Buddy Roemer

Buddy Roemer
Roemer in New Orleans, Louisiana in June 2011.
52nd Governor of Louisiana
In office March 14, 1988 – January 13, 1992
Lieutenant	Paul Hardy
Preceded by	Edwin Edwards
Succeeded by	Edwin Edwards
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th district
In office January 3, 1981 – March 14, 1988
Preceded by	Buddy Leach
Succeeded by	Jim McCrery
Personal details
Born	Charles Elson Roemer III (1943-10-04) October 4, 1943 Shreveport, Louisiana
Political party	Republican (since 1991) Democratic (until 1991)
Spouse	(1) Frances (Cookie) Demler (divorced) (2) Patti Crocker Roemer (divorced) (3) Scarlett Roemer
Children	Caroline Elizabeth, Charles Elson ("Chas") IV (both with Frances), Dakota (with Patti)
Residence	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Alma mater	Harvard University
Profession	Businessman

Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III (born October 4, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991. Prior to serving as Governor, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988.

In January of 2011, Roemer told Baton Rouge television station WAFB that he was considering a run for President of the United States. On July 21, 2011, Roemer announced his entry into the race at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.

Early life and career

Buddy Roemer was born on October 4, 1943, in Shreveport to Charles E. "Budgie" Roemer II and the former Adeline McDade. Roemer's maternal grandfather, Ross McDade, married a sister of former Shreveport Mayor James C. Gardner's maternal grandmother. Gardner knew Roemer's grandfather as "Uncle Ross". However, McDade's wife died, and he remarried, from which union came Adeline Roemer. The two were not close politically.

He was reared on the Scopena plantation near Bossier City. He attended public schools and graduated as valedictorian of Bossier High School in 1960. He graduated from Harvard College in 1964 and received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1967.

After college, Roemer returned to Louisiana to work in his father’s computer business and later founded two banks. He was elected in 1972 as a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention held in 1973. Among the Shreveport-area delegates who served with Roemer was his future gubernatorial advisor Robert G. Pugh, future U.S. District Judge Tom Stagg, and former Louisiana State Representative Frank Fulco.

Roemer's father had been Edwin Washington Edwards' campaign manager in 1971, and became commissioner of administration during Edwards' first term as governor. Buddy Roemer worked on the Edwards campaign as a regional leader and later started a political consulting firm.

Congressional service

As a member of Congress, Roemer represented the northwestern Louisiana district anchored about Shreveport and Bossier City.

In 1978, Roemer lost in a jungle primary for the Fourth District seat in Congress, which was being vacated by popular incumbent Joseph David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr. Waggonner announced his opposition to Roemer after Roemer criticized the excessive costs of the Red River navigation program, which was a favored project of the retiring Waggonner. Roemer finished a solid third in the primary to Democratic state Representative Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr., of Leesville, the seat of Vernon Parish, and Republican James H. "Jimmy" Wilson, a former state representative from Vivian in Caddo Parish. Leach went on to defeat Wilson by 266 votes in a disputed vote count.

In 1980, Roemer and Wilson again challenged Leach in the primary. That time, Wilson finished in a solid third place, and Roemer and Leach advanced to the general election held on the same day that Ronald Reagan won the presidential election over Jimmy Carter. Roemer scored a large victory over Leach, who had been hampered by allegations of vote-buying on his behalf in the 1978 elections.

In Congress, Roemer frequently supported Reagan policy initiatives and fought with the Democratic congressional leadership, though he remained in the party. After Roemer left the House to become governor, he was succeeded by his administrative assistant, Republican Jim McCrery.

Gubernatorial election of 1987

Main article: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1987

Buddy Roemer was one of a large number of Democratic candidates to challenge three-term incumbent governor Edwin Edwards, whose flamboyant personality and reputation for questionable ethical practices had polarized voters. Other candidates challenging Edwards in the primary were Congressmen Bob Livingston, a Metairie Republican, and Billy Tauzin, a Democrat from Lafourche Parish. Outgoing Secretary of State James H. "Jim" Brown, originally a lawyer from Ferriday in Concordia Parish, also challenged Edwards.

