Phil Short
Encyclopedia
Philip Granville Short, known as Phil Short (born January 31, 1947), is a retired military officer formerly of Covington
, Louisiana
, USA, who served in the Louisiana State Senate
from District 12 (St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington
parishes) from 1996 to 1999. Short won the seat in the general election
held on November 18, 1995, by unseating the long-term incumbent
B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn
of Bogalusa
. Short polled 21,222 votes (51 percent) to Rayburn's 20,676 (49 percent)
Short graduated in 1965 from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport
. In 1969, he received his Bachelor of Arts
degree in political science
from Louisiana Tech University
in Ruston
. Subsequently, he procured an M.A.
degree from the private Webster University
in Webster Groves
near St. Louis
, Missouri
. While living in Covington, Short was a real estate
agent and a member of the trade association
, the National Association of Realtors
. A Baptist
, Short is married to the former Suzanne Richards (born ca. 1954).
From 1970 to 1994, Short was a lieutenant colonel
and a naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps
. He is a member of the American Legion
and the Veterans of Foreign Wars
. He served on the military service academy recruitment team for former U.S. Representative Bob Livingston
, a Republican from the New Orleans
suburb
s. He resigned prior to the expiration of his Senate term to accept a position as director of the Personal and Family Readiness Division of the Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.
. In the new position, he was called upon to testify before the United States House Committee on Armed Services
.
Ironically, both state senators who preceded and succeeded Rayburn served only three years of their terms, resigned, and necessitated special elections. Rayburn's district appeared to have turned solidly Republican in the special election of February 6, 1999, when the sole Democratic candidate, Stanley Middleton, polled only 9 percent of the vote. Short was succeeded by Democrat-turned-Republican Jerry Aroe Thomas
, a state representative
, a physician
, and former coroner
from Franklinton
, who won the position outright in the first round of balloting with 51 percent of the vote.
In the balloting for a full term on October 23, 1999, Thomas defeated Stanley Middleton, his only opponent, 76-24 percent. In 2003, Thomas did not seek a second full term as a result of a 2002 incident in which he was accused of engaging in lewd conduct at an adult bookstore in New Orleans. A Democrat, Ben W. Nevers
of Bogalusa, won Thomas’ former seat with 43 percent of the primary ballots, because the second-place candidate, Republican Richard E. Tanner (born 1942) of Covington, who trailed with 21 percent, withdrew from the general election because more than 70 percent of the primary ballots were cast for Democratic candidates. Nevers was unopposed in 2007; so the Rayburn seat returned to its traditional Democratic moorings.
In 1997, Short introduced Senate Bill 37 to remove sexual orientation
from the state's hate crimes law. His amendment was defeated in April and again in May, the second time without a vote being taken. Several of Short's fellow Republican senators, including Ken Hollis
of Metairie
in Jefferson Parish
, Lynn Dean
of St. Bernard Parish
, and Ron Bean
of Shreveport, joined Democrats in speaking against the bill. Hollis said that he was "absolutely convinced that those people who lead the alternate lifestyle do so because of genetics. . . . I don't condone their way of life, but I'm not gonna sit up here and condemn it and to vote for a constitutional amendment to bring it to a vote to divide our people..." Bean echoed Hollis: "I see no reason to dig this up and grind it around in public again. . . . The session before last we had a hate crimes bill and one of the things we put in it was
'sexual orientation' and that stirred up a lot of controversy out in the community. And this'll do the same thing in the long run."
Short and his wife currently reside in Spotsylvania Courthouse
, Virginia
.
Covington, Louisiana
Covington is a city in and the parish seat of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,483 at the 2000 census. It is located at a fork of the Bogue Falaya and the Tchefuncte River....
, 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...
, USA, who served in the Louisiana State Senate
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...
from District 12 (St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington
Washington Parish, Louisiana
Washington Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its parish seat is Franklinton. In 2000, its population was 43,926....
parishes) from 1996 to 1999. Short won the seat in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
held on November 18, 1995, by unseating the long-term incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn
Sixty Rayburn
Benjamin Burras Rayburn, Sr., known as B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn , was a veteran politician from Bogalusa, an incorporated city in Washington Parish in southeastern Louisiana in the United States...
of Bogalusa
Bogalusa, Louisiana
Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,365 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa...
. Short polled 21,222 votes (51 percent) to Rayburn's 20,676 (49 percent)
Short graduated in 1965 from C.E. Byrd High School in 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....
. In 1969, he received his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
. Subsequently, he procured an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree from the private Webster University
Webster University
Webster University is an American non-profit private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Webster University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools...
in Webster Groves
Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is named after New England politician Daniel Webster....
near St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. While living in Covington, Short was a real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
agent and a member of the trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
, the National Association of Realtors
National Association of Realtors
The National Association of Realtors , whose members are known as Realtors, is North America's largest trade association. representing over 1.2 million members , including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries...
