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Blair was known for his constituent services and his efforts to improve old Louisiana Highway 1 between [[Shreveport]] and Baton Rouge. He also supported highway beautification and personally planted flowers along U.S. Highway 71 near his farm. He opposed having the office of state superintendent of education be made appointive because he preferred the judgment of more than a million voters, rather than a small group, now the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which decides who holds the top post in education.
 
Blair was known for his constituent services and his efforts to improve old Louisiana Highway 1 between [[Shreveport]] and Baton Rouge. He also supported highway beautification and personally planted flowers along U.S. Highway 71 near his farm. He opposed having the office of state superintendent of education be made appointive because he preferred the judgment of more than a million voters, rather than a small group, now the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which decides who holds the top post in education.
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Blair first ran for the state Senate in 1956 but was defeated in the [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]] landslide by the Longite choice, Crawford Hugh "Sammy" Downs (1911-1985) of Alexandria,  the son of a former Rapides Parish sheriff, [[U. T. Downs]], and the father of the former district attorney, [[Jam Downs]]. On December 5, 1959, Blair unseated Downs in the Democratic primary.<ref>''The Shreveport Times,'' December 6, 1959, p. 1.</ref> In 1964, Blair was beaten by George Ray Lee, who died in office midway through his term. Lee was the son of former Senator George W. Lee, who filled the seat from 1936 to 1940, and also the brother of later Pineville municipal and state court Judge [[Richard E. "Dick" Lee]]. In the 1966 [[special election]] to replace George Ray Lee, Blair waged a victorious comeback. He won again in 1968 and 1972. From 1969 to 1972, he and [[Sylvan Friedman]] of Natchitoches Parish represented a two-member district that included Grant Parish.
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Blair first ran for the state Senate in 1956 but was defeated in the [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]] landslide by the [[Longite]] choice, Crawford Hugh "Sammy" Downs (1911-1985) of Alexandria,  the son of a former Rapides Parish sheriff, [[U. T. Downs]], and the father of the former district attorney, [[Jam Downs]]. On December 5, 1959, Blair unseated Downs in the Democratic primary.<ref>''The Shreveport Times,'' December 6, 1959, p. 1.</ref> In 1964, Blair was beaten by George Ray Lee, who died in office midway through his term. Lee was the son of former Senator George W. Lee, who filled the seat from 1936 to 1940, and also the brother of later Pineville municipal and state court Judge [[Richard E. "Dick" Lee]]. In the 1966 [[special election]] to replace George Ray Lee, Blair waged a victorious comeback. He won again in 1968 and 1972. From 1969 to 1972, he and [[Sylvan Friedman]] of Natchitoches Parish represented a two-member district that included Grant Parish.
    
In his last Senate term, Blair was also elected on a nonpartisan ballot as a delegate to the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which drafted the state's current framework of government, as approved by voters in the spring of 1974.
 
In his last Senate term, Blair was also elected on a nonpartisan ballot as a delegate to the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, which drafted the state's current framework of government, as approved by voters in the spring of 1974.
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