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→Political life
==Political life==
==Political life==
As a legislator, he was known as a [[politician]] who did not follow structured party dogma. Though he was initially elected as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he supported cultural and economic conservativism with a pro-environment orientation and later became a [[Republican Party|Republican]]. He was the first Louisiana legislator to warn of "Louisiana's tragic loss of wetland habitat."<ref>[http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/entertainment/music/10418675-171/quin-hillyer-john-m-barry Profile], theneworleansadvocate.com, October 7, 2014.</ref> He consistently opposed taxes and the expansion of government programs and enacted bills to reform the "welfare laws" then in effect.<ref>Senate Bill 512 (1990); ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' June 21, 1990.</ref> Bagert, who maintained an active litigation law practice while the legislature was not in session, authored the Louisiana Code of Evidence. His Senate Bill 155 became Act 515 in 1988.
As a legislator, he was known as a [[politician]] who did not follow structured party dogma. Though he was initially elected as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he supported cultural and economic conservativism with a pro-environment orientation and later became a [[Republican Party|Republican]]. He was the first Louisiana legislator to warn of "Louisiana's tragic loss of wetland habitat."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/entertainment/music/10418675-171/quin-hillyer-john-m-barry Profile]|title=Ben Bagert|publisher=neworleansadvocate.com|date=October 7, 2014)).</ref> He consistently opposed taxes and the expansion of government programs and enacted bills to reform the "welfare laws" then in effect.<ref>Senate Bill 512 (1990); ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' June 21, 1990.</ref> Bagert, who maintained an active litigation law practice while the legislature was not in session, authored the Louisiana Code of Evidence. His Senate Bill 155 became Act 515 in 1988.
In 1990, Bagert mounted a [[Republican Party|GOP]] challenge to entrenched incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]], of [[Shreveport]]. Former [[Ku Klux Klan]]sman, [[David Duke]], then a state representative for Jefferson Parish, also entered the race as a Republican. Although Duke, a former Democrat, was opposed by the state Republican Party leadership, he gathered immense media attention and significant support from traditionally Democratic and union voters. At the time, Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress ran simultaneously under Louisiana's nonpartisan blanket primary. As the election drew near, Bagert withdrew from the contest in a last-minute bid to thwart Duke.<ref>Lousiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 6, 1990.</ref>
In 1990, Bagert mounted a [[Republican Party|GOP]] challenge to entrenched incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]], of [[Shreveport]]. Former [[Ku Klux Klan]]sman, [[David Duke]], then a state representative for Jefferson Parish, also entered the race as a Republican. Although Duke, a former Democrat, was opposed by the state Republican Party leadership, he gathered immense media attention and significant support from traditionally Democratic and union voters. At the time, Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress ran simultaneously under Louisiana's nonpartisan blanket primary. As the election drew near, Bagert withdrew from the contest in a last-minute bid to thwart Duke.<ref>Lousiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 6, 1990.</ref>