Changes

==Defeating Frank Spooner==

==Defeating Frank Spooner==

Huckaby then faced a determined Republican challenge from [[Frank Spooner]], a conservative [[oil]]man from Monroe who had been his state's [[Republican Party|GOP]] national committeeman. Spooner was the first Republican to contest the Fifth District seat since 1900, when Henry E. Hardtner polled 628 votes (9.2 percent) against the Democrat Joseph E. Ransdell of East Carroll Parish, who was elected with 6,172 votes (90.8 percent). Ransdell  later served in the [[United States Senate]] until defeated by [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]]<ref>''Louisiana History,'' pp. 345-346.</ref>

Huckaby then faced a determined Republican challenge from [[Frank Spooner]], a conservative [[oil]]man from Monroe who had been his state's [[Republican Party|GOP]] national committeeman. Spooner was the first Republican to contest the Fifth District seat since 1900, when Henry E. Hardtner polled 628 votes (9.2 percent) against the Democrat [[Joseph Ransdell|Joseph Eugene Ransdell]] of East Carroll Parish, who was elected with 6,172 votes (90.8 percent). Ransdell  later served in the [[United States Senate]] until defeated by [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]]<ref>''Louisiana History,'' pp. 345-346.</ref>

Spooner worked to assemble a potentially winning coalition based on a strong showing in Ouachita and Lincoln parishes, along with Morehouse, Richland,  [[Natchitoches,  Louisiana|Natchitoches]], and Winn parishes. Former Governor [[John Connally]] of [[Texas]] came to Natchitoches and Monroe to speak for Spooner and the [[Gerald R. Ford|Ford]]-[[Robert J. Dole|Dole]] ticket. Former [California]] Governor [[Ronald W. Reagan]] of [[California]], Ford's unsuccessful opponent in the 1976  primaries, appeared in Monroe at a fundraiser on Spooner's behalf. After his failure to gain re-nomination, Passman never again spoke to Huckaby and even "threatened" to endorse Spooner as his successor but never did so.<ref>''Louisiana History,'' pp. 343, 348.</ref>

Spooner worked to assemble a potentially winning coalition based on a strong showing in Ouachita and Lincoln parishes, along with Morehouse, Richland,  [[Natchitoches,  Louisiana|Natchitoches]], and Winn parishes. Former Governor [[John Connally]] of [[Texas]] came to Natchitoches and Monroe to speak for Spooner and the [[Gerald R. Ford|Ford]]-[[Robert J. Dole|Dole]] ticket. Former [California]] Governor [[Ronald W. Reagan]] of [[California]], Ford's unsuccessful opponent in the 1976  primaries, appeared in Monroe at a fundraiser on Spooner's behalf. After his failure to gain re-nomination, Passman never again spoke to Huckaby and even "threatened" to endorse Spooner as his successor but never did so.<ref>''Louisiana History,'' pp. 343, 348.</ref>