While Edwards faced a wide field, Roemer's candidacy had a poignant aspect because his father, Charles "Budgie" Roemer II, had been Edwards' top aide and campaign manager during Edwards' first term as governor. In 1981, Roemer's father went to prison for selling state insurance contracts.

Roemer launched a fiery campaign against Edwards, calling for a "Roemer Revolution", where he would "scrub the budget", overhaul the education system, reform campaign finance rules, and slash the state bureaucracy by "bricking up the top three floors of the Education Building." Perhaps the key moment in the 1987 race came at a forum among the candidates. As usual, the main topic of discussion was Edwin Edwards. His challengers were asked, in succession, if they would consider endorsing Edwards in the general election if they didn't make it to the runoff. The candidates hedged, particularly Secretary of State Jim Brown. The last candidate to speak was Roemer: "No, we've got to slay the dragon. I would endorse anyone but Edwards." The next day, as political commentator John Maginnis put it, Brown was explaining his statement while Roemer was ordering "Slay the Dragon" buttons. Boosted by his endorsement as the 'good government candidate' by nearly every newspaper in the state, Roemer stormed from last place in the polls and on election night, overtook Edwards and placed first in the primary election, with 33 percent of the vote compared with Edwards' 28 percent.

Edwards, recognizing he faced certain defeat, made the surprise announcement on election night that he would concede the race to Roemer. By withdrawing, Edwards denied Roemer the opportunity to build a governing coalition in the general election race, thus denying him a decisive majority victory. The defeated Edwards virtually ceded control of the state to Roemer even before the inauguration.

Gubernatorial career

Roemer entered the governor's office on March 14, 1988 facing a $1.3 billion deficit in the state budget. His first job was eliminating the huge deficit. Roemer's first chief of staff, Len Sanderson, Jr., had previously been a journalist from Alexandria and had run Roemer's gubernatorial campaign and was a close confidant. He represented the reform-minded agenda that had redefined Louisiana politics during Roemer's first session. According to Ron Gomez, Roemer's secretary of natural resources and a former legislator from Lafayette, the LSU-educated Sanderson "with his blond hair spilling to below shoulder length, stepped on so many toes and got into so many faces that he didn't make it into the second year." After another interim appointment, Roemer named former State Representative P.J. Mills of Shreveport as chief of staff, to, in the words of Gomez, "bring some maturity and experience to the office." Other sources maintain that Sanderson was an effective chief of staff who left office solely to rehabilitate from a tragic automobile accident. In fact, the majority of reform legislation was passed during the first months of the Roemer administration while Sanderson was chief of staff. Many say that Sanderson's departure was a turning point and that the "revolutionary character" of the administration moved from the successful reform platform toward a more traditional political agenda.

Roemer called a special session of the legislature to push an ambitious tax and fiscal reform program for state and local governments. He vowed to slash spending, abolish programs, and close state-run institutions. Voters rejected his proposals in a statewide constitutional referendum.

As governor, Roemer worked to boost lagging teacher pay and toughened laws on campaign finance. State employees and retirees received small pay increases too, the first in many years of austere state budgets. Roemer was also the first governor in recent state history to put a priority on protecting the environment. His secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, Paul Templet, repeatedly angered Louisiana's politically powerful oil and gas industry. The legislature, dominated by supporters of Edwards, repeatedly opposed Roemer's initiatives. Roemer also acquired a reputation for being difficult to work with, something he had been frequently accused of as a member of the House as well.

