Robert Max Ross

Robert Max Ross
Born August 5, 1933
Franklin Parish, Louisiana
Died September 15, 2009
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Occupation Second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, Major in the Air Force Reserves.
Spouse(s) Barbara Faye Paul "Bobbie" Ross
Children Cathy Ross, Kenneth Ross, Tricia Ross, Christy Ross

Robert Max Ross (August 5, 1933 – September 15, 2009) was a Republican candidate and activist for numerous statewide and local offices, from Mangham, Louisiana. Ross was an earliest advocates for the Republican political movement at a time when no Republican had been elected statewide in more than a century. [1] He ran as one of two Republican candidates for Governor in the 1972 Republican primary. the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1974 Republican Primary. After Louisiana adopted the jungle primary system, Ross qualified for Governor in 1983 and also the United States Senate in 1984. He additionally ran for the Louisiana State Senate as well as Mayor during other election years.

Biography

External image
Robert Max Ross, pictured here, was the lone Republican challenger to Dave Treen in the 1971 Republican Gubernatorial Primary Election[2]

Ross was born in Baskin to Robert States Ross and the former Ruby Seymour (1911-2002), and resided in Mangham, Louisiana in Richland Parish. In 1956, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in agriculture, from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.[3] He was a graduate of the U.S. Air Force's Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base in 1962.[4] He was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal at McChord AFB for services while engaged in military operations against Viet Cong forces in 1962.[5][6]

Political Activism And Campaigns

When Robert Max Ross first qualified to run for any political office in 1974, Louisiana had been a one-party state for more than a century. Less than 1% of the state's voters were registered as Republicans. Following the end of Reconstruction, the Democratic Party had served as the only party to elect officials to public office at nearly every level of government except the Presidency.

1971-1972 Gubernatorial Race

Louisiana has only had one contested Republican Gubernatorial Primary in it's electoral history, the Louisiana Gubernatorial election of 1971-1972. Republicans did not appear on the ballot in previous elections dating back to reconstruction, with the exception of one qualifier in the election of 1964. Ross announced his campaign for the 1972 Gubernatorial election in February of 1971 and was the first announced Republican to enter the race. When qualifying ended in August of 1971, 18 Democrats had qualified, and only two Republicans, Robert Max Ross and Dave Treen.[7] Treen, had run unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives from suburban New Orleans in 1962, 1964, and 1968. Treen had the support of the party leadership, including GOP chairman Charles deGravelles, of Lafayette, while Ross was the "outsider." Ross' decision to qualify for the race as a Republican all but guaranteed defeat, with 98.6% of the state voters still registered as Democrat in 1971. Ross was publicly critical of the leaders of the Louisiana Republican Party, and vowed to continue his fight for open elections within the party, as opposed to nominees being chosen by those in leadership. Ross also publicly criticized Treen by noting Treen had once been a Democrat, whereas Ross had been a lifelong Republican. Nonetheless, with party leaders heavily backing Treen, as well as support from President Nixon and Governor Reagan in California, Ross announced a withdrawal from campaigning for the Republican nomination. Ross did not officially remove his name from the ballot however.[8][9]

On Saturday, November 6, 1971, Treen defeated Ross overwhelmingly, with 9,732 votes for Treen and 839 votes for Ross.[10] Treen would go on to lose to Democrat Edwin Edwards in the general election in February of 1972, but Republicans had their best showing in more than a century, with Treen getting 42.8% of the vote in the runoff.

Despite Ross' poor showing, he and Treen remain the only Republicans to ever participate in a closed Republican Gubernatorial statewide primary in the state of Louisiana, a distinction Ross ultimately forced by refusing remove his name from the ballot despite no longer seeking election.

Treen was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives representing greater New Orleans the next year, becoming the first Republican to represent Louisiana in Congress since Hamilton D. Coleman left office from the Second District in 1891. Republicans would not field a candidate in the election of 1975, and the new Louisiana Constitution of 1974 eliminated closed primary elections, creating a new jungle primary for all future elections.

1972 Louisiana State Senate Race

Despite having also been a candidate for Governor, Ross additionally filed as a Republican candidate for the Louisiana State Senate seat held by veteran Democratic incumbent Charles M. Brown, of Tallulah, Louisiana. In 1972, Louisiana had not elected a Republican to the Louisiana State Senate throughout the entire 20th century. Ross received more than 5,000 votes in the general election, but was still soundly defeated by Brown.

