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​On February 1, 1972, Bares was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was unopposed in 1975 in the state's first ever nonpartisan blanket primary. In 1979, he was elevated to the state Senate for the District 23 seat (Lafayette and Acadia parishes) vacated by Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr., of Lafayette, who instead ran unsuccessfully for governor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5hLUNchJy|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1880–2008 (p. 84)|publisher=David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library accessdate=August 20, 2008}}</ref> In that campaign, under the nonpartisan blanket primary, Bares defeated Democrat Pat Juneau, 54 to 46 percent in the general election,<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], ''My Name Is Ron, And I Am a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative,'' ([[Lafayette]], [[Louisiana]]: Zemog Publishers, 2000), p. 37; ISBN 0-9700156-0-7</ref> popularly called the runoff. Eliminated in the primary was [[Dud Lastrapes]], a Republican who became the [[mayor]] of Lafayette the following year. Bares served in the Senate for twelve years until he was unseated in the 1991 [[general election]] by the Republican [[J. Lomax Jordan]], Jr., also a Lafayette attorney. The seat was subsequently held by the Republicans [[Michael J. Michot]] and [[Page Cortez]].​

​On February 1, 1972, Bares was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was unopposed in 1975 in the state's first ever nonpartisan blanket primary. In 1979, he was elevated to the state Senate for the District 23 seat (Lafayette and Acadia parishes) vacated by Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr., of Lafayette, who instead ran unsuccessfully for governor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5hLUNchJy|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1880–2008 (p. 84)|publisher=David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library accessdate=August 20, 2008}}</ref> In that campaign, under the nonpartisan blanket primary, Bares defeated Democrat Pat Juneau, 54 to 46 percent in the general election,<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], ''My Name Is Ron, And I Am a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative,'' ([[Lafayette]], [[Louisiana]]: Zemog Publishers, 2000), p. 37; ISBN 0-9700156-0-7</ref> popularly called the runoff. Eliminated in the primary was [[Dud Lastrapes]], a Republican who became the [[mayor]] of Lafayette the following year. Bares served in the Senate for twelve years until he was unseated in the 1991 [[general election]] by the Republican [[J. Lomax Jordan]], Jr., also a Lafayette attorney. The seat was subsequently held by the Republicans [[Michael J. Michot]] and [[Page Cortez]].​

Roemer selected Bares as Senate President in 1988 though Sydney B. Nelson of [[Shreveport]] had actively sought the position and had urged Bares to run for the lesser position of Senate pro-tem. In Louisiana, the Senate president is normally chosen by the governor, but legislators in 1990 returned Nunez to the presidency in a slap at Roemer. The resolution to replace Bares with Nunez, authored by later [[U.S. Representative]] [[William J. Jefferson]] of Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, was twenty-eight to twenty-one. Roemer referred to the removal of Bares as an example of "what's wrong with this state."<ref>"Bares ousted as President of Louisiana Senate," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' May 10, 1990, p. 1.</ref>​

Roemer selected Bares as Senate President in 1988 though [[Sydney B. Nelson]] of [[Shreveport]] had actively sought the position and had urged Bares to run for the lesser position of Senate pro-tem. In Louisiana, the Senate president is normally chosen by the governor, but legislators in 1990 returned Nunez to the presidency in a slap at Roemer. The resolution to replace Bares with Nunez, authored by later [[U.S. Representative]] [[William J. Jefferson]] of Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, was twenty-eight to twenty-one. Roemer referred to the removal of Bares as an example of "what's wrong with this state."<ref>"Bares ousted as President of Louisiana Senate," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' May 10, 1990, p. 1.</ref>​

Bares' obituary describes him as "a passionate leader in the pro-life movement [who] authored historic legislation to protect the precious lives of the unborn in Louisiana."<ref name=obit/> In 1991, Bares authored a measure in the Senate, co-sponsored in the House by Representative Sam H. Theriot of Abbeville, which would have outlawed most abortions in Louisiana, including impregnations which resulted from [[incest]]. The legislature approved the bill, but it was vetoed by Governor Roemer on the grounds that it went beyond the scope of the [[United States Supreme Court]] opinion,  ''[[Roe v. Wade]].''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2D61639F933A15755C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=Louisiana Abortion Law Is Delayed |author=Ronald Smothers|date=June 20, 1991|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|accessdate=September 23, 2019}}</ref>​ Such [[feminist]] groups as the [[National Organization for Women]], subsequently headed by the Louisiana native Kim Gandy, formerly of [[Bossier City]], successfully targeted Bares and a pro-life House member, fellow Democrat Carl Newton Gunter, Jr. (1938-1999) of Rapides Parish, for defeat. The controversy worked to Jordan's advantage though he too took the pro-life position. In the end, Bares and Gunter were defeated in what Louisiana feminists hailed as a great success.<ref>''The Feminist Chronicles — 1991 — Political,'' Feminist Majority Foundation, accessed August 20, 2008.</ref>

Bares' obituary describes him as "a passionate leader in the pro-life movement [who] authored historic legislation to protect the precious lives of the unborn in Louisiana."<ref name=obit/> In 1991, Bares authored a measure in the Senate, co-sponsored in the House by Representative Sam H. Theriot of Abbeville, which would have outlawed most abortions in Louisiana, including impregnations which resulted from [[incest]]. The legislature approved the bill, but it was vetoed by Governor Roemer on the grounds that it went beyond the scope of the [[United States Supreme Court]] opinion,  ''[[Roe v. Wade]].''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2D61639F933A15755C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=Louisiana Abortion Law Is Delayed |author=Ronald Smothers|date=June 20, 1991|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|accessdate=September 23, 2019}}</ref>​ Such [[feminist]] groups as the [[National Organization for Women]], subsequently headed by the Louisiana native Kim Gandy, formerly of [[Bossier City]], successfully targeted Bares and a pro-life House member, fellow Democrat Carl Newton Gunter, Jr. (1938-1999) of Rapides Parish, for defeat. The controversy worked to Jordan's advantage though he too took the pro-life position. In the end, Bares and Gunter were defeated in what Louisiana feminists hailed as a great success.<ref>''The Feminist Chronicles — 1991 — Political,'' Feminist Majority Foundation, accessed August 20, 2008.</ref>