Lantz Womack

Lantz Womack
Louisiana State Representative from Franklin (and Tensas and Madison) parishes
In office
1958–1976
Preceded by Walter A. Chachere
Succeeded by Neal Lane "Lanny" Johnson
Personal details
Born January 11, 1914
Goodwill, West Carroll Parish
Louisiana, USA
Died February 19, 1998 (aged 83)
Winnsboro, Franklin Parish, Louisiana
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Alice Black Womack (1917-2002, married 1938-his death)
Children Freida Louise Womack

Jannette W. Black

Parents Henry and Elma Womack
Occupation Farmer; Businessman; Banker
Religion Baptist
(1) From 1968-1972, Womack and colleague S. S. DeWitt represented a combined district including Franklin, Madison, and Tensas parishes.

(2) In his last term in House District 47, Womack also served as a delegate to the convention which produced the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.

(3) Womack and colleague L.D. "Buddy" Napper of Ruston were among Louisiana legislators who had previously played semi-professional baseball.

Lantz Womack (January 11, 1914 – May 23, 1998) was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served mostly Franklin Parish, from 1958, when he won a special election caused by the death of a freshman member, until his retirement in 1976. A banker and farmer from Winnsboro, south of Monroe, he was also a delegate to the 1973 convention which wrote the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. From 1968-1972, Womack and S. S. DeWitt of Tensas Parish were paired in a combined District 47 (Franklin, Tensas, and Madison parishes). For his last term, Womack was placed in single-member District 20, having defeated several intraparty rivals, including DeWitt and James H. "Jimbo" Colvin of Winnsboro.

Early years

Womack was born to Henry and Elma Womack in a family of five sons and three daughters. They lived in the small community of Goodwill in West Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana. In the middle 1930s, Womack played right field for the semi-professional Winnsboro Red Sox baseball team. Another future Louisiana state legislator, L.D. "Buddy" Napper, who had played for Louisiana Tech University (then Louisiana Polytechnic Institute) in Ruston, also played for Winnsboro for a time. Napper, a Democrat, represented Lincoln Parish in the legislature from 1952–1964; for six years the terms of Womack and Napper overlapped. Still other semi-pro baseball players were former Lieutenant Governor Bill Dodd and W.W. Dumas, the mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish from 1965-1981.

In 1938, Womack married the former Alice Black, who was born on April 14, 1917, in Union County, Illinois. Mrs. Womack was reared in Delhi (pronounced DELL HIGH) in Richland Parish north of Winnsboro. She died in Longview, Texas, on January 9, 2002, from complications of open-heart surgery, nearly four years after her husband's death.

Womack was a member of the board of directors of Franklin Memorial Hospital and a co-founder and chairman of the board of Progressive State Bank, both in Winnsboro. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Winnsboro.

The twin elections of 1972

Womack's closest election was in 1964, when fellow Democrat L.D. Knox, a Winnsboro farmer and timber owner, came within 18 votes of unseating the incumbent, 3,544 to 3,526. Knox later legally changed his name to "None of the Above" Knox so that as a perennial candidate he could argue for the "None of the Above" option on ballots for those who reject all the declared candidates.[1]

In the general election held on February 1, 1972, Womack faced his first ever Republican opponent, Terry Clingan (1918–2007), a barber from Mangham in Richland Parish, later from Baskin in Franklin Parish. Womack won the race by a 67-33 percent margin, even though Republican gubernatorial candidate David C. Treen ran particularly well in northeast Louisiana. Clingan was the stepfather of Robert Max Ross (1933–2009), a businessman from Mangham,[2] who had been Treen's only opponent in Louisiana's first and only Republican closed primary for governor, held in December 1971.

In the summer of 1972, Womack was elected on a nonpartisan ballot to the state constitutional convention that met in 1973. The convention wrote the new Louisiana Constitution, which voters adopted in the spring of 1974. Womack defeated John Henry Baker, a Republican leader in Franklin Parish, for the delegate position. Ironically, in his early years, Womack had worked for Baker's father, John Henry Baker, II. These turned out to have been the last elections in which Womack emerged as a winner.

A popular legislator, Womack stressed constituent service during his legislative years. Mrs. Womack was active in a volunteer service group of legislative wives. A well-known hostess and cook, she entertained friends, family, and her husband's constituents. In his first term as governor, John McKeithen appointed his fellow Democrat Womack to the Louisiana Financial Assistance Commission.

Womack did not seek legislative reelection in the 1975 nonpartisan blanket primary. Instead, he ran unsuccessfully in the primary for Louisiana agriculture commissioner, having polled 133,270 votes statewide.[3] The winner of the race was Gilbert L. Dozier. Incumbent Dave L. Pearce, who like Womack was originally from West Carroll Parish, was accused of wrongdoing in office and withdrew from the balloting. That move left Dozier unopposed for the general election. In the legislature, Womack was succeeded by fellow Democrat Neal Lane "Lanny" Johnson, who, in 2004 became the Franklin Parish school superintendent, amid a time of school financial crises. Johnson still resides in St. Joseph in Tensas Parish.

The Womacks had two daughters, Freida Louise Womack and Jannette W. Black, both of whom reside in Longview, Texas.

References

  1. ↑ "L.D. Knox, Who Tried to Give Voters a Choice, Dies at 80". The New York Times, May 28, 2009. May 29, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Obituary of Robert Max Ross". Monroe News Star. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  3. ↑ Minden Press-Herald, November 3, 1975, p. 1
Preceded by
Walter A. Chachere (D)		 Louisiana State Representative from subsequent District 20 (Franklin and Tensas parishes)

Lantz Womack (D)
1958–1976

Succeeded by
Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson (D)