Sandra Thompson
Encyclopedia
Sandra Smith "Sandy" Thompson (born October 4, 1946) is a veteran Louisiana
politician
and state administrator, who retired on August 3, 2007, from the directorship of the Atchafalaya Basin Program
. She thereafter joined the successful gubernatorial campaign of Republican
Bobby Jindal
, then a U.S. representative from suburban New Orleans.
near Monroe
in northeast Louisiana. She received her bachelor of arts
degree in government
from Southeastern Louisiana University
in Hammond
. She procured a master of science
in business administration from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. Her career in state government began in the 1970s when she worked in the office of then Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr.
She was appointed director of the Atchafalaya Basin Division of Culture, Recreation
, and Tourism
. The lieutenant governor
now heads Culture, Recreation, and Tourism.
Thompson hence helped to start the Atchafalaya project, which, encompassing a million acres (4,000 km²), is the largest bottomland swamp
in North America
. She left the project in 1979 to run unsuccessfully as a Democrat
for secretary of state. The position became open when incumbent
Paul J. Hardy, then of St. Martinville
, who had succeeded Martin in 1976, ran unsuccessfully for governor
.
Thompson went into a general election
with fellow Democrat, then State Senator
James H. "Jim" Brown of Ferriday
in Concordia Parish. She had a considerable lead in the jungle primary
but fell unexpectedly short in the second balloting.
In the first round, Thompson polled 504,808 votes (40.8 percent) to Brown's 391,849 ballots (31.7 percent). An African-American candidate, Ben Jeffers, received 253,764 votes (20.5 percent). Republican candidate Dick Bruce, a New Orleans advertising executive who stressed tourism and international trade
, polled 85,870 votes (only 6.9 percent). In 1971, Bruce ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in the primary to succeed Lieutenant Governor
C.C. "Taddy" Aycock
.
Therefore, Brown increased his support to that of a bare majority
. Brown secured nearly all the votes obtained by Jeffers, and most of Bruce's supporters are believed to have switched to Thompson. Brown won the general election
with 665,608 votes (51.1 percent) to her 617,907 (48.9 percent). The percent for Brown and Jeffers from the primary was a combined 52.2 percent, or 1.1 percentage points more than Brown finally received. Thompson and Bruce in the first round of balloting had a combined 47.7 percent, or 1.2 percentage points below what Mrs. Thompson finally received. For years, Thompson said that she never expected to lose the race. In 1983, she attempted to unseat East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court Mike Cannon. While she did make the general election, she was unable to win.
After the secretary of state's race, Thompson owned and operated an oil
field truck
ing company in Baton Rouge. Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
, called her back to state government in 1996 to work in his new administration. She was named director of the Atchafalaya Basin Program, when it was re-established in 1998 by state law as a 15-year plan to work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
and other entities for the federally sponsored Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System. Thompson is active in many conservation
endeavors. She is an officer of the Louisiana Sierra Club
. She has twice secured the Professional Conservationist of the Year award from the Wildlife and Fisheries Department, most recently in 1999. She also won the Lyndon B. Johnson
National Award for excellence in the field of the environment.
In the Atchafalaya project, Thompson worked under Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle
of Breaux Bridge
, the son of a former state representative. The media reported strains in their professional relationship. It had been suggested that Thompson wanted to succeed Angelle, a Democrat, in the Jindal administration. In May 2010, Jindal announced the appointment of Angelle to serve on an interim basis as lieutenant governor until a special election can be held in October 2010 to fill the remaining months of the term of Mitch Landrieu
, who was elected in February as the mayor of New Orleans.
Thompson describes her management style as one of macromanagement: "Most successful leaders don’t micromanage. What we tried to do with the Atchafalaya Program is hire the very best architect
s, engineer
s, and designers and tell them, 'Give me your best. I’m not going to micromanage you.'"
Thompson has two grown children. Her close friends include Oscar Richard, a former World War II
prisoner of war
.
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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and state administrator, who retired on August 3, 2007, from the directorship of the Atchafalaya Basin Program
Atchafalaya River
The Atchafalaya River is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River....
. She thereafter joined the successful gubernatorial campaign of Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
, then a U.S. representative from suburban New Orleans.
Biography
Thompson grew up on a farmFarm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
near Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
in northeast Louisiana. She received her 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 government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
from Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
in Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
. She procured a master of science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in business administration from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge. Her career in state government began in the 1970s when she worked in the office of then Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr.
Wade O. Martin, Jr.
