Election of 2011
Shortly before the beginning of the 2011 special legislative session, Chandler switched to Republican affiliation, a move presumably motivated by the increasing Republican nature of his district. The configuration of District 22 has changed. Beginning in 2012, it encompass all of Grant Parish, most of LaSalle Parish and parts of Natchitoches, Red River, and Winn parishes. The small part of Rapides Parish was extracted from the district.
In the general election held on November 19, 2011, new Republican Billy Chandler was unseated by Terry Brown, an Independent. Brown prevailed over Chandler with 6,015 votes (52.4 percent) to 5,465 (47.6 percent).
In the primary held on October 22, 2011, Chandler had led a three-candidate field with 5,790 votes (40.8 percent). Independent Terry Brown trailed with 4,724 votes (33.3 percent). Republican James Timothy "Tim" Murphy polled the remaining but critical 3,666 votes (25.9 percent).
Murphy is a Natchitoches businessman who graduated in 1970 from Montgomery High School in Montgomery and thereafter attended Northwestern State University for three years. Murphy called himself "The Real Conservative" in the race, noting that Chandler "switched from a Democrat to a Republican after he saw that the new district would be very conservative. I have a problem with that, and you should too." Voters retired Chandler but did not elect Murphy, having instead chosen its second Independent representative in twenty years.
Read more about this topic: Billy Chandler
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