Bolivar E. Kemp

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Bolivar Edwards Kemp (born December 28, 1871, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana; died June 19, 1933, Amite City, Louisiana) was a Louisiana attorney and member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th congressional district.

Kemp earned a law degree from Louisiana State University in 1897 and began practicing law in Amite. From 1910 on, he was a member of the LSU Board of Supervisors.

Kemp, a Democrat, won the 1924 primary election for the 6th District seat, and was elected without further opposition. He ran unopposed in 1926, 1928, and 1930, and defeated two opponents to win a fifth term in 1932. He worked for passage of Mississippi River flood-control legislation.

On June 19, 1933, Bolivar Kemp died unexpectedly of a heart attack at his home in Amite. His seat ordinarily would have been filled through a special primary and general election in 1934. In early December 1933, however, Governor Oscar K. Allen declared that a special general ballot would be held eight days from the date of his announcement, and named Kemp's widow, Esther Edwards "Lallie" Conner Kemp, as the "unopposed" Democratic nominee. Many voters rallied to protest the announcement, and ballots were destroyed or burned in several locations within the district. After state election officials declared Lallie Kemp the winner of the special election, a committee of citizens staged a "revolt election", won by Jared Y. Sanders, Jr.. In January 1934, Kemp and Sanders presented their competing claims to the House. The House Elections Committee refused to seat either candidate, and the full House approved the committee report by voice vote. Lallie Kemp declined to run in the subsequent special election in April 1934, won by Sanders.

Kemp's son, Bolivar Edwards Kemp, Jr., was Attorney General of Louisiana from 1948-52.

[edit] External links

• Bolivar E. Kemp at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Obituary, Ponchatoula Enterprise, June 23, 1933
• "Revolting Parishes", TIME, Dec. 18, 1933
• New York Times obituary, June 20, 1933 (subscription required)
• "Louisiana Contest Up in House Today", New York Times, Jan. 3, 1934 (subscription required)
• "House Upholds Ban on Louisiana Seat", New York Times, Jan. 30, 1934 (subscription required)
• "Quits Louisiana Race", New York Times, March 19, 1934 (subscription required)

Preceded by George K. Favrot

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th congressional district 1925–1933

Succeeded by Jared Y. Sanders, Jr.