Rodnette Bethley Edwards, known as Ronnie Edwards (July 20, 1952 – February 24, 2016), was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Democratic member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

for District 29 in

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

and

East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. She served for 44 days but did not actually assume the duties of her office because she was in the final stages of a two-year struggle with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

Background

Edwards was born to the late James Bethley and Gladys D. Hammond, her surviving mother, in Woodville in Wilkinson County in southwestern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Her House predecessor,

Regina Barrow Regina Ashford Barrow is an American politician serving as a member of the Louisiana State Senate from the 15th district. Elected in November 2015, she assumed office on January 11, 2016. Barrow previously represented the 29th district in the Lo ...

, is also a native of Wilkinson County. Edwards and her husband, Oliver Gene Edwards, Sr. (born July 1950), have two surviving children, Chanel Gene Edwards Ward and husband, Ronald, of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and Cody Jerome Edwards and wife, Nicole, of Baton Rouge, and two step-children from her husband's prior marriage, Oliver Edwards, Jr., and wife, Priscilla, and Cody Jerome Edwards and wife, Nicole, all of Baton Rouge.

Political life

Edwards won a runoff election on November 21, 2015 over her fellow Democrat,

Edmond Jordan Edmond Dwayne Jordan (born June 1971) is an American attorney and politician. He is a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 29. On May 14, 2016, he won a special election runoff to succeed fellow Democrat Ronn ...

(born June 1971), also of

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

, 6,887 (59.1 percent) to 4,768 (40.9 percent). She was elected to succeed Representative Regina Barrow, who in turn followed

Sharon Weston Broome Sharon Weston Broome (born October 1, 1956) is the mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She served in the Louisiana State Senate representing the 15th district from 2005 to 2016. She was elected mayor-president in a runoff election held o ...

in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

. Both Barrow and Broome are also African-American Democrats. Edwards like Barrow formerly worked for Broome. Gary Chambers of ''The Rouge Collection'' wrote that voters should know the candidates' "plan for the future in specifics, Edwards didn't answer any of urquestions. Her opponent ordan however, showed up and answered questions. Honestly, in the white community, this would never have happened. We as blacks blindly vote for people, based on name recognition, and we must change this pattern." In 2016, Broome was elected as the Baton Rouge Mayor-President. Edwards qualified for state representative by proxy in 2015 while she was confined to Baton Rouge General Hospital undergoing treatment. She had earlier undergone treatment from

Cancer Treatment Centers of America Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, is a national, for-profit network of five comprehensive cancer care and research centers and three out patient care centers that serves cancer patients throughout ...

at the facility in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Edwards ran for the House hoping that she would survive the cancer and could work to improve health care for the disadvantaged. Freshman State Representative C. Denise Marcelle called Edwards "a fighter". Edwards and Marcelle were colleagues on the Baton Rouge Metro Council; Edwards served on the council for six years. Both women were elected to the state House from districts in predominantly black North Baton Rouge.

Kip Holden Melvin Lee "Kip" Holden (born August 12, 1952), is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2016 as the Democratic Mayor-President of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The parish includes the state capital of Baton Rouge a ...

, Broome's predecessor as Baton Rouge Mayor-President, said that Edwards "had a key concern for her constituents. She would listen to them and work to improve their quality of life." Edwards is interred at Heavenly Gates Mausoleum in Baton Rouge. She was succeeded in the House by her former intra-party opponent, Edmond Jordan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ronnie 1952 births 2016 deaths People from Woodville, Mississippi African-American state legislators in Louisiana Activists for African-American civil rights Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Women state legislators in Louisiana Louisiana city council members Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives African-American Christians Deaths from cancer in Louisiana Deaths from pancreatic cancer Women city councillors in Louisiana African-American city council members in Louisiana 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women