|
|
|
|
|
Billy Tauzin IiiWilbert Joseph "Billy" Tauzin III was born in 1971, son of Billy Tauzin. After some time in the U.S. Coast Guard and the private sector, Tauzin was selected by the Republican Party establishment to fill the open seat caused by his father's 2004 retirement. Some in the party felt that Tauzin was chosen solely because of his last name, and they backed state senator Craig Romero. For some time it appeared that both Republicans would enter a December runoff. But a generally cordial race turned nasty a week before the Novemeber elections, with Tauzin running ads that accused Romero of supporting gay marriage and sodomy. Romero barely lost a runoff slot to Democrat Charlie Melancon. Outraged, Romero refused to endorse Tauzin (or as he called him, "the boy") and days before the runoff took out newspaper ads telling voters it was "time for a change". Tauzin frequently attracted controversy for incidents that had little to do with his political beliefs. The harshest of attacks focused on his drunken driving arrest, an alcohol-related incident while in college, his last name, and his age. Tauzin's father appeared in ads which some believed blurred the line over which man was actually running for office. Melancon ran ads showing a little boy playing soldier and derided his opponent as "little Billy" who was only in line for the seat because of nepotism. Tauzin fired back, but ultimately lost a tight runoff by less than 600 votes. External link *Campaign site
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|