flippo, when she was a child in the Connally neighborhood in [[Fort Worth]] in the 1950s. Reagan and Connally gave the race a high profile and helped to provide critical financial support for Spooner<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 348.</ref> Reagan appeared in Monroe and Connally in West Monroe and [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], the oldest city in the state. Huckaby, who like Spooner was a political newcomer, nevertheless developed effective television advertising critical of out-of-state politicians trying to influence voters in an otherwise unnoticed Louisiana district.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=22703104|title=At Monroe Motel, Reagan Views Debate|last=Spurlock|first=Kathy|date=September 24, 1976|work=''The Monroe News-Star''|access-date=August 12, 2018|author-link2=Photographer Jack Dietle}}</ref><ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 348.</ref>​

​

​

Spooner hoped to poll convincing majorities in urban areas of the district to offset expected losses in rural regions, where voting Republican was still comparatively rare at the time except for the presidential level on occasion. He aimed particularly at winning in his own Monroe and West Monroe as well as Natchitoches, [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Bastrop, and Winnfield. The [[general election]] turnout was more than double that of the Passman-Huckaby race because, while Huckaby and Spooner sought the House seat, in the same November 2 election, [[Jimmy Carter]] and the unelected incumbent, [[Gerald R. Ford, Jr.]], were the nominees for U.S. President.<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 349.</ref>​

Spooner hoped to poll convincing majorities in urban areas of the district to offset expected losses in rural regions, where voting Republican was still comparatively rare at the time except for the presidential level on occasion. He aimed particularly at winning in his own Monroe and West Monroe as well as Natchitoches, [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Bastrop, and Winnfield. The [[general election]] turnout was more than double that of the Passman-Huckaby race because, while Huckaby and Spooner sought the House seat, in the same November 2 election, [[Jimmy Carter]] and the unelected incumbent, [[Gerald Ford]], were the nominees for U.S. President.<ref>''Louisiana History'', p. 349.</ref>​

[[File:Spooner Huckaby Results in 1976 Election.jpg|thumb|Election Day Returns By Parish in 1976 Congressional Election for Louisiana's 5th District<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=22703036|title=3 Nov 1976, Page 2 - ''The Alexandria Town Talk'' at Newspapers.com|work=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 12, 2018}}</ref>​

 

[[File:Spooner Huckaby Results in 1976 Election.jpg|thumb|Election Day Returns By Parish in 1976 Congressional Election for Louisiana's 5th District<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=22703036|title=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=November 3, 1976|page=2|publisher=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 12, 2018}}</ref>​

After his primary defeat, Passman "threatened" to endorse Spooner in the general election, but he never did so. Passman had run mostly without opposition after his initial primary victory in 1946, when he had unseated Charles Edgar McKenzie (1896-1956). He was unopposed in his last successful general election on November 5, 1974. Passman was particularly known as a critic of [[foreign aid]] programs and a supporter of farm subsidies and the recently concluded Vietnam War.<ref>''Louisiana History'', pp. 334, 337, 343.</ref>​

After his primary defeat, Passman "threatened" to endorse Spooner in the general election but never did so. Passman had run mostly without opposition after his initial primary victory in 1946, when he had unseated Charles Edgar McKenzie (1896-1956). He was unopposed in his last successful general election on November 5, 1974. Passman was particularly known as a critic of [[foreign aid]] programs and a supporter of farm subsidies and the recently concluded Vietnam War.<ref>''Louisiana History'', pp. 334, 337, 343.</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>​

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>​