Election As State Senator, 1979
In 1979, Richey won the open Senate seat previously held by Jim Brown, who would be elected secretary of state. The six-parish district had candidates from five parishes – Richey (Concordia), Patten again (Catahoula), State Representative Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson (Tensas), Assistant District Attorney Jimmie C. Peters (La Salle) and Democratic National Committeewoman Mary Lou Winters (Caldwell), the wife of Dr. Harry H. Winters of Columbia. Peters' boss and law partner was District Attorney (and former U.S. Representative) Speedy O. Long of Jena. Peters thereafter became a judge of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals. No candidate came from Franklin Parish.
Richey recalled that he met in Columbia with former Governor John Julian McKeithen, who had been instrumental in Mrs. Winters' election as national committeewoman. Richey found that the two were "apparently . . . on the outs . . . at the time of our election. At one meeting . . . he suggested that I make a big push with black voters by informing them that 'Mary Lou Winters was a member of not one, but two Lilly-white country clubs.' That exact line appeared in campaign letters from me to black voters in the waning days of the election." Once again, Richey ran first in the primary and defeated Mrs. Winters in the second balloting by 58-42 percent. Mrs. Winters went on to become an elector for President Bill Clinton in 1996 and later vice chairman of her state party.
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