Political career
Beard won a special election on August 18, 2001, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Republican State Representative Chuck McMains. Five Republicans ran in the special election in the heavily Republican District 69. Beard and David Boneno, a member of the Baton Rouge Metro Council, advanced to the runoff because no one polled a majority in the initial balloting. Beard then defeated Boneno, 4,093 (59 percent) to 2,847 (41 percent). Boneno had the support of McMains and Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr. in the special election. Beard countered with the backing of the "Christian right". Beard took his seat on August 30, 2001.
On October 4, 2003, Beard won his full term in the state House. He drew 11,317 votes (69 percent) in the jungle primary over the "No Party" candidate, Robelynn Hood Abadie, and his fellow Republican, Don Simmons, who polled 3,091 (20 percent) and 1,421 (9 percent), respectively.
Beard announced his candidacy for the state's second-highest constitutional office on June 4, 2007. The lieutenant governor is the overseer of the Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism and no longer presides over the Louisiana State Senate, as is the custom in many states. Beard said that had he been elected he would become involved in more than tourism. Beard estimated that his campaign cost about $1.8 million.
Beard describes himself as a "family-values" candidate. He supports right-to-life, having introduced bills to ban human cloning and to outlaw partial-birth abortion. He also was initially elected to the legislature on a strongly anti-tax platform.
Two Republicans met in the low-turnout November 17 general election to fill Beard's seat. Building contractor Erich Ponti, with 6,772 votes (63 percent), defeated retired Entergy Corporation executive William L. "Bill" Benedetto (born 1941), who polled 4,059 ballots (37 percent). Two eliminated primary candidates, Brian P. McNabb and Joseph Robert "Bob" Thibodeaux, both Republicans, had polled a combined 40 percent of the original vote.
Melvin Lee Holden, known as Kip Holden, is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2016 as the Democratic Mayor-President of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, USA. The parish includes the state capital of Baton Rouge and smaller suburban cities such as Baker, Central City, and Zachary.
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Roy "Hoppy" Hopkins was an American politician who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1988 until his death in 2006 as a Democrat.
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Bernice Lorene Shaw, known as B. L. "Buddy" Shaw, was an educator from Shreveport, Louisiana, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate for Caddo and Bossier parishes in the northwestern corner of the state.
Jesse Kendrick Hollis, Jr., known as Ken Hollis, was a Republican Party member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 9 from Metairie in Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs. He served from 1982, when he won a special election to fill an unexpired term, until he was term-limited, effective January 14, 2008.
Raymond "La La" Lalonde is a former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Carencro in Lafayette Parish. He formerly resided in the town of Sunset in St. Landry Parish. He served in the Louisiana House from 1980 to 1996.
Kay Kellogg Katz is a Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having represented from 1999 to 2012 District 16 in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana.
Robert Warren Williams, known as Bo Williams, is a Republican former mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, having served a single term from 1994 to 1998.
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Charles Addison Riddle III is a Louisiana lawyer and Democratic politician. Riddle was elected to the 28th District of the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1992, and served through 2003. He was elected in 2002 as the 33rd District Attorney of Avoyelles Parish.
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