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==Candidacy for Louisiana attorney general, 1972==

==Candidacy for Louisiana attorney general, 1972==

In 1972, Stagg was the Republican nominee for state attorney general on a ticket headed by [[Governor|gubernatorial]] candidate David Treen. Stagg was seeking to fill the seat being vacated by long-term Democratic [[incumbent]] Jack Paul; Faustin Gremillion (1914-2001), a protégé of the late [[Earl Kemp Long]]. Gremillion had been eliminated in the 1971 party primary because of corrupt practices in office.​

In 1972, Stagg was the Republican nominee for state attorney general on a ticket headed by [[Governor|gubernatorial]] candidate David Treen. Stagg was seeking to fill the seat being vacated by long-term Democratic [[incumbent]] Jack Paul; Faustin Gremillion (1914-2001), a protégé of the late [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]. Gremillion had been eliminated in the 1971 party primary because of corrupt practices in office.​

 

Stagg faced the Democratic primary winner, one-term State Senator [[William J. Guste]], of [[New Orleans]], but party affiliation worked heavily to Guste's advantage. Guste and Stagg were virtually the same age. Stagg won the endorsement of the since defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'':  an editorial hailed him as "a man of considerable force ... considered by his colleagues in the law fraternity to be a man of brilliance." The ''Shreveport Journal'' also noted that for years Stagg had "fought for the southern viewpoint in national Republican party conventions."<ref>''[[Shreveport Journal]],'' January 22, 1972.</ref>​

Stagg faced the Democratic primary winner, one-term State Senator [[William J. Guste]], of [[New Orleans]], but party affiliation worked heavily to Guste's advantage. Guste and Stagg were virtually the same age. Stagg won the endorsement of the since defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'':  an editorial hailed him as "a man of considerable force ... considered by his colleagues in the law fraternity to be a man of brilliance." The ''Shreveport Journal'' also noted that for years Stagg had "fought for the southern viewpoint in national Republican party conventions."<ref>''[[Shreveport Journal]],'' January 22, 1972.</ref>​

 

Guste prevailed in the race with 763,276 votes (74.1 percent) to Stagg's 270,038 (25.9 percent). Stagg won only his native Caddo Parish with 54 percent of the ballots cast, and he finished with at least 43 percent in six other north Louisiana parishes. Two other statewide Republican nominees also won in Caddo Parish, Treen for governor and [[Robert Frye]], a native of Webster Parish who was then a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, who challenged the Democrat [[Louis J. Michot]], a businessman from [[Lafayette]] for the position of state education superintendent.<ref>''Shreveport Journal,'' February 2, 1972.</ref> Guste went on to serve twenty years as attorney general.​

Guste prevailed in the race with 763,276 votes (74.1 percent) to Stagg's 270,038 (25.9 percent). Stagg won only his native Caddo Parish with 54 percent of the ballots cast, and he finished with at least 43 percent in six other north Louisiana parishes. Two other statewide Republican nominees also won in Caddo Parish, Treen for governor and [[Robert Frye]], a native of Webster Parish who was then a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, who challenged the Democrat [[Louis J. Michot]], a businessman from [[Lafayette]] for the position of state education superintendent.<ref>''Shreveport Journal,'' February 2, 1972.</ref> Guste went on to serve twenty years as attorney general.​

 

After this campaign, Stagg vacated the position of Republican national committeeman in favor of David Treen. Stagg also announced that he was considering running for the U.S. Senate in 1972 for the seat held by Democrat [[Allen J. Ellender]], who died during the primary campaign. Stagg said that he would need "money, support, and possibilities of success, rather than just running as an exercise."<ref>"Treen Named State GOP Committeeman," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 6, 1972, p. 1.</ref> Stagg never ran for the Senate; the Republican nominee was [[Ben  C. Toledano]], a lawyer and author, who had carried the party's banner in 1970 in a race for [[mayor]] of [[New Orleans]]. Victory in the Senate race, however, went to Stagg's former rival for the state Senate, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. Stagg did win one election, a [[nonpartisan]] contest in the summer of 1972 for delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1973. He served as chairman of both the Temporary Rules and the Executive Department committees.​

After this campaign, Stagg vacated the position of Republican national committeeman in favor of David Treen. Stagg also announced that he was considering running for the U.S. Senate in 1972 for the seat held by Democrat [[Allen J. Ellender]], who died during the primary campaign. Stagg said that he would need "money, support, and possibilities of success, rather than just running as an exercise."<ref>"Treen Named State GOP Committeeman," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 6, 1972, p. 1.</ref> Stagg never ran for the Senate; the Republican nominee was [[Ben  C. Toledano]], a lawyer and author, who had carried the party's banner in 1970 in a race for [[mayor]] of [[New Orleans]]. Victory in the Senate race, however, went to Stagg's former rival for the state Senate, J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. Stagg did win one election, a [[nonpartisan]] contest in the summer of 1972 for delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1973. He served as chairman of both the Temporary Rules and the Executive Department committees.​