Difference between revisions of "Sam Little"

Revision as of 23:27, March 12, 2018

Samuel Perry Little, known as Sam Little (born January 2, 1950),^[1] is a retired farmer from Bastrop in Morehouse Parish north of Monroe, who is a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 14 in the northeastern portion of his state.

Background

Little attended both Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana University. He is a long-term director of the Louisiana and Morehouse Parish Farm Bureau Federation and the Morehouse Gin Company. He is a member of the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District based in Simsboro in Lincoln Parish; he was appointed to the district by outgoing Governor Kathleen Blanco for a term which expired on October 15, 2009.^[2]

A Bastrop native, Little has been married since 1971 to the former Pamela Doles (born 1954). The couple has two daughters, Christina and Clair. Little is an active member of Providence Church in Lake Providence,^[3] the seat of East Carroll Parish.

Legislative matters

Little defeated Democrat Buddy M. Quinn, a retired dentist, also from Bastrop, by a margin of nine votes in the general election held on November 17, 2007. Little polled 3,936 votes (50.06 percent) to Quinn's 3,927 (49.94 percent) for the right to succeed term-limited Representative Charles McDonald, a Democrat from Bastrop, which is included within the Monroe Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. McDonald instead ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate in the October 20 primary, having been defeated by another term-limited representative, Republican Mike Walsworth of West Monroe in Ouachita Parish.^[4]

Quinn won Morehouse Parish by 619 votes but trailed in Ouachita, West Carroll, and East Carroll, where portions of each parish are included in the district. Had the same number of voters who cast ballots in the attorney general's race also participated in the state representative contest, Quinn could have easily prevailed over Little, considering the 2-1 margin for successful Attorney General candidate Buddy Caldwell of Madison Parish over the Republican Royal Alexander of Shreveport.^[5]

Little had trailed in the higher-turnout October 20 primary, having received 4,479 (35 percent) to Quinn's 5,262 (41 percent). A second Republican, Stanley J. "Stan" Neathery, also of Bastrop, received 3,187 ballots (25 percent). Little lost 543 votes between the primary and the general election, but Quinn's tabulation decreased by 1,335.^[6]

Little advertised on the radio program of the conservative talk show host Moon Griffon. After his election, he indicated that his first priority in office is ethics reform. Little is pro-life and a vocal supporter of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[7]

A Republican group ran a picture of Little superimposed next to then Governor-elect Bobby Jindal. Quinn charged that the advertisement was "dirty politics" because Jindal endorsed no one in the legislative race, having instead said that he could work with either candidate. Walsworth had run a similar advertisement in his Senate race against McDonald.^[8]

Little served on three House Committees:^[9] Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development; Natural Resources and Environment; Transportation, Highways, and Public Works.

2011 defeat

Faced with a vastly altered District 14 as a result of redistricting, Little was handily unseated by fellow Republican Jay Morris, a Monroe businessman, in a bid for a second term in the general election held on November 19, 2011. Morris received 5,005 votes (59.1 percent) to Little's 3,463 ballots (40.9 percent).^[10] Prior to the general election, Little and Morris accused each other of engaging in negative campaigning and distortion of their records. Morris operates an outsourcing firm for the mortgage service industry.^[11]

Morris had led the three-candidate field in the higher-turnout primary held on October 22, 2011, with 5,078 votes (42.6 percent). Little trailed with 4,384 ballots (36.7 percent). A third Republican, Michael Echols, held the remaining but critical 2,471 votes (20.7 percent).^[12]

In addition to Little, two other north Louisiana Republican legislators faced with redistricting woes, Rick Nowlin of Natchitoches and Billy Chandler of Dry Prong in Grant Parish were unseated in the 2011 general election.

References