Legislative Elections
Gilbert was initially elected to the Senate in the 1960 Democratic primary. He unseated the staunchly pro-Long Ralph E. King, a physician from Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish. Gilbert made an issue of nepotism after it was found that King had placed his son on the state payroll, a position often comically referred to as a "dead-head". Gilbert entered the Senate during the second administration of Governor Jimmie Davis, who had agricultural interests of his own in northeastern Louisiana.
After three terms, Gilbert left the Senate and was succeeded by future Louisiana Secretary of State and Insurance Commissioner James H. "Jim" Brown of Ferriday in Concordia Parish. In 1971, Gilbert ran for the state House and, in the primary, he unseated the late two-term Representative David I. Patten, a construction company owner in Harrisonburg, the seat of Catahoula Parish.
On February 1, 1972, Gilbert defeated his Republican legislative opponent, Jehu Welton Brabham, I (August 11, 1921 – May 13, 1998). Brabham operated a print shop in Ferriday but later returned to his native Liberty in Amite County near McComb, Mississippi. Brabham drew 42.3 percent of the vote against Gilbert, a larger showing at the time than most GOP candidates polled in lower-tier races in Louisiana.
Gilbert did not seek reelection to the Louisiana House in the first of the state's nonpartisan blanket primaries in 1975. He supported as his successor, the Democrat (later Republican) Dan Richey of Ferriday (later Baton Rouge). Gilbert served the remaining two years at Wild Life and Fisheries and then returned to Sicily Island.
Read more about this topic: J. C. Gilbert
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