Samuel B. Nunez Jr.
Samuel Bernard Nunez Jr., (January 27, 1930 – January 15, 2012), was a Louisiana politician and businessman from Chalmette, the seat of St. Bernard Parish in the New Orleans suburbs.
From 1964 to 1969, Nunez was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. From 1969 to 1996, the Democrat Nunez was a state senator. He was the State Senate President from 1983 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1996, when his legislative tenure ended in defeat. He was the State Senate President Pro Tempore from 1980 to 1983 and 1988 to 1990. In 1973, he was a delegate to the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention, where he pushed for inclusion of the homestead exemption on property taxes.[2]
Background
[edit | edit source]Nunez graduated from Joseph Maumus High School in Arabi in St. Bernard Parish. From 1951 to 1955, he served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War era.[2] Following his Air Force service, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
In 1983, Nunez became Senate President by acclamation[4] when Michael H. O'Keefe of New Orleans was indicted, maintained his innocence, but was ultimately convicted of a federal crime and imprisoned.[5][6][7]
Political career
[edit | edit source]After a month of consideration, Nunez endorsed Breaux over Moore.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Nunez was one of several pro-gambling legislators who were defeated or forced to retire following the 1995 legislative session. Two of Nunez' most prominent Senate colleagues, Armand Brinkhaus of Sunset in St. Landry Parish and Sixty Rayburn of Bogalusa in Washington Parish, lost re-election bids, while Senators Larry Bankston of Baton Rouge and Gerry Hinton of Slidell stood down. Also failing in his re-election bid was Rep. Raymond Lalonde of Sunset, the author of the 1992 bill which allowed for a land-based casino to operate in New Orleans.[citation needed]
Senator Dean served two terms and was succeeded in 2004 by the Republican, later Democrat, Walter Boasso. As a Democrat, Boasso finished a distant second to Republican Bobby Jindal in the 2007 governor's race, as Jindal easily captured the requisite majority n the primary to avoid a runoff.[15][16][17]
Later years and legacy
[edit | edit source]Long after his legislative service, Nunez was a member of the board of commissioners of the Port of New Orleans.[18][19] He operated an insurance agency.[20][21][2][22]
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Notes
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- ^ "O'Keefe resigns; Nunez elected," Minden Press-Herald, April 19, 1983, p. 3
- ^ Ron Gomez, My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative, Lafayette, Louisiana: Zemog Publishing, 2000, pp. 59–70, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ "Open primary bill for congressmen introduced", Minden Press-Herald, May 19, 1976, p. 1
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, Primary election returns, September 27, 1986
- ^ "Nunez indicates he'll back Breaux", Minden Press-Herald, October 23, 1986, p. 3A
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- ^ "Campbell blames oil tax for ousting", Minden Press-Herald, January 6, 1995, p. 1.
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- ^ "About Nunez" Archived November 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Nunez Community College website.
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- ^ Death of Sammy Nunez[permanent dead link]
External links
[edit | edit source]- 1930 births
- 2012 deaths
- American businesspeople in the insurance industry
- American people of Spanish descent
- Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States
- Neurological disease deaths in Louisiana
- Deaths from pneumonia in Louisiana
- Louisiana Isleño people
- Democratic Party Louisiana state senators
- Louisiana State University alumni
- Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
- Politicians from New Orleans
- People from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
- People from Chalmette, Louisiana
- United States Air Force airmen
- Businesspeople from New Orleans
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature
- Presidents of the National Conference of State Legislatures