Newt V. Mills

Who was Newt V. Mills?

Newt Virgus Mills was a U.S. Representative in the first half of the 20th century from Louisiana's 5th congressional district, based in Monroe, Louisiana.

Born in Calhoun in western Ouachita Parish, Mills attended public schools and then enrolled at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Northwestern State University, then Louisiana Normal College, in Natchitoches, and Spencer Business College in New Orleans. He also studied law. From 1921 to 1932, Mills taught school in Mer Rouge in Morehouse Parish. He was the Louisiana supervisor of public accounts from 1933 to 1936. He was also engaged in agricultural pursuits, cattle raising, real estate, and oil. In 1936, he served as colonel on the staff of the governor.

Mills was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifty, Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-seventh Congresses. He unseated Representative Riley J. Wilson of Catahoula Parish in the 1936 Democratic primary. In 1942, however, he was himself defeated for renomination by Charles E. McKenzie, a native of DeSoto Parish who had relocated to Monroe. In 1950, Mills waged an unsuccessful intraparty challenge to U.S. Senator Russell B. Long, son of the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.