Mike Foster (American politician)

Murphy James Foster Jr. was born in Franklin, the seat of government of St. Mary Parish. His father, also named Murphy James Foster, was an area sugar planter and owner of oil and natural gas lands, whose own father was Murphy J. Foster Sr., who was Louisiana governor from 1892 to 1900 and a U.S. Senator from 1901 to 1913. As governor, Murphy Foster led the campaign to disenfranchise Black citizens through the Louisiana Constitution of 1898, calling for an end to "the leprous virus of negro suffrage, thereby creating a running sore which has ever since tainted our government, both federal and state, with foul corruption and loathsome disease."[1]

Foster attended public high school in Franklin, graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, and Southern University Law Center with a Juris Doctor in 2004, the year he left the governorship. He became an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America in 1946 and was a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.[2] He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Zeta Zeta chapter) and The Friars. He joined the Air Force and served in the Korean War. By the time Mike Foster entered politics, he had already become a wealthy sugar planter and owner of a construction firm. He resided at Oaklawn Manor, an antebellum plantation mansion in Franklin.[3]

Foster entered the 1995 gubernatorial race as a minor candidate whom most local political observers discounted. Then in September 1995, Foster announced he would qualify for the race as a Republican. The Republicans had not coalesced on a candidate, and Foster's announcement that he was switching parties vaulted him from single digits in the polls to serious contention. Foster rode a wave of popular dissatisfaction with the more unsavory aspects of the casino gambling that had been legalized under outgoing Governor Edwin W. Edwards. Foster came out strongly against gambling and pledged to run Louisiana "like a business." His conservative platform included attacks on welfare abuse, gun control, affirmative action, racial quotas, and political corruption.

He carried the endorsement of the columnist and former Republican presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan.[4]

Foster edged out two more well-known candidates for a seat in the runoff with then-United States Representative Cleo Fields from Louisiana's 4th congressional district, a prominent black Democratic politician. Future U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu ran third and missed the general election berth by just 8,983 votes (0.6 percent of the total votes cast). Former Governor Buddy Roemer, seeking a gubernatorial comeback, came in fourth place. Foster's embrace of the Republican label and his conservative platform undercut Roemer, another Democrat-turned-Republican.

Reminiscent of his grandfather's inauguration virtually a century earlier, Mike Foster's inauguration ceremony on January 8, 1996, occurred at the Old State Capitol. Always a man of few words, Foster remarked briefly about the historicity of the occasion and made cordial statements about outgoing four-term Governor Edwin Edwards, who was present.

Foster defeated black Democratic candidates in both of his campaigns for governor—Cleo Fields in 1995 and Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana's 2nd congressional district in 1999. He defeated Jefferson in a landslide, avoiding a runoff with 64 percent of the vote. His second inauguration took place on January 10, 2000.

Foster watches as President George W. Bush speaks during a ceremony held to honor the gift of a new firetruck for the city of New York on the South Lawn in 2001

Foster was widely seen as having favored business to a greater degree than had previous governors. He retained the secretary of economic development, former legislator Kevin P. Reilly Sr. of Baton Rouge, the former CEO of Lamar Advertising Company of Baton Rouge. He ended state affirmative action and set-aside programs, which earned him the support of the business community but prompted protests from civil rights groups. Foster also targeted tort reform and ended the practice by which trial lawyers could seek punitive damages from businesses. Foster had close relations with the statewide pro-business lobbying group Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) for most of his tenure, though there were short-lived tensions in 2000 over Foster's attempt to raise business taxes in an effort to secure funding for higher education. By the end of his second term, Foster was receiving criticism for his reluctance to take business trips in order to attract businesses and jobs to Louisiana, and for enrolling in part-time law school classes while still in office. He also appointed then 24-year-old Bobby Jindal, later a two-term Republican governor, as head of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

As his executive counsel, Foster appointed the Democrat Cheney Joseph Jr. (1942–2015), a member of the LSU Law School faculty and a former district attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish.[5]

Foster worked to re-organize the state's community college system by creating the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, and expanded the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS).[6] Foster instituted mandatory standardized testing for grade advancement in a move described by his administration as an effort to make public schools more accountable. He made increasing teacher salaries a major priority, at one point promising to stop cashing his paychecks until teachers' salaries reached the Southern average. Andy Kopplin served as Governor Foster's chief of staff.

In 1997, Foster named former state budget director Ralph Perlman as secretary of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, a position that Perlman held for five years while in his eighties.[7]

Despite having run on an anti-gambling platform, in office Foster became a quiet supporter of the gambling industry. His advocacy of a bailout bill for the Harrah's casino in New Orleans helped ensure the passage of the measure.

In retirement, Foster lived with his wife Alice C. Foster (born 1940), to whom he was married for over 50 years, on the family estate near Franklin.[11]

In 2003, Foster was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.[12] In 2013, the state agreed to fund $2 million to renovate part of Franklin City Hall to provide housing for Foster's papers.[13]

On September 28, 2020, news reports confirmed Foster entered hospice care.[14]

After spending a week in hospice care, Mike Foster died on October 4, 2020, at the age of 90.[15][16]

State Senator, 21st Senatorial District, 1987

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 24, 1987

State Senator, 21st Senatorial District, 1991

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 19, 1991

Governor of Louisiana, 1995

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 21, 1995

Second Ballot, November 18, 1995

Governor of Louisiana, 1999

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 23, 1999

• State of Louisiana – Biography
• DuBos, Clancy. "Foster on Fire." Gambit Weekly. October 3, 1995.
• Kurtz, David. "Mike's Millions: He may be a working man, but Mike Foster certainly doesn't have to." New Orleans Magazine, May 1996.
• Reeves, Miriam. The Governors of Louisiana. Gretna: Pelican Publishing, 1998.
• Warner, Chris. "Mike Foster's Legacy: What Will it Be?" State Business Louisiana. Winter 2002.
• Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster Jr.

(1) Foster's Inauguration as Louisiana's 53rd Governor on January 8, 1996, at the Old State Capitol Grounds

(2) Second Inauguration on the State Capitol Grounds on January 10, 2000

(3) State of the State Address on April 29, 1996

(4) Joint Session of the Louisiana State Legislature from May 30, 1996

(5) Opening Address to the Louisiana State Legislature on March 31, 1997

(6) Special Session of the Louisiana State Legislature from March 23, 1998

(7) Opening Address to Fiscal Session of the Louisiana State Legislature from April 27, 1998

(8) Opening Address to the Louisiana State Legislature from March 29, 1999

(9) Gubernatorial Debate Forum from October 8, 1999

(10) Opening Address to the Louisiana State Legislature from March 19, 2000

(11) Fiscal Session from April 24, 2000

(12) Special Session from March 11, 2001

(13) Opening Address to the Louisiana State Legislature from March 26, 2001

(14) Press conference on the September 11th terrorist attacks on September 12, 2001

(15) Opening Address to the Louisiana State Legislature from April 29, 2002

(16) Final State of the State Address from March 31, 2003

• Appearances on C-SPAN