Samuel Jenkins Jr.

Samuel Lee "Sam" Jenkins Jr.
Louisiana State Representative for
District 2 (Caddo and Bossier parishes)
Assumed office
January 11, 2016
Preceded by Roy A. Burrell
Personal details
Political party Democratic
Residence Shreveport, Caddo Parish
Louisiana

Samuel Lee Jenkins Jr. (born February 1956), known as Sam Jenkins,[1] is an African-American Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 2 in Caddo and Bossier parishes in northwestern Louisiana. Jenkins succeeded Roy A. Burrell, who was term-limited in the primary election held on October 24, 2015.[2][3]

Political campaigns

In the fall of 1994, Jenkins and Burrell ran against each other for the District G seat on the Shreveport City Council. Burrell won that race with 3,659 votes (61.8 percent), compared to Jenkins' 2,263 (38.2 percent).[4]

In 2014, Burrell announced on KEEL radio in Shreveport that he would run for mayor of Shreveport to succeed the term-limited African-American Cedric Glover. However, Burrell soon withdrew on the grounds that a prior commitment to his friend, former Mayor Keith Hightower, made it impossible for him to run. Then Hightower, the mayor from 1998 to 2006, decided not to seek a comeback in the office.[5] Jenkins and Patrick C. Williams, one of Burrell's legislative colleagues, were among several candidates who ran unsuccessfully for mayor. Victory went instead to still another African-American candidate, the retired educator Ollie Tyler. Glover, meanwhile, returned in January 2016 to the state House in the District 4 seat which he formerly held. That position was vacated by Representative Patrick Williams.[6]

In the 2015 primary, Jenkins defeated fellow Democrat Terence Vinson for the right to succeed Representative Burrell. Jenkins polled 3,505 votes (60.6 percent) to Vinson's 2,282 (39.4 percent).[6]

Burrell himself won the District 5 seat on the Caddo Parish Commission in that same election without opposition.[7]

References

  1. "Samuel Jenkins, February 1956". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  2. "Roy Burrell". house.louisiana.gov. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  3. "Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-Current: Caddo and Bossier parishes" (PDF). house.louisiana.gov. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  4. "Election Results". October 1, 1994. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  5. Erin McCarty (August 19, 2014). "Roy Burrell Withdraws from Shreveport Mayor's Race". KEEL radio. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  7. "Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections". KEEL (AM). Retrieved September 11, 2015.
Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by
Roy A. Burrell
Louisiana State Representative for
District 2 (Caddo and Bossier parishes)

Samuel Lee "Sam" Jenkins Jr.
2016

Succeeded by
Incumbent
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