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{{Infobox officeholder
|name= James David Cain, Sr.
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator for<br> District 30 (Beauregard, Calcasieu, and Vernon parishes)]]
|term_start=1992
|term_end=2008
|preceded=Bryan A. Poston
|succeeded=John R. Smith
|office2=Louisiana State Representative for<br> District 32 (Allen, Beauregard, and Calcasieu parishes)]]
|term_start2=1972
|term_end2=1992
|preceded2=E. Holman Jones
|succeeded2=Herman Ray Hill
|birth_date=October 13, 1938
|birth_place=Pitkin, Vernon Parish<br>Louisiana, USA
|spouse= (1) Goldie Bonds Cain (divorced)<br>
(2) Rene Cole Cain
|children= Melissa Ann Cain Gill<br>
James David Cain, Jr.<br>
'''Stepchildren''':<br>
Angela Guglielmo<br>
Joseph Guglielmo<br>
'''Parents''': <br>
Alton J. Sr., and Mary Etta Thornton Cain
|relations=Burl Cain (brother)
|alma_mater=Pitkin High School<br>
McNeese State University ([[Lake Charles]])
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|occupation= Former [[educator]], [[farmer]] rancher
|residence=Dry Creek, Louisiana<br>
Beauregard Parish, Louisiana
|religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
|branch=[[United States Army]] (1958-1960}}
'''James David Cain, Sr.''' (born October 13, 1938), is a retired [[farmer]] and rancher from the Dry Creek community in Beauregard Parish in eastern [[Louisiana]], who is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] former member of the state Senate.
Cain formerly chaired the Senate Insurance and the Agriculture and Natural Resources committees. In those capacities, he was a strong advocate of protecting his state's underground [[water]] sources to prevent depletion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepineywoods.com/water.htm|title=Water Summit begins regulatory discussion: Sen. Cain proposes bill to avoid depletion of state's underground water source|author=James Ronald Skains|publisher=''The Piney Woods Journal''|accessdate=August 5, 2015}}</ref>
==Background==
Cain was born in Pitkin in southeastern Vernon Parish to Alton J. Cain, Sr., and the former Mary Etta Thornton. He graduated from Pitkin High School and obtained his Bachelor of Science and [[Master of Science]] degrees in [[education]] from McNeese State University] in [[Lake Charles]], Louisiana. He played [[basketball]] for the [[McNeese Cowboys]]. He served from 1958 to 1960 in the [[United States Army]]. He was a teacher and coach at Beauregard High School from 1962 until 1972. On six occasions, he was the District Coach of the Year. He held the statewide honor twice, and in 1992 was inducted into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Cain, James David, ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2003-2004,'' 19th ed., Vol. 1 (Alabama-Montana) (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2003), p. 772.</ref>
Cain is [[divorce]]d from the former Goldie Bonds of DeRidder, Louisiana<ref name=whoswho/> and currently married to the former Renee Cole of Ragley, Louisiana. He has two children: Melissa Cain Gill, James Cain, Jr.,<ref name=whoswho/> and two stepchildren, Angela Guglielmo, and Joseph Guglielmo.<ref name=whoswho/>
He is the brother of Burl Cain, the retired warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish;<ref name=Ridgeway1>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." ''[[Mother Jones''. July/August 2011 Issue. p. 11 [http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison?page=1 1]. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.</ref> and Alton J. Cain, Jr., a retired farmer and veteran of the [[United States Air Force]].
