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==Lafayette legislator==

==Lafayette legislator==

The open seat in District 44 developed when Representative [[Allen Bares]] ran successfully that year for the state Senate seat vacated by failed gubernatorial candidate Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr., of Lafayette. In the 1979 [[general election]], when David Treen was elected governor, Gomez defeated a Republican woman, Mary Regan, the wife of a prominent Lafayette psychiatrist. She had been a volunteer nurse at the state Capitol and had developed an interest in politics through that experience. Gomez led in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 42 percent of the vote, and Regan trailed with 20 percent. Gomez recalled Regan as having "a very sweet demeanor, and I really didn't look forward to having to debate her" throughout a second election. Gomez ultimately defeated Regan, 76-24 percent. [11] He prevailed again in 1983 with 82 percent of the vote against a single Democratic opponent with the unlikely name of Cleophile "Bobby" Babineaux, who carried the backing of  [[organized labor]].[12]

The open seat in District 44 developed when Representative [[Allen Bares]] ran successfully that year for the state Senate seat vacated by failed gubernatorial candidate [[Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr.]], of Lafayette. In the 1979 [[general election]], when David Treen was elected governor, Gomez defeated a Republican woman, Mary Regan, the wife of a prominent Lafayette psychiatrist. She had been a volunteer nurse at the state Capitol and had developed an interest in politics through that experience. Gomez led in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 42 percent of the vote, and Regan trailed with 20 percent. Gomez recalled Regan as having "a very sweet demeanor, and I really didn't look forward to having to debate her" throughout a second election. Gomez ultimately defeated Regan, 76-24 percent. [11] He prevailed again in 1983 with 82 percent of the vote against a single Democratic opponent with the unlikely name of Cleophile "Bobby" Babineaux, who carried the backing of  [[organized labor]].[12]

Though a Democrat in the legislature, Gomez opposed most [[Populism|populist]] and [[liberal]] measures pushed by his party. He worked closely with fellow Lafayette representative, [[Michael F. Thompson]], a Democrat-turned-Republican who was unseated in 1987 in a bitter campaign by an [[Independent]], [[Odon Bacqué]].[13]

Though a Democrat in the legislature, Gomez opposed most [[Populism|populist]] and [[liberal]] measures pushed by his party. He worked closely with fellow Lafayette representative, [[Michael F. Thompson]], a Democrat-turned-Republican who was unseated in 1987 in a bitter campaign by an [[Independent]], [[Odon Bacqué]].[13]