Background
Ever since its founding as the Railroad Commission of Louisiana in the state constitution of 1898, the PSC has been politically powerful and involved, its districts being larger than congressional districts and the issues it has regulated (such as electricity bills) being immediately felt by voters. Thus, not surprisingly, four PSC members have been elected governor of Louisiana: Huey Pierce Long, Jr., in 1928; James Houston "Jimmie" Davis in 1944; John Julian McKeithen in 1964 and 1968; and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco in 2003.
Other Louisiana political heavyweights who have served on the PSC include Wade O. Martin, Sr., patriarch of another Louisiana political family, and John S. Hunt, III, (1928–2001) of Monroe, a nephew of Huey Long and Earl Kemp Long, who served on the commission from 1964 to 1972 when he was defeated by Ed Kennon. Hunt's mother was Lucille Long Hunt. Ernest Clements of Oberlin in Allen Parish was a protégé of the Longs.
Read more about this topic: Louisiana Public Service Commission
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