Changes

|term_start=January 1984

|term_start=January 1984

|term_end=January 1996

|term_end=January 1996

|preceded=Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr.

|preceded=[[Ned Randolph|Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr.]]

|succeeded=[[B. G. Dyess]]

|succeeded=[[B. G. Dyess]]

|term_start2=2000

|term_start2=2000

==State senate elections==

==State senate elections==

McPherson was first elected to the Senate in 1983, when he resided in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]]. He unseated incumbent fellow Democrat Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr., who subsequently served from 1986 to 2006 as the [[mayor]] of Alexandria. Randolph's defeat came in the same election cycle that [[Edwin Edwards]] staged his [[Governor|gubernatorial]] comeback for a third nonconsecutive term against incumbent Republican [[David C. Treen]].

McPherson was first elected to the Senate in 1983, when he resided in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]]. He unseated incumbent fellow Democrat [[Ned Randolph|Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr.]], who subsequently served from 1986 to 2006 as the [[mayor]] of Alexandria. Randolph's defeat came in the same election cycle that [[Edwin Edwards]] staged his [[Governor|gubernatorial]] comeback for a third nonconsecutive term against incumbent Republican [[David C. Treen]]. Another reformer defeated for reelection to the state Senate was [[Dan Richey]], then  of Ferriday in Concordia Parish and later a resident of Baton Rouge.

   

   

In 1987, McPherson defeated [[Jock Scott]], a Democrat-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] and an outgoing member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who sought to move up to the Senate, and former Senator [[Cecil R. Blair]] of Lecompte in south Rapides Parish who was seeking a comeback, having been defeated for the seat in 1975 by Ned Randolph.<ref>Primary election returns, October 24, 1987, Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 24, 2011</ref> McPherson won again on November 16, 1991, over the Republican [[Robert W. Bates]],  23,428 votes (56.8 percent) to 17,819 (43.2 percent). <ref>General election returns, November 19, 1991, Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 24, 2011</ref> Three other Democratic candidates, including state Representative Charles R. Herring, then of Alexandria, and singer Jay Chevalier, had been eliminated in the primary election held a month earlier on October 19. <ref>Primary election returns, October 19, 1991, Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 29, 2014</ref>

In 1987, McPherson defeated [[Jock Scott]], a Democrat-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] and an outgoing member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who sought to move up to the Senate, and former Senator [[Cecil R. Blair]] of Lecompte in south Rapides Parish who was seeking a comeback, having been defeated for the seat in 1975 by Ned Randolph.<ref>Primary election returns, October 24, 1987, Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 24, 2011</ref> McPherson won again on November 16, 1991, over the Republican [[Robert W. Bates]],  23,428 votes (56.8 percent) to 17,819 (43.2 percent). <ref>General election returns, November 19, 1991, Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 24, 2011</ref> Three other Democratic candidates, including state Representative Charles R. Herring, then of Alexandria, and singer Jay Chevalier, had been eliminated in the primary election held a month earlier on October 19. <ref>Primary election returns, October 19, 1991, Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 29, 2014</ref>

In the meantime, McPherson lost an election for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1990 and twice for the Louisiana Public Service Commission, in the primary on October 21, 1995, and in a  [[special election]] on April 4, 2009. In 1990, McPherson, then residing in Pineville, challenged incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Clyde Cecil Holloway (1943-2016), a conservative from Forest Hill in south Rapides Parish in the since disbanded 8th congressional district.

In the meantime, McPherson lost an election for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1990 and twice for the Louisiana Public Service Commission, in the primary on October 21, 1995, and in a  [[special election]] on April 4, 2009. In 1990, McPherson, then residing in Pineville, challenged incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Clyde Cecil Holloway (1943-2016), a conservative from Forest Hill in south Rapides Parish in the since disbanded 8th congressional district.

Holloway won the 1990 race but was himself narrowly unseated in 1992 in a revised districting plan by a fellow Republican, Richard Hugh Baker of  Baton Rouge.  

Holloway won the 1990 race but was himself narrowly unseated in 1992 in a revised districting plan by a fellow Republican, Richard Hugh Baker of  Baton Rouge.  

In 1995, McPherson did not seek a fourth term in the Senate but instead challenged state Representative [[Dale Sittig]] of Eunice for the  District 4 seat on the Public Service Commission. Sittig polled 141,473 votes (52.8 percent) to McPherson's 126,452 (47.2 percent). Sittig cemented his margin with comfortable wins in his own St. Landry Parish as well as  Evangeline, Acadia, and Calcasieu parshes. Surprisingly, McPherson won his own Rapides Parish by fewer than two thousand votes.<ref>Primary election returns". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 19, 1995. Retrieved June 25, 2017</ref>

In 1995, McPherson did not seek a fourth term in the Senate but instead challenged state Representative [[Dale Sittig]] of Eunice for the  District 4 seat on the Public Service Commission. Sittig polled 141,473 votes (52.8 percent) to McPherson's 126,452 (47.2 percent). Sittig cemented his margin with comfortable wins in his own St. Landry Parish as well as  Evangeline, Acadia, and Calcasieu parshes. Surprisingly, McPherson won his own Rapides Parish by fewer than two thousand votes.<ref>Primary election returns". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 19, 1995. Retrieved June 25, 2017</ref>