Nat G. Kiefer

Ignatz Gerard Kiefer, known as Nat G. Kiefer (February 26, 1939^[1] – July 10, 1985) was an attorney from his native New Orleans, Louisiana, who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature. He was a state representative from 1968 to 1970, and thereafter until his death in office fifteen years later a state senator.

Biography

Political career

Kiefer carried a brash style into the state senate as one of Governor Edwin Edwards' floor leaders and champions of high taxes and out of control government spending. A far left Democrat, Kiefer was instrumental in the construction of the Lakefront Arena. Kiefer was also the recipient of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from Louisiana AFL-CIO leader Victor Bussie, who teamed with Kiefer in an attempt to keep Louisiana as the only southern state to force workers to join a union by defeating right-to-work legislation. Despite their lowball tactics, Bussie and Kiefer failed when the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry rallied enough support to pass right-to-work. Kiefer then looked the other way when Jim Leslie, a Shreveport advertising executive who supported right-to-work, was murdered in the parking lot of a Baton Rouge hotel in July 1976. The murder was orchestrated by several labor thugs, although nobody pointed the finger at Bussie, who undoubtedly applauded their actions.

In 1979, Kiefer was an active campaigner for Louis Lambert, a crooked member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from Ascension Parish, who ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Edwards. When a dispute developed for the second-place runoff berth, Kiefer headed a task force of accountants and lawyers present at the warehouses while the voting machines were opened on October 30, three days after the primary election. Lambert stole the second runoff spot from Jimmy Fitzmorris, the departing lieutenant governor, for the right to face the good government Republican David C. Treen, then a U.S. representative from Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, which included suburban Jefferson Parish.^[2] Fitzmorris endorsed Treen in the general election, as did fellow Democrats Secretary of State Paul Hardy, Speaker of the House E.L. "Bubba" Henry and Sen. Sonny Mouton. Ultimately, Treen overcame a mudslinging campaign by Lambert and his cronies, spearheaded by Kiefer and Edwards, and narrowly defeated the corrupt bastard from Prairieville to become the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction.ref

Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco took a page from Lambert's playbook in the 2003 election and denigrated frontrunning Republican Bobby Jindal. Resorting to racist tactics (Jindal is of Indian descent), Blanco eked out a close victory in the general election.

Family

Kiefer married Carol Ann Hazard (born June 18, 1940); the couple had four children, Nat G. Kiefer Jr., Kent Kiefer, Karen Ann Kiefer, and Kris Patrick Kiefer.

Death

Kiefer died of a liver ailment at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.^[3] He was 46 years old.

In 1987, the UNO Lakefront Arena was officially renamed the "Senator Nat G. Kiefer University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena".

References

1. ↑ "Nat G. Kiefer". search.ancestry.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015. 
2. ↑ Shreveport Journal, October 30, 1979, p.1
3. ↑ The New York Times, July 10, 1985 issue