Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins

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Woody Jenkins

Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins (born January 3, 1947) is a former broadcasting executive in Baton Rouge who was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972-2000. He lost three races for the United States Senate -- 1978, 1980, and 1996, losing to J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., Russell B. Long, and Mary Landrieu, respectively.

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[edit] Early years and education

Woody Jenkins' ancestors first arrived in America in 1639 in Northumberland County, Virginia. One of his forebears was Samuel Blackwell, who served for many years in the Virginia House of Burgesses. In the 1790s, Woody Jenkins' ancestors came by covered wagon to the Spanish Colony of West Florida from the Carolinas. Like most of the early American settlers in West Florida, the Jenkins family were small farmers. They worked the soil themselves and never owned slaves.

Jenkins was born in Baton Rouge, but grew up in Rougon in rural Pointe Coupee Parish, where his family was one of the few non-Cajuns. When the family returned to Baton Rouge, the 10-year-old had a heavy French accent. Jenkins' father, Louis (Little Ory) Jenkins, had been wounded in battle during World War II and was disabled but managed to work for several years in the 1950s as an operator at the Ethyl Corporation plant in North Baton Rouge, a heavily blue collar, industrialized area around Istrouma High School, which was at the time was the largest high school in the state.

Jenkins was born in Baton Rouge, but grew up in Rougon in rural Pointe Coupee Parish, where his family was one of the few non-Cajuns. When the family returned to Baton Rouge, the 10-year-old had a heavy French accent. Jenkins grew up in the area and attended Istrouma, where he ran track, served as student body president, earned a 4.0 average, and was valedictorian of the 530-member senior class. He also served as Speaker of the House at Pelican Boys State. Jenkins was active in the Key Club, a youth affiliate of Kiwanis International, through which he met his friend Daniel Wesley Richey (born 1948) of Ferriday in Concordia Parish. Jenkins helped to engineer Richey's election as national president of the organization in 1965. In 1976, Richey would join Jenkins as a member of the Louisiana House.

While in high school, Jenkins worked as a radio newsman at WLCS radio and in college as an announcer at WAFB-TV, the CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge. While at the Louisiana State University School of Journalism, he became the conservative columnist for the Daily Reveille. At seventeen, Jenkins was a legislative page in the Louisiana House for State Representatives Morley A. Hudson and Taylor W. O'Hearn, both of Shreveport and the first Republican members of the body since Reconstruction.

At age nineteen, while still in journalism school, Jenkins and his future wife, the former Diane Aker, started a community weekly newspaper called the North Baton Rouge Journal, which was honored by the Louisiana Press Association for editorial writing.

[edit] Switching to the Democratic Party

Jenkins had been a Young Republican since high school but switched to Democrat in 1971 to run for the legislature. At that time, all 105 members of the Louisiana House and 38 of 39 members of the state Senate were Democrats. Jenkins had five older opponents in his first race but walked door to door and was elected with 67 percent in the primary. He was 24. Jenkins was sworn in at the State Capitol in May 1972, a few days before he graduated from the LSU Law School. In the legislature, Jenkins became a leader of conservatives.[citation needed]

He was also elected as a delegate to Louisiana's state constitutional convention, which met in 1973. He served on the convention's Committee on Bill of Rights and Elections, he authored much of the new constitution's Declaration of Rights. The proposed constitution was approved by the delegates and ratified by the voters in a statewide election held in April 1974. It is referred to as the Louisiana Constitution of 1975 and is still in effect. Provisions authored by Jenkins include the Right to Property and Right to Privacy sections of the Declaration of Rights, as well as the prohibition on excessive penalties and enthanasia. He also authored provisions in the General Government section which prohibit taxpayer funding of elections or use of tax funds to influence the outcome of an election. (See Loyola Law Review, Spring 1975: Declaration of Rights by Louis Jenkins)

[edit] U. S. Senate campaigns of 1978 and 1980

When Republicans failed to run candidates for the United States Senate in 1978 against Democratic Senator Bennett Johnston, and again in 1980 against Senator Russell Long, Jenkins ran as a Democrat, but both times failed to win the state's open primary, losing to Johnston by 58-42 percent and to Long by 59-41 percent. In the second of those campaigns, Republican Senator Robert J. "Bob" Dole cut a campaign commercial for his friend Russell Long. Sixteen years later, Dole would campaign for Jenkins' election to the seat that Johnston was vacating.

[edit] A conservative within Democratic ranks

While a Democrat, Jenkins was active in the Democratic Party and made an effort to promote the influence of conservatives. In 1972, he endorsed Los Angeles Mayor Samuel W. Yorty, a conservative, for the party's presidential nomination. In 1976, he was elected as Louisiana's member of the Democratic National Platform Committee where he offered numerous conservative proposals, during the committee's meetings in Washington. He was the only member of the Platform Committee to vote against the final version of the platform. In early 1980, Jenkins was elected Democratic National Committeeman from Louisiana over the opposition of then outgoing Governor Edwin Washington Edwards, but Jenkins resigned that position in October 1980 to endorse and campaign for Ronald W. Reagan for President, while former Governor Edwards stood with President Jimmy Carter.

