Briefly a schoolteacher, Stonecipher at the age of twenty-five took a position in Baton Rouge with the Louisiana Department of Education during the first term of superintendent [[J. Kelly Nix]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]. He had worked on Nix's campaign in the 1975 nonpartisan blanket [[primary]]. Nix named Stonechipher as the director of the state teacher certification.<ref name=jimleslie>{{cite web|url=http://forward-now.com/2012/07/05/lessons-from-the-murder-of-jim-leslie/|title=Lessons from the Murder of Jim Leslie|publisher=forward-now.com|date=July 5, 2012|author=Elliott Stonecipher|accessdate=August 4, 2021}}</ref> | Briefly a schoolteacher, Stonecipher at the age of twenty-five took a position in Baton Rouge with the Louisiana Department of Education during the first term of superintendent [[J. Kelly Nix]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]. He had worked on Nix's campaign in the 1975 nonpartisan blanket [[primary]]. Nix named Stonechipher as the director of the state teacher certification.<ref name=jimleslie>{{cite web|url=http://forward-now.com/2012/07/05/lessons-from-the-murder-of-jim-leslie/|title=Lessons from the Murder of Jim Leslie|publisher=forward-now.com|date=July 5, 2012|author=Elliott Stonecipher|accessdate=August 4, 2021}}</ref> |