Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III (October 4, 1943 – May 17, 2021) was an American politician, investor, and banker who served as the 52nd governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. In March 1991, while serving as governor, Roemer switched affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
Roemer was a candidate for the presidential nominations of the Republican Party and the Reform PartyBurns, Alexander (May 31, 2012) "Buddy Roemer quits 2012 race", Politico. Retrieved May 31, 2012 in 2012. He withdrew from those contests and sought the 2012 Americans Elect presidential nomination until that group announced it would not field a candidate in 2012 because no candidate reached the required minimum threshold of support to be listed on its ballot. Roemer eventually endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, for president in the 2012 general election.
Roemer served on the Advisory Council of Represent.Us, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization.
Early life, education, and early career Buddy Roemer was born on October 4, 1943, in Shreveport, the son of Charles Elson "Budgie" Roemer, II (1923–2012) pdf and the former Adeline McDade (1923–2016).
Roemer was reared on the family's Scopena plantation near Bossier City. He attended public schools and graduated in 1960 as valedictorian of Bossier High School. In 1964, he graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. In 1967, he received an MBA in finance from Harvard Business School.
Following college, Roemer returned to Louisiana to work in his father's computer business and later founded two banks. He was elected in 1972 as a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention held in 1973.
U.S. House of Representatives
As a member of Congress, Roemer represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district in the northwestern section of the state, which includes Shreveport and Bossier City.
Elections In 1978, Roemer ran in the nonpartisan blanket primary for the 4th district congressional seat, which was vacated by popular incumbent Joe Waggonner, also from Bossier Parish. Waggonner announced his opposition to Roemer after Roemer criticized the excessive costs of the Red River navigation program, which Waggoner favored. Roemer finished third in the primary, 1,708 votes behind Democratic State Representative Buddy Leach, with Republican Jimmy Wilson, a former state representative from Vivian in northern Caddo Parish, in second. Leach went on to defeat Wilson by 266 votes in a disputed general election.
In 1980, Roemer and Wilson again challenged Leach in the primary; also running was State Senator Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish. In another close race, Wilson finished in third place, Roemer ranked second, and Leach led the field with 29 percent. In the general election, with the support of Wilson,"Wilson endorses Roemer", Minden Press-Herald, September 19, 1980, p. 1 Roemer handily defeated Leach, who had the support of Campbell, many other state legislators, and former Governor Edwards, 64 to 36 percent.
After his 1980 election victory, Roemer won re-election without opposition in 1982, 1984, and 1986.
Tenure In Congress, Roemer frequently supported Ronald Reagan's policy initiatives and fought with the Democratic congressional leadership, though he remained in the party. He also criticized then Democratic House leader Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts for being "too liberal", and was in turn characterized by Speaker O'Neill as being "often wrong but never in doubt".
After Roemer left the House to become governor, he was succeeded by his administrative assistant, Republican Jim McCrery.
In 1981, Roemer joined forty-seven other House Democrats in supporting the passage of the Reagan tax cuts, strongly opposed by Speaker O'Neill and Roemer's fellow Louisiana Democrat Gillis William Long of Alexandria.Margie Dale and Vicky Harris, "Pro and Con of tax cut: Roemer vs. Long", Minden Press-Herald, July 31, 1981, p. 1
In 1984, Roemer again broke with O'Neill to support Reagan's request for U.S. aid to El Salvador, which Roemer described as "a freedom-loving country." Roemer was among the congressional observers in the El Salvador national election."Roemer backs aid to El Salvador", Minden Press-Herald, May 9, 1984, p. 5A
In 1988, Roemer claimed that Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis made "a much better choice in terms of politics and impact on Louisiana" in choosing U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas for his vice presidential running mate than did Republican George H. W. Bush made in choosing Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana. Roemer, as the host governor and still a Democrat, welcomed the Republicans to New Orleans, where delegates at the Republican National Convention nominated Bush and Quayle.
Committee assignments In his first term in Congress, Roemer was denied a seat on the Banking Committee by the Democratic leadership and instead was assigned to the Public Works and Transportation Committee due to Roemer having voted with the Republican minority on extending the debate on House rules proposed by the Democratic majority. He was a member of the "boll weevils" and the Conservative Democratic Forum.
Governor of Louisiana 1987 gubernatorial election
Roemer was one of a large number of Democratic candidates to challenge three-term incumbent governor Edwin Edwards, whose flamboyant personality and reputation for questionable ethical practices had polarized voters. Other candidates challenging Edwards in the primary were U.S. Representatives Bob Livingston, a suburban New Orleans Republican, and Billy Tauzin, a Democrat from Lafourche Parish. Outgoing Secretary of State James H. "Jim" Brown, a lawyer from Ferriday in Concordia Parish, also challenged Edwards.
