Randy Ewing

Background

Ewing recalls that his father, Laster Cleo "Lew" Ewing (1912-2004), was given a job at the Louisiana State University student farm in Baton Rouge during the depths of the Great Depression through the intervention of Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr. Though he had first attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, L. C. Ewing was therefore able to study at LSU, from which he graduated in 1935.

Randy Ewing explained accordingly: "My father's stories of LSU, Huey Long, and Baton Rouge because almost mystical in my family. This life-changing opportunity for a 19-year-old poverty-stricken boy from Chatham bore great influence on subsequent generations" of the Ewing family. Ewing's mother, the former Louise Williams (1917-2001), known as "Topper Ewing", devoted much of her time and to their United Methodist church as well as other community and civic endeavors.

Ewing is married to the former Rosemary Upshaw. They have two children, Ashley E. Manning of Monroe and Brandon Ewing of Ruston. He graduated in 1962 from Jonesboro-Hodge High School. In 1966, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in business and finance from the E.J. Ourso College of Business at LSU. He studied history there under the famous professor Stephen Ambrose.

Ewing owns Ewing Timber Co., a business in Quitman, a small town north of the parish seat of Jonesboro. Ewing maintained his Senate office in the nearby larger city of Ruston in Lincoln Parish. In Ruston, he is a director of American Bank and the private Cedar Creek School. He has served on the board of the Louisiana Methodist Children's Home in Ruston. He and Mrs. Ewing have long supported Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA. Ewing is a member of the Lions Club.

He is a past president of the Louisiana Forestry Association, an organization in which his father was also active, and a former chairman of the Louisiana Forestry Commission. He is also a former member of the Louisiana Ad Valorem Tax Commission.

Political career

In the Senate, Ewing authored the Louisiana "Balanced Budget Amendment" and the establishment of the state mineral trust fund. He was active in promoting government ethics, the treatment of substance abuse, the prevention of child abuse, and reforms in education. In 1998, Ewing served on a citizens Advisory Committee recommending reforms to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

In 2003, Ewing launched an unsuccessful campaign for governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished in fifth place with some 123,936 votes (9 percent). Ewing won the endorsement of Democrats Ray Nagin, then the mayor of New Orleans; former state Representatives Kenneth Volentine, then the sheriff of Claiborne Parish, and Virgil Orr of Lincoln Parish, along with the Republicans, state Senator Robert J. Barham of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish and former state Senator Tommy Casanova, an ophthalmologist from Crowley and a former LSU football great. Though he was considered a somewhat conservative Democrat, the Christian Coalition rated Ewing at only 44 percent, compared to 90 percent for sitting Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter. The winner of the gubernatorial race was Ewing's fellow Democrat, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Lafayette.

In 1996, Louisiana Governmental Services, Inc., called Ewing the "conscience of the Senate". In 1999, Ewing was inducted into the LSU Hall of Distinction.

In 2008, Ewing held a fund raiser at his home for Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, who defeated her Republican opponent, State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, to win a third term. Among those attending the gathering was the Republican U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander from Louisiana's 5th congressional district.

On January 30, 2010, along with Rodney Alexander and the late Charlton Lyons, Ewing was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.