Cain is affiliated with the [[Southern Baptist]] Church, the [[American Farm Bureau Federation]], the [[Chamber of Commerce]], the American Brahmin Breeders Association, the Beauregard Parish Cattleman's Association, and the McNeese State University Alumni Association.<ref name=whoswho/>
==State House service==
Cain served for twenty years as a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the Louisiana House of Representatives,, having first been nominated and elected from District 32 in the 1971-1972 election cycle to succeed E. Holman Jones of Oakdale in Allen Parish. In his first [[general election]] for the Louisiana House on February 1, 1972, Cain defeated Republican Edward King Alexander, 3,952 (66.4 percent) to 2,000 (33.6 percent),<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Returns of General Election, February 1, 1972, for Members of House of Representatives," p. 12.</ref> In his last House election in the 1987 primary, Cain defeated fellow Democrat Horace Lynn Jones, II, 11,486 (72 percent) to 4,485 (28 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.}}</ref>
As a state House member, Cain built his career by being on friendly terms with Governor [[Edwin Edwards]]. [[Ron Gomez]], a House colleague from [[Lafayette]], describes Cain, accordingly:
"... a masterful politician. He had disciplined himself to make ten phone calls per day to constituents. He did it every day, absolutely without fail. His legislative aide would give him 3 x 5 cards with a voter's name, address, phone number, occupation and names of family members and other pertinent information as available on each one. James David would call ten of them a day, note on the card the subject and gist of each conversation and the aide would write a follow-up letter the next day. The subject of the conversation was not significant. The fact of the call was the important thing. ... How can you beat that kind of politicking?"<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], ''My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative'' ([[Lafayette]]: Zemog Publishing, 2000), p. 253-254, ISBN 0-9700156-0-7.</ref>
==1986 congressional race==
In 1986, Cain ran unsuccessfully in the primary for the since disbanded Louisiana 7th congressional district, then vacated by Democrat [[John Breaux]], at the time from Crowley in Acadia Parish, who would instead win the seat of retiring [[U.S. Senator]] [[Russell Long]]. Cain only narrowly failed to gain a general election berth, and the seat was won by Democrat (and later Republican) Jimmy Hayes of Lafayette. Cain polled 40,554 votes (24 percent), but he was edged out of second place by legislative colleague Margaret Lowenthal of Lake Charles, who received 42,839 (25 percent). Hayes led with 51,137 (30 percent). Also in the race was the Republican [[David Thibodaux]] of Lafayette, who received 21,082 (12 percent). Two other contenders shared the remaining 8 percent of the vote. In the general election, Hayes defeated Lowenthal.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 27, 1986.</ref>
==Four state Senate elections==
In 1991, Senator Bryan A. Poston, a businessman from Hornbeck first elected in 1964, announced that he would not seek an eighth term in the Senate. Cain and a fellow Democratic House member, Allen Bradley of DeRidder, hence contested the open seat, which encompassed Calcasieu (seven precincts), Beauregard, Vernon, and Sabine parishes. Cain prevailed with 17,527 votes (56 percent) to Bradley's 13,947 (44 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 27, 1986.</ref>
In 1995, Cain defeated the Republican Marion Garland Anthony, 21,278 (73 percent) to 7,962 (27 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.</ref> He was unopposed in 1999.
As a senator, Cain was among legislators who opposed the since repealed Stelly Plan, a tax shifting proposal in 2002 to reduce state [[sales taxes]] on food consumed at home and on utilities with a corresponding increase in state[[ income tax]]es, which particularly impacted higher-income taxpayers. The plan is named for former State Representative [[Vic Stelly]] of Lake Charles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeffsadow.blogspot.com/2005/03/stelly-still-trying-to-make-silk-purse.html|title=''Between the Lines'': "Stelly still trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear"|publisher=jeffsadow.blogspot.com|accessdate=October 27, 2009}}</ref>
Cain switched affiliation to Republican prior to his last Senate election in 2003, when he received 19,609 votes (72 percent) to 6,411 (23 percent) for the Democrat Lloydell "Iles" Mullican and 1,345 (5 percent) for the "No Party" Arnold Russell Williams. He was hence nominated without the need for a [[general election]].<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.</ref>
==Running for insurance commissioner==
On September 30, 2006, Cain was defeated in a [[special election]] for state [[insurance]] commissioner by his fellow Republican [[Jim Donelon]] of [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish, who had succeeded to the position in 2006 on the resignation of J. Robert Wooley, a Democrat from Baton Rouge elected in 2003 but who had been acting commissioner from 2000 to 2003. Donelon won reelection in the nonpartisan blanket primary on October 12, 2019. In that race, Cain charged that Donelon, also a former Democrat, was insufficiently committed to Republican and [[conservative]] principles. However, Donelon pointed out that he had been a Republican for some twenty years longer than Cain and had carried the [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] standard in several important elections, including the [[U.S. Senate]] race in 1998 against the popular incumbent Democrat Senator John Breaux, when other Republicans were unwilling to commit to the challenge.
