Ben Nevers

Ben Wayne Nevers, Sr. (born October 23, 1946)^[2] is an electrical contractor from Bogalusa, Louisiana, who was the chief of staff for his fellow Democrat, Governor John Bel Edwards.^[3]​ He served ohly thirteen months in the position, having retired on February 28, 2017.^[4]

From 2004 to January 11, 2016, Nevers was a state senator for District 12, which includes parts of Washington, St. Tammany, and Tangipahoa parishes. From 2000 to 2004, he was a one-term member of the Louisiana House of Representative for District 75. Even earlier he served on the Bogalusa City School Board.

Background[edit]

Nevers graduated in 1964 from Bogalusa High School. In 1969, he completed his studies at the Sullivan Campus of Louisiana Technical College. Between 1965 and 1971, he served in the United States Army. Nevers served as chairman of the Senate Education Committee and was a member of various statewide educational committees, including the Louisiana Tuition Trust Authority, the Louisiana High School Redesign Commission, and the Blue Ribbon Commission for Educational Excellence. He is a member of the Hurricane Katrina Memorial Commission and also claimed a special legislative interest in agriculture, economic development, and health care.^[5]​

Nevers and his wife, the former Barbara Ann Williams, an educator, have three children, Ben, Jr., Julie Ann Nevers, and James Andrew Nevers. He is a deacon in his Christian church.^[5]

Senate service[edit]

In the 2003 nonpartisan blanket primary for senator, which attracted seven candidates, including former State Representative Weldon Russell of Amite City in Tangipahoa Parish, Nevers was forced into a second round of balloting with the Republican Richard E. Tanner, a retired teacher from St. Tammany Parish.^[6] However, Tanner withdrew from the race on the grounds that the candidates held similar views.^[7] Subsequently, Nevers was unopposed in the 2007 primary.​

Originally considered a more conservative Democrat, Nevers in 2007 filed an anti-abortion bill, backed by outgoing Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco, that permits abortions only in situations in which a woman's life is at risk from a pregnancy.^[7] He sponsored the Louisiana Science Education Act, which permits teachers to use supplementary materials in class concerning the theory of evolution and creationism. Nevers said that the law, signed by then Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, is "strictly about teaching science in the classroom. It has nothing to do with religion. ... It shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against any particular set of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion."^[8][9] In 2011, opponents of the Louisiana Science Education Act, led by then state Senator Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans, failed to obtain repeal the law. Some forty Nobel Prize-winning scientists endorsed the repeal of the measure on the premise that the law provides an opportunity for teachers to offer creationism views in classrooms.^[10]​

In 1995, Nevers ran unsuccessfully for the House, having been defeated by the incumbent Democrat, later Republican, Jerry Thomas, a former Washington Parish coroner. Nevers polled 6,546 votes (42.9 percent) to Thomas's 8,713 votes (57.1 percent).^[11]

Nevers was narrowly reelected in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2011. He received 15,116 votes (50.6 percent) to 14,764 (49.4 percent) for his Republican opponent and later successor Beth Mizell.^[12]​

Nevers is listed among the state and local officials who in 2014 endorsed the reelection in 2014 of liberal Democrat U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.^[13]​

Term-limited in the state Senate, Nevers was succeeded by Beth Mizell, who won the seat in the general election held on November 21, 2015. Mizell easily defeated the Democrat, Mickey Murphy, 19,404 votes (58 percent) to 14,033 (42 percent). She was the only Republican to have won a formerly Democratic Senate seat in the 2015 general election.^[14] Murphy is a former teacher, counselor, welding instructor, and college dean. He formerly chaired a workforce development board. He is a former president of his local Chamber of Commerce. The operator of a preschool, Mizell opposes Nevers' long-term proposal to build a reservoir in the Senate district, a project Murphy supported in the campaign.^[15]

References[edit]

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