In the legislature, Jenkins was a leader of efforts to limit state taxes and spending and to promote family values. He founded the Conservative Caucus in the House in 1972. Beginning with four legislators, the group grew and by 1980, one of their members, John Hainkel, a Democrat who later switched to Republican affiliation, was elected Speaker of the House. Jenkins was one of six legislators from across the nation who founded the American Legislative Exchange Council in 1975. He served as Chairman in 1977-1978. The group now includes more than 5,000 state legislators from all 50 states. Jenkins authored the Free Enterprise Education Act of 1976; the Student Proficiency Act, which required high school seniors to pass a state exit exam; the Private Education Deregulation Act of 1980, which deregulated private schools and legalized home schooling in the state.

Jenkins also assembled the Independent Legislative Study Group (ILSG), an informal mix of conservatives which met early each morning when the House was in session to review (1) proposed legislation before the committees for that day and (2) the bills slated for final passage that afternoon on the House floor. "The ILSG enabled us to maximize our fire power against the Edwards machine. We seldom won, but had a good time setting small fires all over the place," said Dan Richey.

Jenkins' Human Life Act of 1990 prohibited abortion and drew the national media to Baton Rouge. Governor Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III, vetoed the bill but the House overrode the veto -- the first time in more than 100 years that a governor had been so thwarted. Jenkins served as chairman of the House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations from 1988 to 1992. The Senate narrowly sustained the veto.

[edit] Switching to the Republican Party

In 1994, after 22 years as a Democrat, Jenkins held a news conference with Senator William Phillip Gramm, a Texas Republican, to announce his decision to change his party affiliation to Republican. Jenkins said that he felt conservatives no longer had any hope of influencing the direction of the Democratic Party. In 1995, Jenkins endorsed a little-known state senator, Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., for governor. Foster was elected, and Jenkins was mentioned as a possible candidate for Speaker of the House.

[edit] U. S. Senate campaign of 1996

In 1996, Jenkins ran for the Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Bennett Johnston. Once again a Republican, Jenkins won the party's nomination at the Republican state convention in January 1996 and entered the jungle primary. He faced five other Republicans, four Democrats, and five independents. The field included Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, former Democratic state Treasurer Mary Landrieu of New Orleans, Congressman Jimmy Hayes (a recent convert to the GOP), former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, and two wealthy businessmen, state Representative Chuck McMains of Baton Rouge and William "Bill" Linder of New Orleans, the brother of Republican Congressman John Linder from Georgia.

Republicans decided to rally around Jenkins. Congressman Robert L. "Bob" Livingston of New Orleans led the effort, along with former Governor David C. Treen of St. Tammany Parish. Jenkins ran first in the primary with 27 percent of the vote. Jenkins and Landrieu then competed in the November general election. Former President George H. W. Bush came to campaign on Jenkins' behalf, along with Senators John McCain of Arizona, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Majority Leader Chester Trent Lott, Jr., of Mississippi, Connie Mack of Florida, and several others. Governor Foster and former Governors Treen, Roemer, and James Houston "Jimmie" Davis all endorsed Jenkins.

Landrieu's father, Maurice "Moon" Landrieu, had served as mayor of New Orleans from 1970 to 1978 and was Secretary of HUD in the Cabinet of President Jimmy Carter, who carried Louisiana in 1976. President Clinton came to the state twice on Landrieu's behalf, along with several Democratic senators.

On Election Day, TV network exit polls showed Jenkins leading 51 to 49 percent. Jenkins' lead held up throughout the evening, but a late surge of votes from heavily Democratic New Orleans put Landrieu ahead. The final result: Landrieu beat Jenkins by 5,788 votes out of 1.7 million cast.

It was the closest U.S. Senate race in the presidential election year of 1996, and one of the closest in Louisiana history. Jenkins carried 38 of the state's 64 parishes and exclusive of Orleans parish, he secured 53 percent of the vote. New Orleans gave Landrieu a 100,000 vote margin. The final returns showed Landrieu with 852,945 votes, compared to Jenkins' 847,157 votes.

Jenkins led Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole by more than 134,000 votes statewide. Jenkins' vote total, as of 2004, was the third highest by a Louisiana Republican in state history, topped only by Governor Foster and U.S. Senator David Vitter.

[edit] Challenge to the 1996 election results

After losing this election, Jenkins contested the results.

Jenkins' supporters have claimed that at least 7,454 "phantom votes" were cast in 4,000 precincts in the state in 1996. Claims have also been made that individuals were hauled multiple times to various precincts to cast votes without being required to sign anything [sic]. Those making claims maintained that buses drove through the inner city and offered payments to anyone who would vote. They claimed there were over 7,000 phantom votes. Moreover, they claimed that further investigations proved that about 1,300 votes were cast by voters whose registered addresses were abandoned public housing units.

