James H. Morrison - Political Career

Political Career

In 1936, Morrison ran for the Louisiana State Senate, losing by a narrow margin. He alleged vote fraud, and although he did not take office, from then until he was elected to Congress commonly billed himself as "Senator Jim Morrison". In 1937, Morrison wrote the charter of the newly formed Louisiana Farmers Protective Union and launched a public relations campaign on behalf of union members in the strawberry belt centered about Tangipahoa Parish.

In his first election to Congress in 1942, Morrison defeated the conservative incumbent, Jared Y. Sanders, Jr., in the Democratic primary. He was unopposed in the general election of 1942 as well as the elections of 1944 and 1946. He secured a total of twelve terms before Rarick, then a state district court judge defeated him in the 1966 primary, 51.2 to 48.8 percent.

After the end of World War II, Morrison introduced a bill to grant U.S. citizenship to New Orleans Mafia boss "Silver Dollar Sam" Carolla in order to prevent Carolla's deportation. Though he signed the Southern Manifesto and later joined all Louisiana congressional delegation members in voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Morrison was considered politically liberal during the 1960s because of his support for many federal social programs.

In 1960, Republicans offered the native Pennsylvanian, Charles H. Dillemuth (February 18, 1912 - August 29, 1989) as their nominee against Morrison. Dillemuth, a Baton Rouge businessman with an impressive war record and a local humanitarian award named in his honor, drew only 14.4 percent of the vote.

In 1964, the Republican businessman Floyd O. Crawford (October 28, 1907 - January 4, 1995) of Baton Rouge, formerly from Illinois, ran a stronger race than had Dillemuth. However, Crawford too was defeated, 48,715 (37.1 percent) to Morrison's 82,686 (62.9 percent). Crawford was aided by the presence of Barry M. Goldwater at the top of the GOP ticket, and he won majorities in three parishes near Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, and St. Helena -- all obtained in the year prior to adoption of the pivotal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which would thereafter turn all three of those predominantly African American parishes into Democratic strongholds.

Crawford's modest but burgeoning support may have encouraged stronger opposition to Morrison to emerge in 1966. Another factor was Morrison's support of the aforementioned Voting Rights Act of 1965, followed by a so-called "backlash" of new white registrants who significantly neutralized the effect of increased voting registration by blacks.

On three occasions, Morrison ran unsuccessfully for governor—1940 (polling 48,243 votes or 8.7 percent and losing to the eventual winner, Sam Houston Jones), 1944 (with 76,081 votes or 15.9 pecent and failing to enter the runoff with Jimmie Davis), and 1948 (101,754 votes or 15.8 percent and failing to enter the runoff with Earl Long). In 1944, his other opponents were Lewis L. Morgan of Covington, the ticket mate of Earl Long, who unsuccessfully sought the lieutenant governorship that year; Sam Caldwell, the mayor of Shreveport; and colorful State Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc of Abbeville in Vermillion Parish. In 1948, Morrison campaigned for governor with the promise of a soldiers' "bonus". His ticket mates included Lucille May Grace for register of state lands and J.Y. Fontenot for lieutenant governor, but victory that year went to the slate supporting the return to office of former Governor Earl Long. In the gubernatorial races, Morrison could run for governor without sacrificing his U.S. House seat because Louisiana holds gubernatorial elections a year between congressional races.

Morrison was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1956 and 1960 and supported the Adlai Stevenson and John F. Kennedy tickets, respectively. Morrison was not related to Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr., of New Orleans though the two often agreed politically and both ran unsuccessfully for governor on three occasions. After his defeat for Congress, Morrison resumed his law practice in Hammond. Rarick served in the seat from 1967 to 1975, a third of the tenure that Morrison accumulated.