Ford E. Stinson

Who is Ford E. Stinson?

Ford Edwards Stinson, Sr., was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1940–1944 and again from 1952-1972. In his last legislative term from 1968–1972, he served in a two-member district covering Bossier Parish with fellow Democrat Walter O. Bigby. Prior to 1968, he had been the only Bossier Parish representative in the Louisiana House. Stinson, a resident of the parish seat of Benton, did not run again in 1972 and was succeeded by fellow Benton Democrat Jesse C. Deen.

Stinson first served during the administration of Governor Sam Houston Jones. He left the house in 1944, and fellow Democrat Jimmy Boyd succeeded him for eight years. Boyd won his first term in a close vote over the future State Senator Herman "Wimpy" Jones of Bossier and Webster parishes.

In 1948, Stinson lost a race for district attorney of Bossier and Webster parishes to James E. Bolin, Stinson's former legislative colleague and fellow Democrat. Bolin prevailed, 4,474 votes to Stinson's 2,561. Future State Representative R. Harmon Drew, Sr., of Minden would have been the assistant DA, based in Webster Parish, had Stinson won the election.

Stinson returned to the House in 1952 under the administration of Governor Robert F. Kennon. He served through the subsequent administrations of Earl Kemp Long, Jimmie Davis, and John J. McKeithen.