| | '''Terry Lamar Gardner''', known as '''TG Gardner''' (May 18, 1954 – June 28, 2022),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://press-herald.com/minden-mayor-terry-gardner-passes-away/|title=Minden Mayor Terry Gardner Passes Away|publisher=''[[Minden Press-Herald]]|date=June 28, 2022}}</ref> was a [[business]]man who served as the 56th [[mayor]] of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]]. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], he was the fourth member of his party to hold the position since 1966. A victor by thirty-seven votes in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on November 6, 2018, Gardner assumed office on December 27, 2018. | | '''Terry Lamar Gardner''', known as '''TG Gardner''' (May 18, 1954 – June 28, 2022),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://press-herald.com/minden-mayor-terry-gardner-passes-away/|title=Minden Mayor Terry Gardner Passes Away|publisher=''[[Minden Press-Herald]]|date=June 28, 2022}}</ref> was a [[business]]man who served as the 56th [[mayor]] of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]]. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], he was the fourth member of his party to hold the position since 1966. A victor by thirty-seven votes in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on November 6, 2018, Gardner assumed office on December 27, 2018. |
| | A native of [[Shreveport]], where his mother was highly engaged in political activism, Gardner moved to Minden at the age of twenty-four in 1978, to take a position with the tobacco company, Philip Morris USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://press-herald.com/meet-mayor-elect-terry-gardner-looking-forward/|title=Meet Mayor-elect Terry Gardner Looking Forward|publisher=''The Minden Press-Herald''|author=Juliuna Anderson|date=December 3, 2018}}</ref><ref name=ksla/> Gardner was the only mayor of Minden who previously lost three races for the city council before becoming mayor. In 2003, running as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he lost a council race to incumbent Republican Robert Drew White (born October 28, 1966), the son of a former Minden city attorney and the grandson of the late state representative [[R. Harmon Drew, Sr.]], a descendant from one of the earliest families in Webster Parish. In 2006, still a Democrat, he lost the council race to Republican [[Tommy Davis]], his predecessor as mayor. In 2014, running for the first time as a Republican, Gardner was defeated, 64 to 36 percent, by fellow Republican Michael Scott "Mike" Toland (born October 28, 1959), who did not seek reelection to the council in 2018. | | A native of [[Shreveport]], where his mother was highly engaged in political activism, Gardner moved to Minden at the age of twenty-four in 1978, to take a position with the tobacco company, Philip Morris USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://press-herald.com/meet-mayor-elect-terry-gardner-looking-forward/|title=Meet Mayor-elect Terry Gardner Looking Forward|publisher=''The Minden Press-Herald''|author=Juliuna Anderson|date=December 3, 2018}}</ref><ref name=ksla/> Gardner was the only mayor of Minden who previously lost three races for the city council before becoming mayor. In 2003, running as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he lost a council race to incumbent Republican Robert Drew White (born October 28, 1966), the son of a former Minden city attorney and the grandson of the late state representative [[R. Harmon Drew, Sr.]], a descendant from one of the earliest families in Webster Parish. In 2006, still a Democrat, he lost the council race to Republican [[Tommy Davis]], his predecessor as mayor. In 2014, running for the first time as a Republican, Gardner was defeated, 64 to 36 percent, by fellow Republican Michael Scott "Mike" Toland (born October 28, 1959), who did not seek reelection to the council in 2018. |
| | Gardner was married to the former Deborah Ann "Debbie" Walker (born May 19, 1957).<ref name=tgg>{{cite web|url=http://press-herald.com/gardner-announces-minden-mayoral-bid/|title=Gardner announces Minden mayoral bid|publisher=''The Minden Press-Herald''|date=July 16, 2018|accessdate=July 18, 2018}}</ref> He was predeceased by a son, Harold Gardner. | | Gardner was married to the former Deborah Ann "Debbie" Walker (born May 19, 1957).<ref name=tgg>{{cite web|url=http://press-herald.com/gardner-announces-minden-mayoral-bid/|title=Gardner announces Minden mayoral bid|publisher=''The Minden Press-Herald''|date=July 16, 2018|accessdate=July 18, 2018}}</ref> He was predeceased by a son, Harold Gardner. |
| | Gardner had been seeking a second term as mayor in the November 8 primary election. The city council will fill the position with an interim mayor through the end of the term on December 31, 2022. Gardner died suddenly of [[pancreatic cancer]] at the age of sixty-eight. The illness had been diagnosed on May 23, 2022. Previous Mayor [[Bill Robertson]] died in office on June 27, 2013. Robertson was the Minden mayor who served for 22.5 years, longer than all others. | | Gardner had been seeking a second term as mayor in the November 8 primary election. The city council will fill the position with an interim mayor through the end of the term on December 31, 2022. Gardner died suddenly of [[pancreatic cancer]] at the age of sixty-eight. The illness had been diagnosed on May 23, 2022. Previous Mayor [[Bill Robertson]] died in office on June 27, 2013. Robertson was the Minden mayor who served for 22.5 years, longer than all others. |