Rick L. Farrar

Who is Rick L. Farrar?

Rick Lamar Farrar, known as Rick L. Farrar, is an attorney in Pineville, Louisiana, who served as the Democratic state representative from District 27 in Rapides Parish from 1992–1996 and again from 2000-2008.

In 1991, Farrar unseated long-term Democratic incumbent Carl Newton Gunter, Jr., of Deville in the eastern portion of the parish, 7,729 votes to Gunter's 5,929, exactly 1,800 votes. Gunter ran into organized opposition from feminist groups who oppose his pro-life stance. On October 21, 1995, Farrar was unseated by the Republican Randy E. Wiggins of Pineville, a State Farm Insurance agent in Alexandria. Wiggins received 6,350 votes to Farrar's 6,077. Wiggins is the first Republican ever elected to the Louisiana House from Rapides Parish since the days of Reconstruction.

In 1999, Farrar staged a comeback when Wiggins ran, not for reelection, but to the Louisiana State Senate seat vacated by B.G. Dyess, who retired after a single term. Wiggins narrowly lost to fomer Senator Joe McPherson, a businessman then from Pineville and later Woodworth. On October 23, 1999, in the nonpartisan blanket primary, often called the jungle primary, Republican school board member Randall Bryan "Randy" Tannehill, also of Pineville, led Farrar, 4,442 to, 4,088. A third candidate, Democrat Pete Ferrington of Pineville, polled a critical 2,208 votes. In the ensuing general election, Farrar topped Tannehill, the son of Fred L. Tannehill, a former member of the Louisiana State Board of Education. Farrar led 4,318 to Tannehill’s 3,595. Because of low turnout in the second round of balloting, without a gubernatorial contest, Farrar underpolled his primary totals by 124 votes; Tannehill, by 493 ballots.