Claiming 8,754 fraudulent votes in an election with only a 5,788 vote margin (although such claims were vigorously disputed), Woody Jenkins maintained there was sufficient proof to overturn the election.

Jenkins took his case to the Republican-dominated U.S. Senate, and in a hearing before the Senate Rules Committee carried live on CSPAN, charged massive election fraud. He petitioned the Senate to prevent the seating of Senator-elect Landrieu and to order a new election—and on an 8-7 party-line vote the committee agreed to set up a probe. After a ten-month investigation, in October 1997, the committee allowed the results to stand.

In 1999, Jenkins ran for Louisiana commissioner of elections, a statewide office, against incumbent Democrat Jerry Fowler, whom Jenkins had alleged was part of the election fraud in 1996. Jenkins pledged to clean up elections in Louisiana and create a Voter Fraud Unit. In the primary, Jenkins ran first, fellow Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell ran second, and Fowler ran third and was eliminated.

In the runoff between Jenkins and Terrell, the first statewide runoff between two Republicans in the history of Louisiana's open elections system, Terrell won handily. She took office and made many changes, including creation of a Voter Fraud Unit, which successfully prosecuted numerous cases of voter fraud.

[edit] Later developments

In January 2000, Jenkins retired from the Louisiana House after twenty-eight years in office. In 2002, Mrs. Terrell was a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, matched against Landrieu, in a race that also included state Representative Tony Perkins, Jenkins' 1996 campaign manager. Jenkins endorsed Perkins in the primary. In the runoff between Terrell and Landrieu, Jenkins endorsed Terrell, but Landrieu was elected to her second term.

Jenkins and Richey helped to organize David Vitter's grassroots' campaign in 2004, when Vitter became the first Republican ever elected to the United States Senate from Louisiana.

In private life, Jenkins has been active in efforts to assist refugees and poor people in Latin America and organized efforts to aid earthquake victims in Mexico City, hurricane victims in the Yucatan Peninsula and Honduras, refugees from Nicaragua, and survivors of the volcano in Armero, Colombia. He and his wife founded a hospital for the Miskito Indians in eastern Honduras and medical clinics in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. They organized a project that has delivered more than 500,000 Christmas gift boxes to poor children in 22 countries of Latin America since 1984. Jenkins has visited Latin America more than 60 times.

Jenkins served as CEO for WBTR-TV from 1987 to 2004. He was named to the LSU School of Journalism Hall of Fame in 1991; "Legislator of the Year" by the National Taxpayers Union, 1977, and Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, 1990; 96 percent rating, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry; recipient, Winston Churchill Award, Council for National Policy, 1990; producer, Baton Rouge Today, named "Outstanding Local News Program in the U.S." by Community Broadcasters Association, 1992; named "Louisiana's Pro-Family, Pro-Life Champion" by Christian Coalition of Louisiana for his service in the legislature; listed in Who's Who in America; B.A., Journalism, Juris Doctor, LSU.

[edit] Jenkins' legacy

Woody and Diane Jenkins were married in 1968. They have four children: Margaret, Elizabeth, David, and Catherine. Jenkins lists his religion as "Christian."

Dan Richey described the dimunitive Jenkins as follows: "What a giant! While still in his twenties, Woody Jenkins was elected to the Louisiana House and the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, where he authored the Declaration of Rights, which provides greater liberties to citizens than even the U. S. Bill of Rights. He was a one-man legislative gang against the legions of political pilferers during the four terms of Edwin Edwards. When I served in the House (1976-1980) the five most feared words to an Edwards ally at the podium presenting political pabulum was Speaker "Bubba" Henry's exhortation, 'Mr. Jenkins for a question.'" Jenkins seemed determined to afflict the comfortable in the legislative process.[citation needed]

Jenkins has made a major contribution to Louisiana constitutional law. The Louisiana Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal have cited his debate at the state's constitutional convention on hundreds of occasions, and his article in the Loyola Law Review (May 1975) is considered one of the most important documents for understanding the Declaration of Rights in Louisiana's Constitution. Under the Free Enterprise Education Act, which Jenkins authored in 1976, more than 3 million Louisiana citizens have taken a one-semester course to understand how the free enterprise system works, including the law of supply and demand and the role of profits in stimulating economic growth. The Teacher Proficiency Act, which he authored in 1976, has required all new public school teachers in Louisiana to pass the National Teachers Examination. The Private Education Deregulation Act, which Jenkins authored in 1980, has led to the formation of more than 300 private and Christian schools in Louisiana. The act also legalized home education for the first time in Louisiana, and more than 12,000 students a year now study in home school programs in the state. His advocacy of freedom of choice in health led to bills which succeeded in legalizing chiropractic care, midwifery, and other professions. Jenkins' strong Right to Life legislation, which narrowly failed to become law in 1990 after the state Senate failed by two votes to override the veto of Governor Roemer, was approved by the legislature in 2006 and is now state law.

[edit] External links

Loyola Law Review, Spring 1975: Declaration of Rights by Louis Jenkins

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