Mike Foster, a Republican who served as governor of Louisiana from 1996 to 2004, died Sunday at the age of 90. Foster, who was a low-profile politician especially by Bayou State standards, helped establish the state’s TOPS scholarship, as well as the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Foster also helped craft the deal that kept New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson from either relocating the NFL team to Mississippi or selling it.
Foster was the grandson and namesake of Murphy J. Foster, a Democrat who served as governor and U.S. senator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and supported the notorious 1898 constitution that disenfranchised most African Americans and white voters who might have voted with them in elections. The younger Foster became wealthy in the oil and gas and sugar industries, as well as in construction. In 1987 Foster, who was a Democrat like most Louisiana politicians at that time, successfully won a state Senate seat in the southern part of the state.
Foster decided to run for governor as a Democrat in 1995 to succeed the legendary and controversial Edwin Edwards, but he initially struggled to gain traction; Foster’s own legislative aide even laughed when the senator told him of his plans. It didn’t help that Foster faced a crowded all-party primary against several better-known contenders. The Democratic side included Rep. Cleo Fields, who was only the second African American to represent the state since Reconstruction; state Treasurer Mary Landrieu; and Lt. Gov. Melinda Schwegmann. The GOP side consisted of former Gov. Buddy Roemer and David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who had lost the 1991 contest to Edwards.
But Foster, who campaigned as an ardent social conservative, got voters to take a second look at him when he filed to run as a Republican instead. Foster also benefited when Duke dropped out of the contest and backed him: Four years later, the public learned that Foster had paid Duke $152,000 for a list of his supporters and donors, which he said he did to keep Duke out of the race.
Foster used $2 million of his own money to finance ads depicting him as a tractor-driving everyman, and he also benefited from lingering Republican distrust of Roemer, who had switched parties just ahead of his failed 1991 campaign and vetoed an anti-abortion bill during that campaign. Foster ended up taking first place with 26% in the all-party primary, while Fields edged out Landrieu 19-18 for the second spot.
Foster insisted that he wouldn’t make race an issue, but he infuriated Fields when he called the predominantly Black city of New Orleans a “jungle” full of crime. Foster’s campaign responded with a non-apology saying, “We're sorry if anyone imparted a racial meaning to it. We don't apologize for implying New Orleans is a crime-ridden and dangerous place.” Foster ended up winning 64-36.
Four years later, Foster faced another African American congressman, Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson. The news of Foster’s deal with Duke broke during this campaign, and the governor acknowledged, “It ain’t real cool to put out there that you’re buying something from David Duke.” Foster paid a $20,000 fine for failing to report his transaction, but the story didn’t stop him from winning by a wide 62-30 margin, a result that made Foster Louisiana’s first two-term Republican governor since Reconstruction.
