Cecil R. Blair - The Election of 1971

The Election of 1971

In the 1971 closed primary, the last held for Louisiana legislative races, Blair was forced into a second primary by Pineville Councilman at-large and former Mayor Floyd W. Smith, Jr. (1932–2010). The third-place candidate, future Alexandria Finance and Utilities Commissioner Arnold Jack Rosenthal (1923–2010), threw his support to Smith. Blair, however, defeated Smith by some 2,000 votes. It was something of a Long v. anti-Long battle in that Smith's mother was a Long. There was no Republican opposition in the general election held on February 1, 1972; so Blair secured his fourth and final term in the new single-member Senate District 29.