Cain unveiled a five-point plan to bring "integrity, efficiency, and accountability" to the insurance office. He accused Donelon, with whom he had served in the state House, of having billied the state $50 per hour to attend birthday and retirement parties as well as fundraising galas. He charged that Donelon was not working with insurance companies, such as Allstate, which were threatening to leave Louisiana because of the lack of return. Cain won high-powered endorsements, including former [[Governor]] [[Buddy RoemerI]], Republican financier Donald T. Bollinger, and [[Tony Perkins]], president of the [[Family Research Council]]. He also picked up the support of a third candidate, DeAnne Henke of Lafayette, who withdrew prior to the primary. A fundraiser was held at Squire Creek Country Club in Lincoln Parish..<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamesdavidcain.com/download/squirecreek_invite.pdf|title=Squire Creek|publisher=jamesdavidcain.com|date=June 27, 2006|accessdate=August 5, 2015}}</ref>
In the end though, voters stuck with Donelon: 284,281 (50 percent) to Cain's 222,732 (39 percent), and 60,182 (11 percent) for the [[Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] S. B. A. Zaitoon of Baton Rouge. Had either Cain or Zaitoon polled an additional 1,368 votes, there would have been a second race between Donelon and Cain in conjunction with the November 7, 2006, general election.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 30, 2006.</ref>
==2007 state House election==
In 2007, Cain, term-limited in the state Senate, sought to return to the Louisiana House in District 32. Democrat Dorothy Sue Hill, a rancher and retired educator from Dry Creek in Beauregard Parish, led in the primary with 6,254 votes (46.4 percent), followed by Cain's 5,528 votes (41 percent). Two other candidates, Democrat Benjamin Jack and No Party hopeful Richard "Dickey" Crider, held the remaining but critical 1,712 votes.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> Hill, the wife of former Representative Herman Ray Ray "Coach" Hill, then defeated Cain by 311 votes in the 2007 general election, 6,070 votes (51.3 percent) to 5,759 (48.7 percent).<ref name=genelection>ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 17, 2007.</ref></ref>
Cain's Senate District 30 encompasses parts of Beauregard, Calcasieu,, and Vernon parishes in western Louisiana. In the general election held on November 17, 2007, to choose a successor to Cain, John R. Smith of Leesville defeated another Democrat Claude "Buddy" Leach, a former member of both the Louisiana House and the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Louisiana's 4th congressional district.<ref name=genelection/>
On February 9, 2008, Cain won the seat for Louisiana House District 32 on the [[Louisiana Republican Party|Republican State Central Committee]] in the [[closed primary]] for party offices. He defeated Kennis Paul Smith, 490 (69 percent) to 216 (31 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/02092008/02092008_MultiParish.html|title=Election Returns|date=February 9, 2008|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=August 5, 2015}}</ref>
==2011 state Senate election==
Former Senator Cain in 2011 challenged the reelection of John R. Smith, his successor in the state Senate who like Cain is a convert to the Republican Party. Smith led the primary on October 22, 2011, with 9,808 votes (45.6 percent). Cain trailed with 6,343 (29.5 percent). The two met in the general election held on November 19, 2011. Democrat Terry Fowler held the remaining but critical 5,370 votes (25 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref>
In the general election, Smith, who carried the backing of Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], easily defeated Cain.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, James David}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]
|name= James David Cain, Sr.