While Edwards faced a wide field, Roemer's candidacy had a poignant aspect. His father, Charles E. Roemer II, had been Edwards' top aide and campaign manager during Edwards' first term as governor. In the 1972 campaign, Buddy Roemer had claimed that Edwards as governor "will listen to the people and to public officials who represent the people before acting on any problems in the state.""Edwards campaigner Say's He 'Will Listen'", Minden Press-Herald, February 25, 1972, p. 1 In 1981, Roemer's father had gone to prison on conviction of selling state insurance contracts. During the election he was advised by Gordon Hensley.
Roemer launched a fiery campaign against Edwards, calling for a "Roemer Revolution", where he would "scrub the budget", overhaul the education system, reform campaign finance rules, and slash the state bureaucracy by "bricking up the top three floors of the Education Building." Perhaps the key moment in the 1987 race came at a forum among the candidates. As usual, the main topic of discussion was Edwin Edwards. His challengers were asked, in succession, if they would consider endorsing Edwards in the general election if they didn't make it to the runoff. The candidates hedged, particularly Secretary of State Jim Brown. The last candidate to speak was Roemer: "No, we've got to slay the dragon. I would endorse anyone but Edwards." The next day, as political commentator John Maginnis put it, Brown was explaining his statement while Roemer was ordering "Slay the Dragon" buttons. Boosted by his endorsement as the 'good government candidate' by nearly every newspaper in the state, Roemer stormed from last place in the polls and on election night, overtook Edwards and placed first in the primary election, with 33 percent of the vote compared with Edwards' 28 percent.
Edwards, recognizing he faced certain defeat, made the surprise announcement on election night that he would concede the race to Roemer. By withdrawing, Edwards denied Roemer the opportunity to build a governing coalition in the general election race, thus denying him a decisive majority victory. The defeated Edwards virtually ceded control of the state to Roemer even before the inauguration.
Tenure as governor Roemer entered the governor's office on March 14, 1988. In April 1988, under executive order, Roemer named William Hawthorn Lynch, a long-term investigative journalist who at the time was with the Baton Rouge bureau of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, as the state's first inspector general. Lynch was empowered to investigate corruption, governmental inefficiencies, and misuse of state equipment. He remained in that position until his death in 2004.
In October 1989, voters rejected a number of Roemer tax initiatives but approved a State constitutional amendment for transportation improvements."Roemer's loss, victgory are state's top stories," Minden Press-Herald, December 31, 1989, p. 1
Facing a $1.3 billion deficit in the state budget, his first job was eliminating the deficit. Roemer's first chief of staff, Len Sanderson, Jr., who had been a journalist with the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, had run Roemer's gubernatorial campaign and was a close confidant. He represented the reform-minded agenda that had redefined Louisiana politics during Roemer's first session. According to Ron Gomez, Roemer's secretary of natural resources and a former legislator from Lafayette, the LSU-educated Sanderson "with his blond hair spilling to below shoulder length, stepped on so many toes and got into so many faces that he didn't make it into the second year."Gomez, Ron (2000), My Name Is Ron And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative, Lafayette, Louisiana: Zemog Publishing, p. 171, After another interim appointment, Roemer named former State Representative P.J. Mills of Shreveport as chief of staff, to, in the words of Gomez, "bring some maturity and experience to the office."Ron Gomez, p. 168 Roemer also hired the political consultant and pollster Elliott Stonecipher of Shreveport.
State Representative Bruce M. Bolin of Minden, later a state district court judge, supported Roemer's early reform efforts: "the state can't be everything to everybody, and the new budget reflects that." Bolin also correctly predicted that Roemer would in time run for president, but Roemer did not seek the White House for another twenty-four years. To make a presidential run, Bolin said that Roemer "needs no political baggage" and that Louisiana "must be viewed as a progressive state" for him to be able to accomplish that goal."Bolin: 'Roemer's aspiration can only help state'", Minden Press-Herald, May 17, 1988, p. 1 Edward J. Steimel, executive director of the pro-business lobby, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, also applauded Roemer's early reform efforts. Business, said Steimel, achieved half of its goals in the 1988 legislative session. Another session of equal outcome, he added, could make the state competitive with its neighbors within a year."Steimel applauds Roemer's efforts", Minden Press-Herald, July 13, 1988, p. 1