Election History
Ellington won the District 20 House seat in the state election held on November 17, 2007. Incumbent Lelon Kenney (born 1935) of Columbia was term-limited. Ellington hence defeated his runoff opponent, fellow Democrat Cleveland Webb "Cleve" Womack (born 1953) of Jonesville in Catahoula Parish, 6,215 (52 percent) to 5,686 (48 percent). The district includes, Franklin, Catahoula, Caldwell, and two precincts of Tensas, the smallest of Louisiana's sixty-four parishes, which is located adjacent to the Mississippi River.
Ellington's former Senate District 32 includes in addition to Caldwell, Catahoula, and Franklin (also in the House district) the parishes of Concordia, La Salle, and small portions of Ouachita and Rapides parishes. The district is now represented by its first ever Republican member, Neil Riser of Columbia. By the time that Ellington left the Senate, the district lines had changed somewhat and included even a few precincts as far south as the northern portion of Avoyelles Parish.
In Ellington's first election to the House in 1987, he and intraparty rival Rodney R. "Rod" Elrod (born 1954) of Winnsboro led a field of seven Democrats and one independent. Ellington polled 3,640 (21 percent), and Elrod 3,063 (17 percent). Ellington then defeated Elrod in the general election, usually called the runoff in Louisiana.
Four years later in 1991, Ellington overwhelmed intraparty rival Dennis Grady Stewart (born 1953) of Rayville in Richland Parish, 13,211 (72 percent) to 5,060 (28 percent). In 1995, Ellington first won his Senate seat. He went into a general election with fellow Democrat Roy Eugene Hebron (born 1954) of Ball in northern Rapides Parish, 19,325 (48 percent) to 16,076 (40 percent). Independent candidate Paul A. Nugent received the critical 5,048 remaining votes (12 percent). In the showdown with Hebron on November 18, 1995, Ellington prevailed, 21,703 (53 percent) to 19,180 (47 percent).
Ellington handily won reelection to the Senate on October 23, 1991, when he defeated his first and only Republican opponent, Larry Bruce Minton (born 1945 of Pineville in Rapides Parish), 27,001 (69 percent) to 11,954 (31 percent). In 2003, Ellington won his last Senate term in an easy contest with fellow Democrat James "Jim" Hearns (born 1952) of Columbia, 27,021 (80 percent) to 6,497 (20 percent).
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