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator for<br> District 30 (Beauregard, Calcasieu, and Vernon parishes)]]
|term_start=1992
|term_end=2008
|preceded=Bryan A. Poston
|succeeded=John R. Smith
|office2=Louisiana State Representative for<br> District 32 (Allen, Beauregard, and Calcasieu parishes)]]
|term_start2=1972
|term_end2=1992
|preceded2=E. Holman Jones
|succeeded2=Herman Ray Hill
|birth_date=October 13, 1938
|birth_place=Pitkin, Vernon Parish<br>Louisiana, USA
|spouse= (1) Goldie Bonds Cain (divorced)<br>
(2) Rene Cole Cain
|children= Melissa Ann Cain Gill<br>
James David Cain, Jr.<br>
'''Stepchildren''':<br>
Angela Guglielmo<br>
Joseph Guglielmo<br>
'''Parents''': <br>
Alton J. Sr., and Mary Etta Thornton Cain
|relations=Burl Cain (brother)
|alma_mater=Pitkin High School<br>
McNeese State University ([[Lake Charles]])
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|occupation= Former [[educator]], [[farmer]] rancher
|residence=Dry Creek, Louisiana<br>
Beauregard Parish, Louisiana
|religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
|branch=[[United States Army]] (1958-1960}}
'''James David Cain, Sr.''' (born October 13, 1938), is a retired [[farmer]] and rancher from the Dry Creek community in Beauregard Parish in eastern [[Louisiana]], who is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] former member of the state Senate.
Cain formerly chaired the Senate Insurance and the Agriculture and Natural Resources committees. In those capacities, he was a strong advocate of protecting his state's underground [[water]] sources to prevent depletion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepineywoods.com/water.htm|title=Water Summit begins regulatory discussion: Sen. Cain proposes bill to avoid depletion of state's underground water source|author=James Ronald Skains|publisher=''The Piney Woods Journal''|accessdate=August 5, 2015}}</ref>
==Background==
Cain was born in Pitkin in southeastern Vernon Parish to Alton J. Cain, Sr., and the former Mary Etta Thornton. He graduated from Pitkin High School and obtained his Bachelor of Science and [[Master of Science]] degrees in [[education]] from McNeese State University] in [[Lake Charles]], Louisiana. He played [[basketball]] for the [[McNeese Cowboys]]. He served from 1958 to 1960 in the [[United States Army]]. He was a teacher and coach at Beauregard High School from 1962 until 1972. On six occasions, he was the District Coach of the Year. He held the statewide honor twice, and in 1992 was inducted into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Cain, James David, ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2003-2004,'' 19th ed., Vol. 1 (Alabama-Montana) (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2003), p. 772.</ref>
Cain is [[divorce]]d from the former Goldie Bonds of DeRidder, Louisiana<ref name=whoswho/> and currently married to the former Renee Cole of Ragley, Louisiana. He has two children: Melissa Cain Gill, James Cain, Jr.,<ref name=whoswho/> and two stepchildren, Angela Guglielmo, and Joseph Guglielmo.<ref name=whoswho/>
He is the brother of Burl Cain, the retired warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish;<ref name=Ridgeway1>Ridgeway, James. "God's Own Warden." ''[[Mother Jones''. July/August 2011 Issue. p. 11 [http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/burl-cain-angola-prison?page=1 1]. Retrieved on March 23, 2013.</ref> and Alton J. Cain, Jr., a retired farmer and veteran of the [[United States Air Force]].
