Picard retired as principal in 1980 when he entered the state Senate, but his interest in education continued. Picard was elected to his first full term as senator in the fall of 1979 and again in 1983, and 1987, when he defeated fellow Democrat Wade Vincent, 16,933 votes (73 percent) to 6,203 (27 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 1987.</ref> In the primaries of 1991 and 1995, Picard ran unopposed. He left early in his last elected term to assume the superintendency.
==Appointment as superintendent==
Picard was named superintendent by the elected Board of Elementary and Secondary Education with the support of his former senatorial colleague, then [[Governor]] [[Mike Foster|Murphy J. Foster, Jr.]], a Democrat turned [[Republican Party|Republican]] from the [[sugar]]-growing St. Mary Parish. At the time that he became superintendent, Picard headed the Senate Education Committee and had just lost a bid to become president of the state senate, the position instead went to fellow Democrat [[Randy Ewing]] of Quitman in Jackson Parish in north Louisiana.<ref name=findagrave/>