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==As GOP state chairman==
==As GOP state chairman==
Lastrapes was the second Lafayette Republican to serve as state party chairman in twenty years. [[Charles and Mary deGravelles|Charles de Gravelles]] had held the post from 1968 to 1972, during a difficult period for the Louisiana GOP. As chairman, Lastrapes was also at the helm when Louisiana Republicans were in a downcast mood after the return of Governor [[Edwin Edwards]] to a fourth and final term as well as the first election of [[Bill Clinton]] as president. The Louisiana party held a convention in New Orleans in 1993, which was keynoted by former [[U.S. Representative]] and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development [[Jack Kemp]]. (The 1988 national convention had also met in New Orleans.) Lastrapes had supported Kemp for the 1988 nomination; Kemp's failure to become a serious contender was what Lastrapes considered to be his greatest personal political disappointment.
Lastrapes was the second Lafayette Republican to serve as state party chairman in twenty years. [[Charles and Virginia de Gravelles|Charles de Gravelles]] had held the post from 1968 to 1972, during a difficult period for the Louisiana GOP. As chairman, Lastrapes was also at the helm when Louisiana Republicans were in a downcast mood after the return of Governor [[Edwin Edwards]] to a fourth and final term as well as the first election of [[Bill Clinton]] as president. The Louisiana party held a convention in New Orleans in 1993, which was keynoted by former [[U.S. Representative]] and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development [[Jack Kemp]]. (The 1988 national convention had also met in New Orleans.) Lastrapes had supported Kemp for the 1988 nomination; Kemp's failure to become a serious contender was what Lastrapes considered to be his greatest personal political disappointment.
Thereafter, Lastrapes worked to elect [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] as president, and he became a personal friend of the president. Bush carried Louisiana in the 1988 race, but not in 1992. In 1994, the GOP won control of both houses of Congress, and the mechanism was set in place to win the 1995 gubernatorial race to succeed Edwards. Then came a bitter GOP disappointment in the [[U.S. Senate]] race in 1996, with the disputed loss of [[Woody Jenkins]]. The Lafayette Parish GOP rebounded in 2003 to win the election for mayor-president.
Thereafter, Lastrapes worked to elect [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] as president, and he became a personal friend of the president. Bush carried Louisiana in the 1988 race, but not in 1992. In 1994, the GOP won control of both houses of Congress, and the mechanism was set in place to win the 1995 gubernatorial race to succeed Edwards. Then came a bitter GOP disappointment in the [[U.S. Senate]] race in 1996, with the disputed loss of [[Woody Jenkins]]. The Lafayette Parish GOP rebounded in 2003 to win the election for mayor-president.