David L. "Dave" Pearce (September 8, 1904 -- May 28, 1984) was a Louisiana Democrat who served as his state's commissioner of agriculture from 1952-1956 and again from 1960-1976. Pearce, who was allied with anti-Long elements in the state, was defeated in the Democratic primary after a single term as agriculture commissioner in 1956 by the Longite entomologist Sidney McCrory (1891-1966) of Ascension Parish. Pearce regained the post in 1960 and then lost it again in Louisiana's first-ever jungle primary in 1975 to a fellow Democrat, Gilbert L. "Gil" Dozier. He also failed in a 1979 campaign to regain the office. September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city Baton Rouge [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Republican Party. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Entomology is the scientific study of insects. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Ascension Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... In the jungle primary, all candidates run in the same initial election regardless of party label. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ...

Pearce was born in Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana to a farmer and a school teacher. He grew up on a farm and went to school in Pioneer in West Carroll Parish in the northeast corner of the state. As a young man, Pearce sold brushes and mops to the wives of farmers in West Carroll and East Carroll parishes. In 1928, he married the former Elizabeth Oldham (1907-1974) and had two daughters. Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Pioneer is a village located in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. ... West Carroll Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... East Carroll Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

He represented conservative and mostly white West Carroll Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1940-1948. In his second legislative term, which coincided with the first Jimmie Davis gubernatorial administration, he was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. From his experience as the legislative point man on agriculture, Pearce decided thereafter to seek the agriculture commissioner's post. American conservatism is a constellation of political ideologies within the United States under the blanket heading of conservative. ... The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Jimmie Davis James Houston Davis, better known as Jimmie Davis, (September 11, 1899 - November 5, 2000) was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as a Democratic governor of Louisiana in the mid-twentieth century. ... A governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. ...

Scope of the agriculture commissioner

The agriculture commissioner's office, officially the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, regulates the growing, harvesting, inspection, and sale of crops and livestock. It also inspects the calibration of the pumps at gasoline stations and scales in grocery stores. The department ascertains that automatic price-readers in stores match up with the posted prices on products. Agriculture commissioners in other states perform these same essential functions as well. Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ... Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ...

The tall bespectacled Pearce wore a large white hat to depict himself as one of the "good guys." He "looked the part" of an agriculture commissioner and was particularly popular in rural areas of the state, specifically the northeast quadrant, because of his steadfast promotion of Louisiana agricultural products. His office also published newsletters and pamphlets with practical information useful to farmers and consumers.

Earl Long fields McCrory against Pearce

Pearce first won the agricultural commissioner's post in 1952, when the anti-Long Robert F. Kennon of Minden became governor. William J. "Bill" Dodd, a veteran state officeholder and an astute observer of Louisiana politics in the mid-twentieth century, said that Governor Earl Kemp Long "hated" Pearce and put up the "egghead" McCrory to unseat Pearce in the 1956 primary. Dodd did not give the reason that Long "hated" Pearce. 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Robert Floyd Kennon (August 12, 1902 - January 11, 1988) was the Democratic governor of the state of Louisiana, United States between 1952-1956. ... The small city of Minden is the parish seat of Webster Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... William Joseph Bill Dodd (November 25, 1909--November 16, 1991) held some half dozen important positions in Louisiana government in the mid-twentieth century, including the offices of state representative, lieutenant governor, state auditor, president of the State Board of Education, and superintendent of education, but he never achieved his... Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city Baton Rouge [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... Earl Kemp Long (26 August 1895 - 5 September 1960) was an American politician and three-time Governor of Louisiana. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In his Peapatch Politics, Dodd (1909-1991) noted with humor how Long also became irritated with McCrory, who had been invited on Long's intraparty ticket "to harass and, we hoped, defeat Uncle Earl's old political enemy, Dave Pearce. All McCrory could talk about was pesticides and how to get rid of different kinds of crop-killing bugs. His main topic and claim to fame, which dominated all of his speeches, whether he was in cotton country, forestry areas, or the city of New Orleans, was his eradicating the pink boll worms from Louisiana cotton fields. Uncle Earl almost went crazy when had to listen to . . . McCrory kill enough pink boll worms to fill the Atlantic Ocean." 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... the plane is spreading pesticide. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ...

Pearce staged a comeback and defeated McCrory in the 1959 primary when anti-Long sentiment was running strongly in the state. Pearce was renominated in the primaries of 1963, 1967, and 1971. He had no Republican opposition during any of those election years. Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Democratic Party. ...

Pearce's defeats in 1975 and 1979

In 1975, Pearce was unseated in the jungle primary by Gil Dozier (born 1934) of Baton Rouge. Dozier led the balloting with 42 percent, and Pearce had 30 percent. Pearce decided not to pursue a general election (commonly called the "runoff" in Louisiana) contest with Dozier, who therefore won the position outright. Allegations of bribery, perjury, and extortion in connection with his job duties worked to sink Pearce's career. 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... In the jungle primary, all candidates run in the same initial election regardless of party label. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... Bribery is a crime implying a sum or gift given alters the behaviour of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ... Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. ...