Wade Omer Martin, Jr. was the Democratic Secretary of State of Louisiana under five governors, having served from 1944 to 1976...
She was appointed director of the Atchafalaya Basin Division of Culture, Recreation
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
, and Tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. The lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
now heads Culture, Recreation, and Tourism.
Thompson hence helped to start the Atchafalaya project, which, encompassing a million acres (4,000 km²), is the largest bottomland swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. She left the project in 1979 to run unsuccessfully as a 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...
for secretary of state. The position became open when 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...
Paul J. Hardy, then of St. Martinville
St. Martinville, Louisiana
St. Martinville is a city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on Bayou Teche, sixteen miles south of Breaux Bridge, eighteen miles southeast of Lafayette, and nine miles north of New Iberia. The population was 6,989 at the 2000 census. It is part of the...
, who had succeeded Martin in 1976, ran unsuccessfully for governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
.
Thompson went into a 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...
with fellow Democrat, then State Senator
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...
James H. "Jim" Brown of Ferriday
Ferriday, Louisiana
Ferriday is a town in Concordia Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population, which is three-fourths African American, was 3,723 at the 2000 census....
in Concordia Parish. She had a considerable lead in the jungle primary
Jungle primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...
but fell unexpectedly short in the second balloting.
In the first round, Thompson polled 504,808 votes (40.8 percent) to Brown's 391,849 ballots (31.7 percent). An African-American candidate, Ben Jeffers, received 253,764 votes (20.5 percent). Republican candidate Dick Bruce, a New Orleans advertising executive who stressed tourism and international trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
, polled 85,870 votes (only 6.9 percent). In 1971, Bruce ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in the primary to succeed Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
The Office of Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current Lieutenant Governor is Jay Dardenne, a Republican...
C.C. "Taddy" Aycock
Clarence C. Aycock
Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock , a conservative Democrat from Franklin in St. Mary Parish, was the only three-term lieutenant governor in modern Louisiana history. He served from 1960 to 1972. Aycock failed in his only bid for governor in the 1971 Democratic primary...
.
Therefore, Brown increased his support to that of a bare majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
. Brown secured nearly all the votes obtained by Jeffers, and most of Bruce's supporters are believed to have switched to Thompson. Brown won 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...
with 665,608 votes (51.1 percent) to her 617,907 (48.9 percent). The percent for Brown and Jeffers from the primary was a combined 52.2 percent, or 1.1 percentage points more than Brown finally received. Thompson and Bruce in the first round of balloting had a combined 47.7 percent, or 1.2 percentage points below what Mrs. Thompson finally received. For years, Thompson said that she never expected to lose the race. In 1983, she attempted to unseat East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court Mike Cannon. While she did make the general election, she was unable to win.
After the secretary of state's race, Thompson owned and operated 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....
field truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
ing company in Baton Rouge. Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
, called her back to state government in 1996 to work in his new administration. She was named director of the Atchafalaya Basin Program, when it was re-established in 1998 by state law as a 15-year plan to work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
and other entities for the federally sponsored Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System. Thompson is active in many conservation
Conservation ethic
Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to...
endeavors. She is an officer of the Louisiana Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
. She has twice secured the Professional Conservationist of the Year award from the Wildlife and Fisheries Department, most recently in 1999. She also won the Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
National Award for excellence in the field of the environment.
In the Atchafalaya project, Thompson worked under Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle
Scott Angelle
Scott Anthony Angelle is a former lieutenant governor of Louisiana. He was appointed to the position by Governor Bobby Jindal and confirmed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2010, when Mitch Landrieu resigned the lieutenant governorship to become mayor of New Orleans...
of Breaux Bridge
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Breaux Bridge is a city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population is 8,139 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, the son of a former state representative. The media reported strains in their professional relationship. It had been suggested that Thompson wanted to succeed Angelle, a Democrat, in the Jindal administration. In May 2010, Jindal announced the appointment of Angelle to serve on an interim basis as lieutenant governor until a special election can be held in October 2010 to fill the remaining months of the term of Mitch Landrieu
Mitch Landrieu
Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...
, who was elected in February as the mayor of New Orleans.
Thompson describes her management style as one of macromanagement: "Most successful leaders don’t micromanage. What we tried to do with the Atchafalaya Program is hire the very best architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s, and designers and tell them, 'Give me your best. I’m not going to micromanage you.'"
Thompson has two grown children. Her close friends include Oscar Richard, a former World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.