Benny Rayburn

Who was Benny Rayburn?

Benjamin Burras Rayburn, Jr., known as Benny Rayburn, was the Democratic sheriff of Washington Parish, the easternmost of the Florida Parishes of southeastern Louisiana, who served from 1981-1992. He was the only son of legendary Louisiana State Senator B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn, Sr..

Rayburn, who resided in Bogalusa, the largest city in Washington Parish, won a special election in 1981 to complete the term of Sheriff Robert Lyons, a former Bogalusa municipal juvenile officer, elected in December 1979.

Rayburn filled out the term of Lyons and was subsequently elected to a full term in 1983. In the 1987 contest for a second four-year term, Rayburn defeated three intraparty rivals to win the position outright with 10,366 votes. Rayburn, Sr., on the same ballot for the state Senate, polled within Washington Parish 13,003 votes, nearly 3,000 more than his son drew in the sheriff's race.

In 1991, Rayburn was forced into a second round of balloting, called the Louisiana general election even though his opponent was a fellow Democrat, Duane Blair. Rayburn led with 7,425 votes to Blair's 5,093. Republican Johnnie M.