| | Crawford's modest but burgeoning support may have encouraged stronger opposition to Morrison to emerge in 1966. Another factor was Morrison's support of the aforementioned Voting Rights Act, followed by a so-called "backlash" of new white registrants who in some cases neutralized the effect of increased voting registration by blacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842857-1,00.html|title=The Turning Point|publisher=''[[Time Magazine]]''|date=October 7, 1966|accessed January 15, 2009}}</ref> The increased African American registration was less than what the Morrison camp expected, and the Voting Rights Act also removed the formal barrier against registration by subliterate whites. In the Democratic primary, a candidate named "James E. Morrison" (not the incumbent James H. Morrison), received thousands of votes without campaigning — enough votes to embarrass the incumbent into a runoff. In a campaign vitriolic even by Louisiana standards, Morrison, advertising Rarick as "the [[Ku Klux Klan|Klan]]'s man from Indiana" with a picture of a cross burning, alleged that James E. Morrison's name on the ballot was the result of a conspiracy by Rarick's supporters. Rarick countered by saying that the incumbent had voted to put "thousands of illiterates on the voter rolls" and should pay the consequences.</ref> | | Crawford's modest but burgeoning support may have encouraged stronger opposition to Morrison to emerge in 1966. Another factor was Morrison's support of the aforementioned Voting Rights Act, followed by a so-called "backlash" of new white registrants who in some cases neutralized the effect of increased voting registration by blacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842857-1,00.html|title=The Turning Point|publisher=''[[Time Magazine]]''|date=October 7, 1966|accessed January 15, 2009}}</ref> The increased African American registration was less than what the Morrison camp expected, and the Voting Rights Act also removed the formal barrier against registration by subliterate whites. In the Democratic primary, a candidate named "James E. Morrison" (not the incumbent James H. Morrison), received thousands of votes without campaigning — enough votes to embarrass the incumbent into a runoff. In a campaign vitriolic even by Louisiana standards, Morrison, advertising Rarick as "the [[Ku Klux Klan|Klan]]'s man from Indiana" with a picture of a cross burning, alleged that James E. Morrison's name on the ballot was the result of a conspiracy by Rarick's supporters. Rarick countered by saying that the incumbent had voted to put "thousands of illiterates on the voter rolls" and should pay the consequences.</ref> |
| − | On three occasions, Morrison ran unsuccessfully for governor — 1940 (polling 48,243 votes or 8.7 percent and losing to the eventual winner, [[Sam Houston Jones]]), 1944 (with 76,081 votes or 15.9 percent and failing to enter the runoff with [[Jimmie Davis]]), and 1948 (101,754 votes or 15.8 percent and failing to enter the runoff with the resurgent Earl Long).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Elections," Gubernatorial primary elections, 1940, 1944, 1948.</ref>In 1944, his other opponents were Lewis Lovering Morgan of Covington, the ticket mate of Earl Long, who unsuccessfully sought the lieutenant governorship that year; [[Sam Caldwell]], the mayor of [[Shreveport]], and colorful state Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc of Abbeville in Vermillion Parish. In 1948, Morrison campaigned for governor with the promise of a soldiers' "bonus". His ticket mates included [[Lucille May Grace]] for register of state lands and J. Y. Fontenot for lieutenant governor,<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 16, 1948, p. 14.</ref> but victory that year went to the slate supporting the return to office of former Governor Earl Long. In the gubernatorial races, Morrison could run for governor without sacrificing his U.S. House seat because Louisiana holds [[Governor|gubernatorial]] elections a year before the presidential election. | + | On three occasions, Morrison ran unsuccessfully for governor — 1940 (polling 48,243 votes or 8.7 percent and losing to the eventual winner, [[Sam Houston Jones]]), 1944 (with 76,081 votes or 15.9 percent and failing to enter the runoff with [[Jimmie Davis]]), and 1948 (101,754 votes or 15.8 percent and failing to enter the runoff with the resurgent Earl Long).<ref>''Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Elections," Gubernatorial primary elections, 1940, 1944, 1948.</ref>In 1944, his other opponents were Lewis Lovering Morgan of Covington, the ticket mate of Earl Long, who unsuccessfully sought the lieutenant governorship that year; Samuel Shepherd "Sam" Caldwell (1892-1953), the mayor of [[Shreveport]], and colorful state Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc of Abbeville in Vermillion Parish. In 1948, Morrison campaigned for governor with the promise of a soldiers' "bonus". His ticket mates included [[Lucille May Grace]] for register of state lands and J. Y. Fontenot for lieutenant governor,<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 16, 1948, p. 14.</ref> but victory that year went to the slate supporting the return to office of former Governor Earl Long. In the gubernatorial races, Morrison could run for governor without sacrificing his U.S. House seat because Louisiana holds [[Governor|gubernatorial]] elections a year before the presidential election. |
| | Morrison was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of1956 and 1960 and supported the [[Adlai Stevenson]] and [[John F. Kennedy]] tickets, respectively. Morrison was not related to New Orleans [[Mayor]] deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr. (1912-1964), though the two often agreed politically and both ran unsuccessfully for governor on three occasions. After his defeat for Congress, Morrison resumed his law practice in Hammond. Rarick served in the House seat from 1967 to 1975, only a third of the tenure that Morrison accumulated. | | Morrison was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of1956 and 1960 and supported the [[Adlai Stevenson]] and [[John F. Kennedy]] tickets, respectively. Morrison was not related to New Orleans [[Mayor]] deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr. (1912-1964), though the two often agreed politically and both ran unsuccessfully for governor on three occasions. After his defeat for Congress, Morrison resumed his law practice in Hammond. Rarick served in the House seat from 1967 to 1975, only a third of the tenure that Morrison accumulated. |