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→Successor to Speedy Long in Congress
Dr. Abramson, who had backed [[George Wallace]] for U.S. President in 1968, was also critical of Republicans. After [[Richard M. Nixon]]'s election as president, Abramson noted that the new administration renewed Democratic former President Lyndon B. Johnson's 10-percent surtax and used the withdrawal of federal education funds as leverage to compel massive school desegregation. Abramson borrowed from Wallace's line to remark, "there's not nine cents worth of difference between the two major parties."<ref>"Wallace Party Still Claims No Difference," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 16, 1969, p. 1.</ref>
Dr. Abramson, who had backed [[George Wallace]] for U.S. President in 1968, was also critical of Republicans. After [[Richard M. Nixon]]'s election as president, Abramson noted that the new administration renewed Democratic former President Lyndon B. Johnson's 10-percent surtax and used the withdrawal of federal education funds as leverage to compel massive school desegregation. Abramson borrowed from Wallace's line to remark, "there's not nine cents worth of difference between the two major parties."<ref>"Wallace Party Still Claims No Difference," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 16, 1969, p. 1.</ref>
==Lock on the 8th district==
==Lock on the 8th district==
Long returned to the duties of a congressman in 1973. A man of great determination, but who feared for his own health, Long believed that government was essential to protect the interests of the poorest, most vulnerable citizens. His voting record was liberal. [[Bill Dodd|William Joseph "Bill" Dodd]] called Gillis Long the "most left-wing of all the Longs." No strong conservatives emerged to challenge him for reelection.<ref name=bdodd>*[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' ([[Baton Rouge]]: Claitor's Publishing, 1991).</ref>
Long returned to the duties of a congressman in 1973. A man of great determination, but who feared for his own health, Long believed that government was essential to protect the interests of the poorest, most vulnerable citizens. His voting record was liberal. [[Bill Dodd|William Joseph "Bill" Dodd]] called Gillis Long the "most left-wing of all the Longs." No strong conservatives emerged to challenge him for reelection.<ref name=bdodd>*[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' ([[Baton Rouge]]: Claitor's Publishing, 1991).</ref>
Long hired for his Washington office staff Mildred Methvin, a [[Georgetown University]] Law School student descended from political families in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] and Alexandria. Her father was the Alexandria attorney [[DeWitt T. Methvin, Jr.]] In 1983, she was named United States Magistrate Judge for the Lafayette office of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana., a position that she retained until 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyworld.com/story/news/2014/07/17/mildred-methvin-to-fill-judge-heberts-position/12759855/|title=Mildred Methvin to fill Judge Hebert's position|author=William Johnson|date=July 16, 2014|publisher=''Opelousas Daily World''|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref>
Long hired for his Washington office staff Mildred Methvin, a [[Georgetown University]] Law School student descended from political families in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] and Alexandria. Her father was the Alexandria attorney [[DeWitt T. Methvin, Jr.]] In 1983, she was named United States Magistrate Judge for the Lafayette office of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana., a position that she retained until 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyworld.com/story/news/2014/07/17/mildred-methvin-to-fill-judge-heberts-position/12759855/|title=Mildred Methvin to fill Judge Hebert's position|author=William Johnson|date=July 16, 2014|publisher=''Opelousas Daily World''|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref>
In 1976, an [[Independent]], [[Kent Courtney]], ran against Long, but he polled only 6,526 votes (5.8 percent); no Republican filed for the race. Courtney was a brother of Cy David Francis Courtney (1924-1995), a New Orleans lawyer who had been an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 1959 on the Democratic gubernatorial ticket headed by state Senator [[William M. Rainach]] of Claiborne Parish. Cy Courtney also ran unsuccessfully for governor of Louisiana as a Democrat in 1967.
In 1976, an [[Independent]] affiliated with the "Radical Right," [[Kent Courtney]] of Alexandria, ran against Long, but he polled only 6,526 votes (5.8 percent); no Republican filed for the race. Courtney was a brother of Cy David Francis Courtney (1924-1995), a New Orleans lawyer who had been an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 1959 on the Democratic gubernatorial ticket headed by state Senator [[William M. Rainach]] of Claiborne Parish. Cy Courtney also ran unsuccessfully for governor of Louisiana as a Democrat in 1967.
In 1978, the Republican Robert Henry Mitchell, Jr. (born 1945) of Forest Hill in Rapides Parish, the son of a letter carrier, Robert Mitchell, Sr. (1915-2014), and the former Jane P. Odom (1919-2005),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=robert-henry-mitchell&pid=171655992|title=Robert Henry Mitchell, Sr.|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=July 11, 2014}}</ref> challenged Long in the first ever nonpartisan blanket primary held in Louisiana for congressional elections. The conservative Mitchell, who did virtually no campaigning, polled 20,547 ballots (20.3 percent) to Long's 80,666 (79.7 percent). Mitchell was setting the stage for potentially stronger Republican campaigns in the 8th district in later years, but the terrain was hostile to Republican candidates.
In 1978, the Republican Robert Henry Mitchell, Jr. (born 1945) of Forest Hill in Rapides Parish, the son of a letter carrier, Robert Mitchell, Sr. (1915-2014), and the former Jane P. Odom (1919-2005),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=robert-henry-mitchell&pid=171655992|title=Robert Henry Mitchell, Sr.|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=July 11, 2014}}</ref> challenged Long in the first ever nonpartisan blanket primary held in Louisiana for congressional elections. The conservative Mitchell, who did virtually no campaigning, polled 20,547 ballots (20.3 percent) to Long's 80,666 (79.7 percent). Mitchell was setting the stage for potentially stronger Republican campaigns in the 8th district in later years, but the terrain was hostile to Republican candidates.