Liz Swaine
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Swaine, known as Liz Swaine (born May 11, 1960), is an American journalist
and former civil servant. Formerly a television
anchorwoman with the ABC
affiliate KTBS-TV
, she ran unsuccessfully in 2006 for the office of mayor
of Shreveport
, the seat of Caddo Parish
and the third largest city in Louisiana
.
A native of Chipley
in Washington County
in the Florida Panhandle
, Swaine was the daughter of Albert M. Swaine (1914-1983). She holds an associate of arts degree in broadcast journalism
from the University of West Florida
in Pensacola
, which she attended from 1978-1980. She was employed by WEAR-TV
, which covers the Pensacola and Mobile
, Alabama
, media market. In 1981, she relocated to Shreveport and maintained employment at KTBS until she resigned in 1998 to become executive assistant to then Mayor Keith Hightower
, who was subsequently term limited in 2006 after his consecutive elections in 1998 and 2002. Swaine’s annual salary as executive assistant was $108,526.56, only $1,100 less than Hightower’s $109,623.84. Swaine then sought to succeed Hightower in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on September 30, 2006, against ten opponents, including fellow Democrat
and eventual winner, Cedric Glover
, an African American
, then a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
. Other opponents included Ed Bradley, former VP & General Manager of KSLA TV and local businesswoman Arlena Acree, Vernon Adams, retiree and Max Malone, former La. State Senator (R).
Swaine declared her goals as more stringent code enforcement and more responsive city government. With 6,600 votes (13.1 percent), Swaine ran third in the primary, finishing behind eventual winner Cedric Glover, Democrat, and attorney Jerry Jones, a Republican. After her municipal service, Swaine became communications director for Calumet Lubricants Company, an oil
and natural gas
concern which maintains a large plant in Cotton Valley
in central Webster Parish. She has also done podcasting and free-lance journalism.
Swaine and her husband, Steve S. Culp (born 1954), reside in Shreveport. She is a motorcycle
enthusiast and former triathlete. Swaine was named “Best Journalist in the Nation” by the American Journalism Review
magazine
, then known as the Washington Journalism Review. She is the first female to have emceed the Congressional Medal of Honor Convention. She was named winner of the VIP Award of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce
.
Swaine leaves the Calumet position in November 2010, to become the director of the Downtown Shreveport Development Authority, replacing Don Shea. Swaine formerly headed a citizens committee that examined whether Shreveport should pursue a bond issue in 2011. She also handles public relations duties for local nonprofit organization
s.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and former civil servant. Formerly a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
anchorwoman with the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV, virtual channel 3, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its transmitter is located near Mooringsport. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 28 and is owned locally by the Wray family as part of a duopoly with the CW affiliate KPXJ...
, she ran unsuccessfully in 2006 for the office of mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, the seat of Caddo Parish
Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Caddo Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Shreveport; as of 2000, the population was 252,161...
and the third largest city in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
A native of Chipley
Chipley, Florida
Chipley is a city in Washington County, Florida, United States. Its population was 3,592 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. According to the United States Census Bureau estimates of 2005, the city had a population of about 3,682...
in Washington County
Washington County, Florida
Washington County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 20,973. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county was 22,299. Its county seat is Chipley, Florida...
in the Florida Panhandle
Florida Panhandle
The Florida Panhandle, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide , lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is...
, Swaine was the daughter of Albert M. Swaine (1914-1983). She holds an associate of arts degree in broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
from the University of West Florida
University of West Florida
The University of West Florida, also known as West Florida and UWF, is a mid-sized public university located in Pensacola, Florida, United States. UWF is a member institution of the State University System of Florida. The University of West Florida is a Research University, which specializes in...
in Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, which she attended from 1978-1980. She was employed by WEAR-TV
WEAR-TV
WEAR is the ABC affiliated television station for the Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida viewing area. It is licensed to Pensacola and is one of two major commercial stations in the market that is licensed on the Florida side of the market, the other being sister station WFGX, a MyNetworkTV affiliate...
, which covers the Pensacola and Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, media market. In 1981, she relocated to Shreveport and maintained employment at KTBS until she resigned in 1998 to become executive assistant to then Mayor Keith Hightower
Keith Hightower
Keith Paul Hightower is a businessman who is the former Democratic mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana.Hightower graduated from Captain Shreve High School in 1975; one of his classmates was later State Senator Greg Barro, a Shreveport lawyer. Hightower then graduated in 1979 from Louisiana Tech...
, who was subsequently term limited in 2006 after his consecutive elections in 1998 and 2002. Swaine’s annual salary as executive assistant was $108,526.56, only $1,100 less than Hightower’s $109,623.84. Swaine then sought to succeed Hightower in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on September 30, 2006, against ten opponents, including fellow Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and eventual winner, Cedric Glover
Cedric Glover
Cedric Bradford Glover is the Democratic mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana -- the first African American to hold the position.Outgoing Mayor Keith Hightower was term-limited in 2006, after having won election in both 1998 and 2002...
, an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, then a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
. Other opponents included Ed Bradley, former VP & General Manager of KSLA TV and local businesswoman Arlena Acree, Vernon Adams, retiree and Max Malone, former La. State Senator (R).
Swaine declared her goals as more stringent code enforcement and more responsive city government. With 6,600 votes (13.1 percent), Swaine ran third in the primary, finishing behind eventual winner Cedric Glover, Democrat, and attorney Jerry Jones, a Republican. After her municipal service, Swaine became communications director for Calumet Lubricants Company, an oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
concern which maintains a large plant in Cotton Valley
Cotton Valley, Louisiana
Cotton Valley is a town in central Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,189 at the 2000 census. It is located some twenty miles northwest of the parish seat of Minden.-Overview:-Municipal matters:...
in central Webster Parish. She has also done podcasting and free-lance journalism.
Swaine and her husband, Steve S. Culp (born 1954), reside in Shreveport. She is a motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
enthusiast and former triathlete. Swaine was named “Best Journalist in the Nation” by the American Journalism Review
American Journalism Review
The American Journalism Review is a U.S. magazine covering topics in journalism. It is published six times a year by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. The AJR has been owned since the late 1980s by a foundation of the university...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, then known as the Washington Journalism Review. She is the first female to have emceed the Congressional Medal of Honor Convention. She was named winner of the VIP Award of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
.
Swaine leaves the Calumet position in November 2010, to become the director of the Downtown Shreveport Development Authority, replacing Don Shea. Swaine formerly headed a citizens committee that examined whether Shreveport should pursue a bond issue in 2011. She also handles public relations duties for local nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s.