Cain is affiliated with the [[Southern Baptist]] Church, the [[American Farm Bureau Federation]], the [[Chamber of Commerce]], the American Brahmin Breeders Association, the Beauregard Parish Cattleman's Association, and the McNeese State University Alumni Association.<ref name=whoswho/>
==State House service==
Cain served for twenty years as a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the Louisiana House of Representatives,, having first been nominated and elected from District 32 in the 1971-1972 election cycle to succeed E. Holman Jones of Oakdale in Allen Parish. In his first [[general election]] for the Louisiana House on February 1, 1972, Cain defeated Republican Edward King Alexander, 3,952 (66.4 percent) to 2,000 (33.6 percent),<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Returns of General Election, February 1, 1972, for Members of House of Representatives," p. 12.</ref> In his last House election in the 1987 primary, Cain defeated fellow Democrat Horace Lynn Jones, II, 11,486 (72 percent) to 4,485 (28 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.}}</ref>
As a state House member, Cain built his career by being on friendly terms with Governor [[Edwin Edwards]]. [[Ron Gomez]], a House colleague from [[Lafayette]], describes Cain, accordingly:
"... a masterful politician. He had disciplined himself to make ten phone calls per day to constituents. He did it every day, absolutely without fail. His legislative aide would give him 3 x 5 cards with a voter's name, address, phone number, occupation and names of family members and other pertinent information as available on each one. James David would call ten of them a day, note on the card the subject and gist of each conversation and the aide would write a follow-up letter the next day. The subject of the conversation was not significant. The fact of the call was the important thing. ... How can you beat that kind of politicking?"<ref>[[Ron Gomez]], ''My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative'' ([[Lafayette]]: Zemog Publishing, 2000), p. 253-254, ISBN 0-9700156-0-7.</ref>
==1986 congressional race==
In 1986, Cain ran unsuccessfully in the primary for the since disbanded Louisiana 7th congressional district, then vacated by Democrat [[John Breaux]], at the time from Crowley in Acadia Parish, who would instead win the seat of retiring [[U.S. Senator]] [[Russell Long]]. Cain only narrowly failed to gain a general election berth, and the seat was won by Democrat (and later Republican) Jimmy Hayes of Lafayette. Cain polled 40,554 votes (24 percent), but he was edged out of second place by legislative colleague Margaret Lowenthal of Lake Charles, who received 42,839 (25 percent). Hayes led with 51,137 (30 percent). Also in the race was the Republican [[David Thibodaux]] of Lafayette, who received 21,082 (12 percent). Two other contenders shared the remaining 8 percent of the vote. In the general election, Hayes defeated Lowenthal.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 27, 1986.</ref>
==Four state Senate elections==
In 1991, Senator Bryan A. Poston, a businessman from Hornbeck first elected in 1964, announced that he would not seek an eighth term in the Senate. Cain and a fellow Democratic House member, Allen Bradley of DeRidder, hence contested the open seat, which encompassed Calcasieu (seven precincts), Beauregard, Vernon, and Sabine parishes. Cain prevailed with 17,527 votes (56 percent) to Bradley's 13,947 (44 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 27, 1986.</ref>
In 1995, Cain defeated the Republican Marion Garland Anthony, 21,278 (73 percent) to 7,962 (27 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.</ref> He was unopposed in 1999.
As a senator, Cain was among legislators who opposed the since repealed Stelly Plan, a tax shifting proposal in 2002 to reduce state [[sales taxes]] on food consumed at home and on utilities with a corresponding increase in state[[ income tax]]es, which particularly impacted higher-income taxpayers. The plan is named for former State Representative [[Vic Stelly]] of Lake Charles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeffsadow.blogspot.com/2005/03/stelly-still-trying-to-make-silk-purse.html|title=''Between the Lines'': "Stelly still trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear"|publisher=jeffsadow.blogspot.com|accessdate=October 27, 2009}}</ref>
Cain switched affiliation to Republican prior to his last Senate election in 2003, when he received 19,609 votes (72 percent) to 6,411 (23 percent) for the Democrat Lloydell "Iles" Mullican and 1,345 (5 percent) for the "No Party" Arnold Russell Williams. He was hence nominated without the need for a [[general election]].<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.</ref>
==Running for insurance commissioner==
On September 30, 2006, Cain was defeated in a [[special election]] for state [[insurance]] commissioner by his fellow Republican [[Jim Donelon]] of [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish, who had succeeded to the position in 2006 on the resignation of J. Robert Wooley, a Democrat from Baton Rouge elected in 2003 but who had been acting commissioner from 2000 to 2003. Donelon won reelection in the nonpartisan blanket primary on October 12, 2019. In that race, Cain charged that Donelon, also a former Democrat, was insufficiently committed to Republican and [[conservative]] principles. However, Donelon pointed out that he had been a Republican for some twenty years longer than Cain and had carried the [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] standard in several important elections, including the [[U.S. Senate]] race in 1998 against the popular incumbent Democrat Senator John Breaux, when other Republicans were unwilling to commit to the challenge.
