Samuel Bernard Nunez Jr., (January 27, 1930 – January 15, 2012), was a

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 ...

politician and businessman from

Chalmette Chalmette ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in, and the parish seat of, St. Bernard Parish in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census reported that Chalmette had 16,751 people; 2011 population was listed as 17,119; however, th ...

, the seat of

St. Bernard Parish St. Bernard Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Bernard; es, Parroquia de San Bernardo) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of ...

in the

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

suburbs. From 1964 to 1969, Nunez was a 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 ...

. From 1969 to 1996, the

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Nunez was a

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

. He was the State Senate President from 1983 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1996, when his legislative tenure ended in defeat. He was the State Senate President Pro Tempore from 1980 to 1983 and 1988 to 1990. In 1973, he was a delegate to the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention, where he pushed for inclusion of the

homestead exemption The homestead exemption is a legal regime to protect the value of the homes of residents from property taxes, creditors, and circumstances that arise from the death of the homeowner's spouse. Such laws are found in the statutes or the constitution ...

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

es.

Background

Nunez graduated from Joseph Maumus High School in

Arabi Arabi may refer to: *Ibn Arabi (1165–1240), early medieval Muslim mystic and philosopher *Arabi (sheep) *Arabi, Iran (disambiguation), villages in Iran *Arabi, Ethiopia * Arabi, Georgia, United States *Ahmed ‘Urabi, a 19th-century Egyptian rebe ...

in St. Bernard Parish. From 1951 to 1955, he served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

era. Following his Air Force service, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

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 ...

. In 1983, Nunez became Senate President by acclamation when Michael H. O'Keefe of New Orleans was indicted, maintained his innocence, but was ultimately convicted of a federal crime and imprisoned.

Political career

After a month of consideration, Nunez endorsed Breaux over Moore. Nunez was one of several pro-gambling legislators who were defeated or forced to retire following the 1995 legislative session. Two of Nunez' most prominent Senate colleagues,

Armand Brinkhaus Armand refer to: People * Armand (name), list of people with this name *Armand (photographer) (1901–1963), Armenian photographer *Armand (singer) (1946–2015), Dutch protest singer *Sean Armand (born 1991), American basketball player *Armand, ...

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

St. Landry Parish St. Landry Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Landry) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 83,384. The parish seat is Opelousas. The parish was established in 1807. St. Landry Parish co ...

and

Sixty Rayburn Benjamin Burras Rayburn (August 11, 1916 – March 5, 2008) was an American politician. He served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He also served as a member for the 12nd district of the Louisiana State Senate. ...

Bogalusa Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. In th2020 censusthe city, town, place equivalent reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolit ...

in Washington Parish, lost re-election bids, while Senators Larry Bankston of Baton Rouge and Gerry Hinton of Slidell stood down. Also failing in his re-election bid was Rep.

Raymond Lalonde Raymond Lalonde (October 22, 1940 – December 30, 2022) was an American politician who was a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Carencro in Lafayette Parish. He resided in the town of Sunset in St. Landry Parish. H ...

of Sunset, the author of the 1992 bill which allowed for a land-based casino to operate in New Orleans. Senator Dean served two terms and was succeeded in 2004 by the Republican, later Democrat,

Walter Boasso Walter Joseph Boasso (born May 10, 1960) is an American businessman and Democratic former state senator from Chalmette, the seat of government of St. Bernard Parish in south Louisiana. He was defeated in a bid for governor in the October 20 ...

. As a Democrat, Boasso finished a distant second to Republican

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives a ...

in the 2007 governor's race, as Jindal easily captured the requisite majority n the primary to avoid a runoff.

Later years and legacy

Long after his legislative service, Nunez was a member of the board of commissioners of the

Port of New Orleans The Port of New Orleans is an embarkation port for cruise passengers. It is also Louisiana’s only international container port. The port generates $100 million in revenue annually through its four lines of business – cargo (46%), rail (31%) ...

. He operated an insurance agency.Death of Sammy Nunez
/ref>

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez, Samuel B. Jr. 1930 births 2012 deaths American businesspeople in insurance American people of Spanish descent Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Louisiana Deaths from pneumonia in Louisiana Louisiana Isleño people Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Louisiana State University alumni Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Politicians from New Orleans People from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana People from Chalmette, Louisiana United States Air Force airmen Businesspeople from New Orleans 20th-century American businesspeople