. A Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, Short is married to the former Suzanne Richards (born ca. 1954).
From 1970 to 1994, Short was a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and a naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. He is a member of the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
and the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
. He served on the military service academy recruitment team for former U.S. Representative Bob Livingston
Bob Livingston
Robert Linlithgow "Bob" Livingston Jr. is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist and a former Republican U.S. Representative from Louisiana...
, a Republican from the New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s. He resigned prior to the expiration of his Senate term to accept a position as director of the Personal and Family Readiness Division of the Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. In the new position, he was called upon to testify before the United States House Committee on Armed Services
United States House Committee on Armed Services
thumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...
.
Ironically, both state senators who preceded and succeeded Rayburn served only three years of their terms, resigned, and necessitated special elections. Rayburn's district appeared to have turned solidly Republican in the special election of February 6, 1999, when the sole Democratic candidate, Stanley Middleton, polled only 9 percent of the vote. Short was succeeded by Democrat-turned-Republican Jerry Aroe Thomas
Jerry Thomas (Louisiana politician)
Jerry Aroe Thomas is a family practice physician in Franklinton, Louisiana, who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from 1988 to 2004. In 1979, at the age of twenty-six, Thomas was elected coroner of Washington Parish, the easternmost of the Florida Parishes in the...
, a state representative
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...
, a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, and former coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
from Franklinton
Franklinton, Louisiana
Franklinton is a town in and the parish seat of Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,657 at the 2000 census. It is an average of above sea level....
, who won the position outright in the first round of balloting with 51 percent of the vote.
In the balloting for a full term on October 23, 1999, Thomas defeated Stanley Middleton, his only opponent, 76-24 percent. In 2003, Thomas did not seek a second full term as a result of a 2002 incident in which he was accused of engaging in lewd conduct at an adult bookstore in New Orleans. A Democrat, Ben W. Nevers
Ben Nevers
Ben Wayne Nevers is an electrical contractor from Bogalusa, Louisiana, who has been since 2004 a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 12, which includes parts of Washington, St. Tammany, and Tangipahoa parishes...
of Bogalusa, won Thomas’ former seat with 43 percent of the primary ballots, because the second-place candidate, Republican Richard E. Tanner (born 1942) of Covington, who trailed with 21 percent, withdrew from the general election because more than 70 percent of the primary ballots were cast for Democratic candidates. Nevers was unopposed in 2007; so the Rayburn seat returned to its traditional Democratic moorings.
In 1997, Short introduced Senate Bill 37 to remove sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
from the state's hate crimes law. His amendment was defeated in April and again in May, the second time without a vote being taken. Several of Short's fellow Republican senators, including Ken Hollis
Ken Hollis
Jesse Kendrick Hollis, Jr., known as Ken Hollis , was a Republican Party member of the Louisiana State Senate from Metairie in Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs...
of Metairie
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
in Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
, Lynn Dean
Lynn Dean
Lynn B. Dean is a boat manufacturer from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, who served from 1996 to 2004 as a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 1 . The district embraces a portion of the New Orleans suburbs, including the lower southeastern coastal parishes of Plaquemines...
of St. Bernard Parish
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
St. Bernard Parish is a parish located southeast of New Orleans in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Chalmette, the largest city in the parish. As of 2000, its population was 67,229. It has been ranked the fastest-growing county in the United States from 2007 to 2008 by the U.S....
, and Ron Bean
Ron Bean
Ronald Clarence Bean, known as Ron Bean , was a Republican state senator from Shreveport, Louisiana, between 1992 and 2004, who was hailed by his peers for nonpartisanship. Moreover, he was a United States Army soldier with service in South Korea and Vietnam and a pilot decorated for heroism...
of Shreveport, joined Democrats in speaking against the bill. Hollis said that he was "absolutely convinced that those people who lead the alternate lifestyle do so because of genetics. . . . I don't condone their way of life, but I'm not gonna sit up here and condemn it and to vote for a constitutional amendment to bring it to a vote to divide our people..." Bean echoed Hollis: "I see no reason to dig this up and grind it around in public again. . . . The session before last we had a hate crimes bill and one of the things we put in it was
'sexual orientation' and that stirred up a lot of controversy out in the community. And this'll do the same thing in the long run."
Short and his wife currently reside in Spotsylvania Courthouse
Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia
Spotsylvania Courthouse is an unincorporated community and the county seat of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, located ten miles southwest of Fredericksburg. Recognized by the U.S...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.