Cain unveiled a five-point plan to bring "integrity, efficiency, and accountability" to the insurance office. He accused Donelon, with whom he had served in the state House, of having billied the state $50 per hour to attend birthday and retirement parties as well as fundraising galas. He charged that Donelon was not working with insurance companies, such as Allstate, which were threatening to leave Louisiana because of the lack of return. Cain won high-powered endorsements, including former [[Governor]] [[Buddy RoemerI]], Republican financier Donald T. Bollinger, and [[Tony Perkins]], president of the [[Family Research Council]]. He also picked up the support of a third candidate, DeAnne Henke of Lafayette, who withdrew prior to the primary. A fundraiser was held at Squire Creek Country Club in Lincoln Parish..<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jamesdavidcain.com/download/squirecreek_invite.pdf|title=Squire Creek|publisher=jamesdavidcain.com|date=June 27, 2006|accessdate=August 5, 2015}}</ref>
In the end though, voters stuck with Donelon: 284,281 (50 percent) to Cain's 222,732 (39 percent), and 60,182 (11 percent) for the [[Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] S. B. A. Zaitoon of Baton Rouge. Had either Cain or Zaitoon polled an additional 1,368 votes, there would have been a second race between Donelon and Cain in conjunction with the November 7, 2006, general election.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 30, 2006.</ref>
==2007 state House election==
In 2007, Cain, term-limited in the state Senate, sought to return to the Louisiana House in District 32. Democrat Dorothy Sue Hill, a rancher and retired educator from Dry Creek in Beauregard Parish, led in the primary with 6,254 votes (46.4 percent), followed by Cain's 5,528 votes (41 percent). Two other candidates, Democrat Benjamin Jack and No Party hopeful Richard "Dickey" Crider, held the remaining but critical 1,712 votes.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> Hill, the wife of former Representative Herman Ray Ray "Coach" Hill, then defeated Cain by 311 votes in the 2007 general election, 6,070 votes (51.3 percent) to 5,759 (48.7 percent).<ref name=genelection>ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 17, 2007.</ref></ref>
Cain's Senate District 30 encompasses parts of Beauregard, Calcasieu,, and Vernon parishes in western Louisiana. In the general election held on November 17, 2007, to choose a successor to Cain, John R. Smith of Leesville defeated another Democrat Claude "Buddy" Leach, a former member of both the Louisiana House and the [[United States House of Representatives]] for Louisiana's 4th congressional district.<ref name=genelection/>
On February 9, 2008, Cain won the seat for Louisiana House District 32 on the [[Louisiana Republican Party|Republican State Central Committee]] in the [[closed primary]] for party offices. He defeated Kennis Paul Smith, 490 (69 percent) to 216 (31 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/02092008/02092008_MultiParish.html|title=Election Returns|date=February 9, 2008|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=August 5, 2015}}</ref>
==2011 state Senate election==
Former Senator Cain in 2011 challenged the reelection of John R. Smith, his successor in the state Senate who like Cain is a convert to the Republican Party. Smith led the primary on October 22, 2011, with 9,808 votes (45.6 percent). Cain trailed with 6,343 (29.5 percent). The two met in the general election held on November 19, 2011. Democrat Terry Fowler held the remaining but critical 5,370 votes (25 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref>
In the general election, Smith, who carried the backing of Governor [[Bobby Jindal]], easily defeated Cain.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, James David}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]