In the 1979 jungle primary, agribusinessman Robert "Bob" Odom of Zachary in East Baton Rouge Parish, who had worked in the Agriculture Department under Pearce and was fired thereafter by Dozier, defeated both Dozier and Pearce, who was seeking his final comeback. For the song by the Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... Zachary is a city located in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. ... East Baton Rouge Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

A young Bastrop (Morehouse Parish) farmer, Leland George Rawls, II (born 1950), a member of the Republican State Central Committee, also ran for the position in the 1979 primary. Rawls carried a hoe during the campaign as a reminder of his promise to "promote, protect, and advance the Agriculture Department." He finished far behind the three leading Democrats. There is also a Bastrop, Texas The city of Bastrop is the parish seat of Morehouse Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... Morehouse Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In the October 27, 1979, primary Odom led with 563,515 (45.9 percent) to Dozier's 382,486 (31.1 percent). Pearce polled 163,873 (13.4 percent), Rawls 67,021 (5.5 percent), and 50,045 votes (4 percent) went to another minor candidate, Joe Coco. In the general election held on December 8, 1979, Odom defeated Dozier, 853,578 (67.2 percent) to 415,714 (32.8 percent). The general election drew some 43,000 more voters in the agriculture commissioner's race than had the primary. Dozier's percent was practically unchanged from the primary to the general election.

The undoing of Dave Pearce

Pearce's political decline actually began in 1972, with the disclosure that the state Market Commission had granted $330,000 in state loans to Winnfield Minerals, Inc., which went broke without repaying any of the funds. Pearce's son-in-law was a stockholder in the company. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

A joint legislative committee looked into the matter, and, in the summer of 1973, an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted Pearce on 31 charges, 25 for public payroll extortion, three for public bribery, one for felony theft, one for governmental ethics violation, and one for perjury. Later, he was accused with three more perjury offenses as well. 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Pearce was convicted of two misdemeanors and was fined $300 for contempt of a legislative committee and $750 for violation of the Louisiana Code of Ethics. Misdemeanors are lesser criminal acts which are generally punished less severely than felonies; but more so than infractions. ...

Eighty-two convictions were eventually returned from indictments of former Agriculture Department employees.

Pearce pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors. Then East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Ossie Brown (pronounced OH SEE) in July 1975 dropped all remaining charges "in the spirit of justice and fairness" because a key witness had died and because Pearce's health was a concern. 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Further scandals against Dozier and Odom

Dozier was convicted on federal charges of extortion and racketeering in 1980. He served four years in prison. Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. ... Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Odom was indicted by an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury in 2002 on 21 charges, including bribery, extortion, and theft. He was acquitted, ran again for a seventh term in the 2003 jungle primary, and was an easy winner. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Bribery is a crime implying a sum or gift given alters the behaviour of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person. ... Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The legacy of corruption in Louisiana

After his legal troubles surfaced, Odom drew a quick defender in then Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen (1946-2005), a Republican: "The Bob Odom that I've known is a good, straight man, and I'd be surprised if they find anything on him." W. Fox McKeithen (born September 8, 1946 - died July 16, 2005) served five terms as Secretary of State in Louisiana between 1987 and 2005. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Another Republican, however, was appalled at Odom's troubles. State Senate President John Hainkel (1938-2005) of New Orleans, said that Odom's troubles, coming after those of Pearce and Dozier, smear the state's reputation amid corporate board rooms across the country who might be considering locating plants in Louisiana. John Joseph Hainkel, Jr. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Three other statewide elected Democratic officials were also convicted in recent years: former Elections Commissioner Jerry Fowler, former Governor Edwards, and Insurance Commissioner James H. "Jim" Brown. Two previous insurance commissioners, Sherman Bernard and Doug Green, also were found guilty of corruption. Jerry M. Fowler (born 1940) is a Baton Rouge businessman who, as part of a family political dynasty, was Louisianas state elections commissioner from 1980 until his defeat in the 1999 jungle primary. ... Edwin Washington Edwards (born 7 August 1927) is a United States politician who served as governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972 - 1980, 1984 - 1988, and 1992 - 1996), more terms than any other Louisiana governor. ... James Harvey Jim Brown, Jr. ...

Hainkel declared that Odom's legal troubles were "very disappointing to me. . . [They don't] help us."

Dave Pearce Gospel Sing

Pearce is remembered through the Dave L. Pearce Memorial Gospel Sing, which is held in his honor every March in Oak Grove, the seat of West Carroll Parish. Despite his political upheavals, Pearce was a local favorite in West Carroll and surrounding parishes for many years. Oak Grove is a town located in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. ...

References

Billy Hathorn, "The Republican Party in Louisiana, 1920-1980," Master's thesis (1980) at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches

William J. "Bill" Dodd, Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics, Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing, 1991

"Dave Pearce Dead at 79," Monroe News-Star, May 29, 1984. (The headline said 78, but Pearce was four months short of age 80 at death.)

http://www.safe2use.com/ca-ipm/02-08-26b.htm

http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/LHP&CISOPTR=797 with photo

http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=PEARCE&start=7441

http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=PEARCE&firstname=Elizabeth&start=61

Election Returns, Agriculture Commissioner, 1979, Secretary of State, Baton Rouge

with Brian V. Peppers.