Changes

==Political life==

==Political life==

From 1976 to 1987, Herring was a member of the Louisiana Statewide Health Coordinating Council.<ref name=crherring/> In 1987 he won a runoff election for the House seat vacated by [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Jock Scott]], who ran unsuccessfully for state senator against the Democrat [[Joe McPherson]]. Herring defeated fellow Democrat Eugene Paul "Gene" Cicardo, Sr. (1933-1996), one of the first white graduates of the historically black Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sulc.edu/Departments/Communications/reflections-docs/Web_SULC_Refl_Sum13.pdf|title=Cicardo, Jr., Speaks of Strong Family Legacy at SULC|publisher=''SULC Reflections: The Magazine of Southern University Law Center''|date=2012|page=10|accessdate=December 27, 2014}}</ref> and a former city attorney chosen by [[Arnold Jack Rosenthal]], the last of the municipal finance and utilities commissioners in Alexandria. In a low-turnout contest, Herring polled 4,034 votes (52.7 percent) to Cicardo's 3,627 (47.3 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 21, 1987.</ref> Cicardo had led the five-candidate primary fiel] with 26.7 percent of the votes cast, compared to Herring's 22.9 percent.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref>

From 1976 to 1987, Herring was a member of the Louisiana Statewide Health Coordinating Council.<ref name=crherring/> In 1987 he won a runoff election for the House seat vacated by [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Jock Scott]], who ran unsuccessfully for state senator against the Democrat [[Joe McPherson]]. Herring defeated fellow Democrat Eugene Paul "Gene" Cicardo, Sr. (1933-1996), one of the first white graduates of the historically black Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sulc.edu/Departments/Communications/reflections-docs/Web_SULC_Refl_Sum13.pdf|title=Cicardo, Jr., Speaks of Strong Family Legacy at SULC|publisher=''SULC Reflections: The Magazine of Southern University Law Center''|date=2012|page=10|accessdate=December 27, 2014}}</ref> and a former city attorney chosen by [[Arnold Jack Rosenthal]], the last of the municipal finance and utilities commissioners in Alexandria. In a low-turnout contest, Herring polled 4,034 votes (52.7 percent) to Cicardo's 3,627 (47.3 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 21, 1987.</ref> Cicardo had led the five-candidate primary field with 26.7 percent of the votes cast, compared to Herring's 22.9 percent.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref>

Representative Herring served on the House committees of Civil Law and Procedure and Health and Welfare.<ref name=crherring/> Herring did not seek a second term in the House in the 1991 nonpartisan blanket primary, and his seat was won by the [[African-American]] school board member, Israel "Bo" Curtis of Alexandria.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 16, 1991.</ref> Herring instead lost a bid in 1991 for the District 29 seat in the state Senate; he finished in third place in the five-candidate primary election with 7,114 votes (19.1 percent). Another losing primary candidate was the [[singer]] Jay Chevalier. Victory instead went to another Democrat, the incumbent state Senator Joe McPherson, who in the runoff election defeated the Republican [[Robert W. Bates]].<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>

Representative Herring served on the House committees of Civil Law and Procedure and Health and Welfare.<ref name=crherring/> Herring did not seek a second term in the House in the 1991 nonpartisan blanket primary, and his seat was won by the [[African-American]] school board member, Israel "Bo" Curtis of Alexandria.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 16, 1991.</ref> Herring instead lost a bid in 1991 for the District 29 seat in the state Senate; he finished in third place in the five-candidate primary election with 7,114 votes (19.1 percent). Another losing primary candidate was the [[singer]] Jay Chevalier. Victory instead went to another Democrat, the incumbent state Senator Joe McPherson, who in the runoff election defeated the Republican [[Robert W. Bates]].<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>