In 1990, Roemer vetoed a bill restricting abortion authored by Democratic Senator Mike Cross and supported by Roemer's own choice for state Senate President, Allen Bares of Lafayette, as well as the influential Republican Senator Fritz Windhorst of Gretna. Roemer had chosen Bares as Senate president over Sydney B. Nelson of Shreveport, who had been politicking behind the scenes for months for the position. After two years, senators rebuked Roemer by removing Bares from the position and returned previous president Sammy Nunez of Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish. Roemer said that the Cross bill, which would have banned abortion in cases of incest, was incompatible with the United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. The veto alienated large numbers of his socially conservative electoral base. The legislature then overrode Roemer's veto with an even larger margin than in the original bill, as another slap at Roemer. In 1991, United States District Judge Adrian G. Duplantier of New Orleans, a former state senator, ruled that the measure was in conflict with Roe v. Wade.

Roemer came under fire for hiring a friend to teach positive thinking to his staff. Staffers wore rubber bands on their wrists and were told to snap a band whenever they had negative thoughts. While in office, in 1989, he separated from his second wife, the former Patti Crocker, with the divorce final in 1990, after 17 years of marriage.

Roemer also ushered in the modern era of gambling in Louisiana. In 1991, with his support, the legislature legalized 15 floating casinos throughout Louisiana and video poker at bars and truck stops throughout the state. Roemer would leave office before the riverboat casinos or video poker went on line.

Despite his come-from-behind 1987 win for governor, and his reputed national ambitions, some argue Roemer's performance in office appeared to be inconsistent and his relations with state legislators somewhat poor. Though he was considered an articulate reformer who won election promising a "revolution in Louisiana," he supposedly compiled a thin record of lasting accomplishments during his gubernatorial term and presided over the legalization of a state lottery and controversial riverboat gambling, initiatives some reformers opposed.

1991 party switch

In March 1991, Roemer switched to the Republican Party just months before the state elections, apparently at the urging of Bush White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu. Ironically, Roemer, as a new Democratic governor, had appeared at the 1988 Republican Convention in New Orleans to greet the delegates. The convention was held in New Orleans through the urging of longtime Louisiana Republican National Committeewoman Virginia Martinez, who had worked for Livingston in the previous campaign. She was also the chairman of the 1988 Host Committee.

Roemer's late-term party switch dismayed as many Republican politicians and activists as it did Democrats. One irate Republican was the state party chairman William "Billy" Nungesser of New Orleans. Failing to get the Louisiana Republicans' endorsement convention canceled, Roemer skipped the event, which was already on course to, and did, endorse U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway, the favored candidate of the pro-life forces in the state at a time when Roemer was at odds with them.

Defeat in 1991

Main article: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1991

The 1991 gubernatorial contest involved Roemer, Edwin Edwards, David Duke, and Eighth District Congressman Clyde C. Holloway of Forest Hill. Roemer was wounded by his mistakes as governor while Edwards and Duke each had a passionate core group of supporters. Roemer placed third in the primary, which led to a nationally watched general election between Duke and Edwards. Ironically, faced with the alternative of David Duke, many Louisianans who were otherwise critical of Edwards found Edwards looking ever better. Buddy Roemer, who had run originally on an "Anyone but Edwards" platform, endorsed Edwards rather than Duke, a putative Republican.

One of the contributing factors to Roemer's defeat in the 1991 runoff election was a last-minute advertising barrage by Marine Shale owner Jack Kent. Marine Shale had been targeted by the Roemer administration as a polluter. Kent spent $500,000 of his own money in the closing days of the campaign to purchase anti-Roemer commercials.

The Sterling Group, Inc (1992–1997)

After the 1991 election cycle concluded Roemer teamed up with a long time friend, Joe Traigle, to form The Sterling Group, Inc. The two met in the late 1960s in Shreveport, Louisiana when they were both active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees).

The Sterling Group specialized in international trade of plastic raw materials between the US and Mexico. Roemer served as the Chairman of the board and Traigle served as President. Roemer was a strong supporter of improving Louisiana and US trade with Mexico. Traigle bought Roemer out of the company in 1997.