1974 U.S. House of Representatives Race

In 1974, Ross qualified as a candidate for the Republican congressional primary as a challenger to longtime U.S. Representative Otto Passman, of Louisiana's 5th Congressional District. Passman was first elected in 1946, and had previously never faced a Republican challenger on the General Election ballot. Ross was joined by fellow Republican Ross P. Shirah, of Monroe in challenging Passman, and Shirah defeated Ross in the Republican primary. In 1974, there were fewer than 5,000 Republicans registered in the 5th District of Louisiana, and more than 216,000 Democrats.[11] Shirah eventually dropped out, and Passman was re-elected by default.[12]

1975 Louisiana State Senate Race

In 1975, Ross qualified as the lone Republican opponent for the Louisiana State Senate in District 33. With the adoption of Louisiana's new jungle primary elections, Ross did not advance to the runoff.[13]

1983 Gubernatorial Race

In 1983, he filed for the nonpartisan blanket primary, also called the jungle primary, for governor and polled a minuscule 7,625 ballots. The other Republican candidate that year was David Treen, by then the embattled incumbent governor, who failed in his bid for a second term. Treen received 588,508 ballots, but the easy winner was the Democratic choice, former Governor Edwin Edwards, with 1,006,561 votes. Ross challenged his former Republican rival in part because he believed Treen had not represented "true Republican philosophies."[14] Treen was defeated in a landslide by former Governor Edwin Edwards. Ross received less than 1% of the vote, receiving 7,777 total votes statewide. Ross received more votes in Lafayette parish than in any other.[15]

1984 U.S. Senate Race

In July of 1984, Ross challenged the two-term incumbent U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., of Shreveport. Several minor candidates filed against Johnston in the jungle primary but none made a showing. He was defeated by Johnston and, with 838,181 votes (85.7 percent) for Johnston and 86,546 votes (8.9 percent) for Ross.[16]

1986 U.S. Senate Race

When U.S. Senator Russell B. Long retired, Ross entered the primary for the open U.S. Senate seat in September of 1986, but was soundly defeated in the field of 14 candidates.[17] Republican U.S. Representative Henson Moore, of Baton Rouge, faced Democrat John Breaux of Crowley of Acadia Parish in the runoff. Breaux went on to defeat Moore by 77,000 votes and held the seat for eighteen years until he retired in January 2005.

Death and Legacy

Ross died from a lengthy illness at the home of his daughter, Cathy Ross Mitchell, and her husband, Patrick Mitchell, in Baton Rouge. In addition, he was survived by his wife of fifty-one years, the former Barbara Faye "Bobbie" Paul (born February 1940), originally from Simmesport in Pointe Coupee Parish; a son, Kenneth Ross and wife, Lottie Fields Ross, of Covington in St. Tammany Parish, and two other daughters, Tricia Ross Guidry and husband, Ricky Guidry, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Christy Ross Maier of Montgomery, Alabama; nine grandchildren, two sisters, Maxine Smart of Vidalia in Concordia Parish, and Terry Jean Agnew and husband, Raymond Agnew, of Monroe. Ross's late brother, Jimmy Dale Ross, was a Republican leader in Jonesville in Catahoula Parish. He also had a third sister, the late June Ross Rowland of Alto, Louisiana.[18]

Bennie McLain Hixon (1923-2014), an educator and former principal at Mangham High School, said that Ross may have been the first Republican in Mangham or at at least the first well-known member of his party there. "He helped break ground for the growth of the Republican Party in Richland Parish," said Hixon, a Democrat and the author of The History of Mangham and the Big Creek-Boeuf River to 1940.[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ Aras, Laborde (March 27, 1971). "Talk of the Town". The Town Talk. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Ross Raps Louisiana's GOP Leadership". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. August 24, 1971. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Many N.E. Louisianans Graduate from L.S.U." The Monroe News-Star. June 4, 1956. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "Cenla Men In Service". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. August 8, 1962. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "Cenla Men In Service". The Town Talk. December 1, 1967. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "Mangham Man Is GOP Candidate". The Monroe News-Star. February 22, 1971. p. 21. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "20 in Governor's Race, Qualifiers for State Offices Listed". The Town Talk. The Associated Press. August 15, 1971. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Crider, Bill (October 20, 1971). "Louisiana Republicans Beginning to Smell the Sweet Scent of Victory". The Town Talk. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ Ross, J.Dale (November 4, 1971). "G.O.P. Corrections". The Town Talk. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "Official Returns In Nov. 6 Voting On Statewide Candidates Listed". The Alexandria Town Talk. November 13, 1971. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "5th District Race Led By Shira". The Shreveport Times. August 18, 1974. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ "State's Only Fireworks, High Court Race May Be Sparkler". The Shreveport Times. June 22, 1974. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Results Of Area House, Senate Races Are Reported". The Monroe News-Star. November 3, 1975. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Treen, Edwards, Among 6 To Qualify". The Shreveport Times. July 26, 1983. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Results for Election Date: 10/22/1983". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 22, 1983. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Official Results for Election Date: 09/29/1984". Louisiana Secretary of State. September 29, 1984. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Results for Election Date: 9/27/1986". Louisiana Secretary of State. September 27, 1986. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Obituary of Robert Max Ross". The News-Star. September 17, 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Obituary for Benny McLain Hixon". Legacy.com. The News-Star. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Hixon, B.M.L.; Judd, T.A. History of Mangham and the Big Creek -- Boeuf River country to 1940 including the T.A. Judd era 1925-1955.
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