Noble Ellington

Who is Noble Ellington?

Noble Edward Ellington, II, is a wealthy cotton merchant from Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who is former member of both houses of the Louisiana Legislature. He served as a Democrat in the state Senate from District 32 from 1996 to 2008. He was a member of the state House from District 20 from 1988 to 1996 and again from 2008-2012. On December 17, 2010, near the end of his legislative career, he switched his affiliation to Republican. He had returned to the House on January 14, 2008, after an absence of a dozen years because he was term-limited from seeking a fourth consecutive Senate term.

Late in 2007, Ellington, as a returning but still freshman member, sought to chair the House Appropriations Committee, but he ran into a bloc of opposition from conservatives, including the statewide radio talk show host Moon Griffon of Monroe. The conservatives stopped Governor Bobby Jindal from recommending that Speaker Jim Tucker name Ellington as the chairman of the critical committee. They contended that Ellington is an advocate of raising taxes to fund expanded government, rather than a lawmaker committed to reducing taxes and cutting programs. Ellington had asked for the appointment on grounds that no House members from northeastern Louisiana had otherwise been named committee chairmen. Jindal had agreed to the recommendation until Tucker informed him that Ellington does not share Jindal's professed philosophy of limited government.