John S. Treen

John Speir Treen (born February 5, 1926) is a retired homebuilder from Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, who lost a 1989 special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives to the former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke. Treen is the older brother of David C. Treen, the first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Background

Treen was born in Baton Rouge to Joseph Paul Treen, Sr. (1900–1986) and the former Elizabeth Speir (1899–1990).^[1] He had a second brother, Paul Treen, Jr. He is married to the former Martha Ann Swayze (born 1928).^[2]

Political life

Treen has long been active in the Louisiana Republican Party. While Dave Treen ran for governor on February 1, 1972, in the first of three campaigns for the state's highest office, John Treen in that same election contested a Louisiana State Senate seat in Jefferson Parish. He lost by 973 votes to the Democrat, M. Joseph Tiemann.^[3]

Treen v. Duke

In late 1988, Republican State Representative Charles Cusimano resigned from the Louisiana House (District 81) after eight years to accept a position as a 24th Judicial District Court judge. In the special election, the candidates included Treen, Duke, Republican school board member Delton Charles, Democratic real estate agent D.J. "Bud" Olister (backed by Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee), and Roger F. Villere, Jr., a young businessman from Metairie who was named the Republican state chairman in 2004. Duke finished first in the primary with 3,995 votes (33.1 percent).^[4] Because no candidate received a majority in the first round, a runoff was required between Duke and Treen, who polled 2,277 votes (18.9 percent) in the first round of balloting.^[5]

David Vitter, then a young Republican attorney, would have entered the special election had he met the residency requirement. Vitter would become the representative for District 81 in 1992 and then win election to the United States House of Representatives.."^[6]

Ron Gomez, then a member of the Louisiana House from Lafayette, observed the District 81 special election:

John Treen was not a very dynamic campaigner, and he was not very well liked by the political insiders in Jefferson Parish. ... Harry Lee was quoted as saying the runoff election was "a choice between a bigot and an asshole." During the few head-to-head public forums Treen's advisors allowed, John wilted under the relative eloquence of Duke.^[7]

Treen's candidacy was endorsed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush, former President Ronald Reagan, and other notable Republicans such as the political activist Beth Rickey.^[8] Treen drew the backing of the Chamber of Commerce, the New Orleans Times-Picayune,^[9] the Democrat Victor Bussie, the president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO, and Edward J. Steimel, the president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. Duke hammered Treen on a statement that Treen had made indicating a willingness to entertain higher property taxes if so determined by the voters, an unpopular stance in the suburban district. Moreover, the third-place candidate, Delton Charles, did little to help Treen in the contest.^[10]

Duke narrowly defeated Treen, 8,459 votes to 8,232.^[11] Duke served in the House from 1990 until 1992, his only public office.^[12] The turnout was a relatively high 54 percent for a showdown election.^[7]

Treen challenged the election on the grounds that Duke lived two blocks outside district lines prior to filing his candidacy papers. Because Treen did not file his challenge within ten days of qualifying, his suit was tossed out of court by Judge Clarence McManus.^[13]

David Treen also faced Duke, who became a perennial candidate over the years, in a special election for the United States House in 1999, triggered by the resignation of Republican Representative Bob Livingston from Louisiana's 1st congressional district. Neither Treen nor Duke emerged victorious. The election went to then-State Representative David Vitter. Duke endorsed David Treen in Treen's close runoff election with Vitter. The 1999 contest was the last time either David Treen or David Duke appeared on a Louisiana ballot until Duke filed to run for the United States Senate in July 2016.^[14][15]

Other political notes

Treen was an alternate delegate to the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach which renominated the Nixon/Agnew ticket. He was a delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention held in New Orleans, which nominated the Bush/Quayle ticket.^[16]

In 2004, Treen refused to endorse Vitter in the U.S. Senate election. Treen said that he "doesn't give a damn" what Vitter thinks of him. He said that his opposition to Vitter is that "I don't like liars." Treen did not specifically endorse Vitter's opponent, Chris John.^[17] On Dave Treen's death in 2009, Vitter delivered a moving eulogy.^[18]

On March 24, 2012, Treen was handily defeated in a race for the District 81 seat on the Republican State Central Committee. He lost to Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, 447 votes to 259.^[19]

References