Attempted comeback in 1995

Main article: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1995

In 1995, Roemer attempted a comeback, running again for governor. Having been squeezed out in 1991 between Edwards and Duke, Roemer chose to run on a much more conservative platform in 1995, emphasizing an anti-crime and anti-welfare stance. For example, he called for prisoner chain gangs to clean up litter on state highways. Roemer held a wide lead for much of the campaign, but faded in the days before the primary election as conservative state senator Mike Foster, who switched affiliation from Democratic to Republican during the campaign, peeled conservative votes away from him. Roemer finished fourth with 18 percent of the vote, two percentage points from making the runoff.

After the governorship

Having failed at his political comeback, Roemer has in recent years been an investor and banker. He formed one company that built retirement housing for retirees near universities, with alumni from each university being the target buyers. He also founded Business First Bank, based in Baton Rouge. In the summer of 2004, Roemer briefly considered entering the race to succeed retiring U.S. Senator John Breaux. Roemer passed on the race, and Republican Representative David Vitter of suburban New Orleans was elected to replace Breaux.

In June 2005, Roemer underwent triple bypass heart surgery at the Baton Rouge General Medical Center. In 2008, Roemer supported and campaigned for U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona for President of the United States.

Roemer is currently President and CEO of Business First Bank in Baton Rouge.

In 2000, Roemer was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.

Ron Gomez said that he believes Roemer "could have been one of Louisiana's great governors. The state's horrible financial condition when he took office, his dependence on an inexperienced and sometimes rashly immature staff in his first year or so, an overly-ambitious legislative agenda and his own unpredictable dealings with individual legislators all contributed to the failures he suffered. Ultimately, all of these factors led to his running third, as the incumbent, in the 1991 gubernatorial election." Gomez describes Roemer as "a dynamic orator who could light up an audience with his first two sentences. When he got wound up it was truly evangelical and, he made sense. His wiry, five foot seven, one-hundred thirty-five pound frame would seem to uncoil and grow as he outlined his vision as a fighter against crime, corruption and waste in government, poor education, taxes and industrial pollution."

2012 presidential candidacy

Main article: Buddy Roemer presidential campaign, 2012

In January 2011, Roemer publicly stated that he was considering a bid for the U.S. presidency in 2012.

On March 3, 2011, he announced the formation of an exploratory committee to prepare for a possible run for the 2012 presidential nomination of the Republican Party. Roemer stressed that campaign finance reform would be a key issue in his campaign. Pledging to limit campaign contributions to $100 per individual, Roemer appeared as one of five candidates at a 2011 March forum in Iowa sponsored by the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Notes

References

• Bridges, Tyler. The Rise of David Duke. University of Mississippi: Jackson, 1994.
• Bridges, Tyler. Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Gambling in Louisiana, and the Fall of Governor Edwin Edwards. Farrar, Straus & Giroux: New York, 2001.
• DuBos, Clancy. “Roemer’s Redemption: The Former Governor Takes Another Shot at the Mansion.” Gambit Weekly. September 19, 1995.
• Gardner, James C., Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II. Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006, 285–288.
• Maginnis, John. Cross to Bear. Darkhorse Press, Baton Rouge, 1992.
• Reeves, Miriam G. The Governors of Louisiana. Gretna: Pelican Press, 1991.

External links

• Buddy Roemer 2012 official campaign site
• Former Governor profile from the Louisiana Secretary of State
• Template:GovLinks
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Buddy Roemer (1987-1994), collected coverage at The New York Times
• Buddy Roemer: 9 Questions with the GOP Presidential Candidate about Campaign Finance, the 99% and a Possible Split Ticket, Dan O'Mahony, Point Nine Nine, November 28, 2011
• Buddy Roemer's Overshadowed New Hampshire Retail Experiment, Tyler Bridges, The Atlantic, December 20, 2011