Raymond Laborde

Raymond Julian Laborde, I
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 28 (Avoyelles Parish)
In office May 1972 – 1992
Preceded by	P.J. LaBorde (no relation)
Succeeded by	Charles A. Riddle, III
Speaker Pro Tempore of the Louisiana House of Representatives
In office 1982–1984
Preceded by	Frank P. Simoneaux
Succeeded by	Joseph A. "Joe" Delpit
Mayor of Marksville, Louisiana
In office 1958–1970
Preceded by	Edgar Coco
Succeeded by	Ben LaBorde (no relation)
President of the Louisiana Municipal Association
In office 1962–1963
Preceded by	Charles Cassidy
Succeeded by	W.H. "Booty" Scott
Louisiana Commissioner of Administration
In office 1992–1996
Preceded by	Dennis Stine
Succeeded by	Mark Drennen
Personal details
Born	(1927-08-18) August 18, 1927 Marksville, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, USA
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Nellie Sanchez Laborde (married 1951)
Children	Raymond J. Laborde, II Charles Laborde Donald A. Laborde Minnie C. Lafargue Rachel Laborde Karam
Alma mater	Marksville High School Loyola University New Orleans
Occupation	Department store owner
Religion	Roman Catholic

Raymond Julian Laborde, I (born August 18, 1927), is a department store owner and a Democratic retired politician in his native Marksville, the seat of Avoyelles Parish in south Central Louisiana. He was the mayor of Marksville from 1958–1970 and thereafter served five terms from 1972–1992 in the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was a gubernatorial floor leader, Speaker Pro Tempore from 1982–1984, and in his last full term the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

After his election without opposition to a sixth term in the 1991 nonpartisan blanket primary, Laborde immediately resigned to become commissioner of administration in the fourth and final nonconsecutive term of his boyhood friend, Governor Edwin Washington Edwards.

Personal life

Laborde was born to Dr. Emeric M. Laborde (1901–1969), a Marksville dentist, and the former Minnie L. Neck (1899–1994). As students at Marksville High School, Laborde in 1943 defeated Edwin Edwards for senior class president. In his first year in the House as an Edwards floor leader in 1972, Laborde balked at Edwards' call for a $1 billion tax increase. "And, oh man, did I catch hell. When I got back home, Edwin had put the word out, and everyone was calling me. Let me tell you, it was mighty uncomfortable. I couldn't wait for him to call a special session, so I could get back there and get that tax passed," Laborde said in a 2007 interview with Alexandria Daily Town Talk.

After graduation from Marksville High School, Laborde enrolled at his father's alma mater, Roman Catholic-affiliated Loyola University in New Orleans, where at the age of eighteen he played on the 1945–1946 Loyola national championship basketball team. He graduated from Loyola in 1949 and then launched his Raymond's Department Store at 317 North Main Street in Marksville. He was later a captain in the Louisiana National Guard.

In 1951, Laborde married the former Nellie Sanchez. The couple has four children, Donald A. Laborde, Raymond Laborde, II, Charles Laborde, Minnie C. Lafargue, and Rachel Karam.

Political career

Avoyelles Parish has been known for its colorful but mostly local politicians. One who stood out, F.O. "Potch" Didier, sheriff from 1960–1980, actually spent seven days in his own jail after having been convicted of malfeasance in office. The mothers of Laborde and Didier had the common maiden name of Neck (pronounced "Nicks") and were distant cousins.

In 1954, the 27-year-old Laborde ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Marksville but narrowly lost to Edgar Coco (1905–1970), scion of a prominent local family. Four years later, Laborde unseated Coco. From 1962–1963, he was president of the Louisiana Municipal Association. He ran in the 1963–1964 election cycle for the since defunct position of custodian of voting machines (later elections commissioner), an office unique to Louisiana when created in the late 1950s by Governor Earl Kemp Long. Laborde was defeated in the runoff by the one-term incumbent, Douglas Fowler of Coushatta, the seat of Red River Parish in north Louisiana. At the time, candidates for statewide constitutional offices were often affiliated with gubernatorial tickets. Laborde ran with the slate headed by former New Orleans Mayor deLesseps S. Morrison, a ticket which included later state Senator Claude B. Duval of Houma for lieutenant governor and State Representative Jack M. Dyer of Baton Rouge for insurance commissioner. All were defeated with the election of John J. McKeithen as governor and the reelection of Clarence C. Aycock as lieutenant governor.

After his initial election to the legislature, Laborde rarely faced serious opposition. In the 1983 primary, in which Edwards returned for a third nonconsecutive term by defeating Republican Governor David C. Treen, Laborde prevailed over fellow Democrat Johnny Bennett, 10,633 votes (59.3 percent) to 7,346 (40.7 percent). Though considered a strong Edwards ally, he was Speaker Pro Tempore in the Treen administration and later Ways and Means chairman under Governor Buddy Roemer, who defeated Edwards in the 1987 primary.

In 1978, Laborde was named "Avoyellean of the Year". In 2003, he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.

Post politics

He still operates his Raymond's Department Store, which once had eight competitors downtown. The store is the oldest jobber of Dickies work wear in Louisiana. It now specializes in school uniforms.

On April 7, 2011, seven weeks after undergoing a heart operation, Laborde appeared before the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee that he had chaired years earlier. He excoriated the plan of Republican Governor Bobby Jindal to presumably sell off five state prisons to Jindal's significant contributors, GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America for about $30 million each, far less than their replacement costs.

References

Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by P.J. LaBorde	Louisiana State Representative from District 28 (Avoyelles Parish) Raymond Julian Laborde, I 1972–1992	Succeeded by Charles A. Riddle, III
Preceded by Frank P. Simoneaux	Speaker Pro Tempore of the Louisiana House of Representatives Raymond Julian Laborde, Jr. 1982–1984	Succeeded by Joseph A. "Joe" Delpit
Preceded by Edgar Coco	Mayor of Marksville, Louisiana Raymond Julian Laborde, I 1958–1970	Succeeded by Ben LaBorde
Preceded by Charles Cassidy of Bogalusa	President of the Louisiana Municipal Association Raymond Julian Laborde, I 1962–1963	Succeeded by W.H. "Booty" Scott of New Roads
Preceded by Dennis Stine	Louisiana Commissioner of Administration Raymond Julian Laborde, I 1992–1996	Succeeded by Mark Drennen