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Rarick had been a member of the Democratic Party in Indiana and for a time was the party's city chairman in Goshen. He remained a Democrat when he moved to Louisiana. In the summer of 1966, Rarick upset veteran  U.S. Representative [[James H. Morrison|James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison]] (no relation to [[Chep Morrison]]) of Hammond in Tangipohoa Parish in a [[closed primary|closed]] Democratic primary runoff election with 51.2 percent of the vote. Morrison though an opponet of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] had a "moderate racial record" and was attacked in the campaign by Rarick as an ally of "the black-power voting bloc" and being an "[[Lyndon B. Johnson|LBJ]] rubber stamp".<ref>"Politics: The Turning Point," [[Time Magazine]],'' October 6, 1966.</ref> Rarick campaigned on "a segregationist, anti-Johnson and anti-federal government theme."<ref name="runoffs">"Runoffs Set for Sept. 24 in Louisiana," ''The Spokane Daily Chronicle,'' August 15, 1966.</ref> Morrison accused Rarick of being a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], for which Rarick sued Morrison for [[libel]].<ref name="runoffs"/>

Rarick had been a member of the Democratic Party in Indiana and for a time was the party's city chairman in Goshen. He remained a Democrat when he moved to Louisiana. In the summer of 1966, Rarick upset veteran  U.S. Representative [[James H. Morrison|James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison]] (no relation to [[Chep Morrison]]) of Hammond in Tangipohoa Parish in a [[closed primary|closed]] Democratic primary runoff election with 51.2 percent of the vote. Morrison though an opponet of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] had a "moderate racial record" and was attacked in the campaign by Rarick as an ally of "the black-power voting bloc" and being an "[[Lyndon B. Johnson|LBJ]] rubber stamp".<ref>"Politics: The Turning Point," [[Time Magazine]],'' October 6, 1966.</ref> Rarick campaigned on "a segregationist, anti-Johnson and anti-federal government theme."<ref name="runoffs">"Runoffs Set for Sept. 24 in Louisiana," ''The Spokane Daily Chronicle,'' August 15, 1966.</ref> Morrison accused Rarick of being a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], for which Rarick sued Morrison for [[libel]].<ref name="runoffs"/>

Rarick's victory coincided with the selection of another controversial conservative, [[Lester Maddox]] as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in [[Georgia]]. Incidentally, both Rarick and his 1966 [[Republican Party|Republican]] opponent, Crayton Green "Sparky" Hall (c. 1925-2014), later left their major parties. In 1976, Hall was the 6th congressional district elector for the [[Libertarian Party]] . Hall polled only 23 percent of the ballots cast in his race against Rarick. A native of Columbus, Georgia who was reared in Leesville in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, Hall was a process development engineer for the Ethyl Corporation in Baton Rouge. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish in 1968 against the Democrat [[W.W. Dumas]]. He was a floor representative for [[Ronald Reagan]]'s 72-hour presidential bid at the 1968 [[Republican National Convention]] in Miami Beach, [[Florida]]. Hall soon left the GOP and was the founding chairman of the Louisiana Libertarian Party from the early 1970s until 1985, when he relocated to North Carolina, where he was an active Libertarian in that state as well. He died in Hendersonville, North Carolina, at the age of eighty-nine.<ref>Crayton Green "Sparky" Hall obituary, ,, ''Hendersonville ," August 31, 2014.</ref>

Rarick's victory coincided with the selection of another controversial conservative, [[Lester Maddox]] as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in [[Georgia]]. Incidentally, both Rarick and his 1966 [[Republican Party|Republican]] opponent, Crayton Green "Sparky" Hall (c. 1925-2014), later left their major parties. In 1976, Hall was the 6th congressional district elector for the [[Libertarian Party]] . Hall polled only 23 percent of the ballots cast in his race against Rarick. A native of Columbus, Georgia who was reared in Leesville in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, Hall was a process development engineer for the Ethyl Corporation in Baton Rouge. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish in 1968 against the Democrat [[Woodrow Wilson Dumas]]. He was a floor representative for [[Ronald Reagan]]'s 72-hour presidential bid at the 1968 [[Republican National Convention]] in Miami Beach, [[Florida]]. Hall soon left the GOP and was the founding chairman of the Louisiana Libertarian Party from the early 1970s until 1985, when he relocated to North Carolina, where he was an active Libertarian in that state as well. He died in Hendersonville, North Carolina, at the age of eighty-nine.<ref>Crayton Green "Sparky" Hall obituary, ''Hendersonville Times-News,'' August 21, 2014.</ref>

Rarick quickly compiled a very conservative voting record, even by Louisiana Democratic standards. According to one scoring method, published in''The American Journal of Political Science,''<ref>

Rarick quickly compiled a very conservative voting record, even by Louisiana Democratic standards. According to one scoring method, published in''The American Journal of Political Science,''<ref>