St. Martin politicos have it in the blood

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By Jim Bradshaw
jhbradshaw@bellsouth.net

If you know anything about St. Martin Parish politics, you know that it is usually helpful to have the surname Martin or Angelle if you want to get elected to anything.

The Angelles have been politically connected at least since the days of Drauzin Angelle who became a political power primarily through his job as chief deputy sheriff from 1924 until his death in 1958.

He was elected constable of the Fifth Ward, in 1914 and held that job until 1924, but never ran for office again. Instead, he quietly made himself indispensable to politically powerful sheriffs and that way built his own influence.
He was appointed chief deputy under Sheriff Wade O. Martin Sr., an ally of Huey Long who was elected in 1912 at the age of 27. In the days when everybody was a Democrat, the two real political parties in Louisiana were the factions that eventually devolved into the Longs and the anti-Longs, and the fates of local politicos often were determined by which faction was in favor.

Martin was sheriff from 1912 to 1920 and again from 1924 to 1932, when he was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission where he served for the next 24 years.

Drauzin held his job under every succeeding sheriff for the next quarter of a century. Then as now, the sheriff was one of the most powerful politicians in the parish, but as everyone knew, he had to stand for election every four years.

After holding on to his job for a dozen or so years, Drauzin became so powerful that nobody dared to turn him out of his job as chief deputy. Everybody knew that the sheriff was powerful, but that you also had to deal with Drauzin.

Drauzin’s son Bob Angelle became equally influential, but chose the more traditional route of standing for office. He was mayor of Breaux Bridge before his election to the Louisiana House of Representatives where he served for 30 years, including a term as Speaker of the House during Earl Long’s last term of office. He may be best remembered locally for sponsoring the legislation to name Breaux Bridge the Crawfish Capital of the World. UL’s Angelle Hall is named for him.

Drauzin was tied to the Long faction, as was Sheriff Martin, and for many years, the sheriff’s son, Wade O. Martin Jr., who had been an assistant attorney general from 1935 to 1940 and who was elected Secretary of State under five governors from 1944 to 1976. But in the late 1950s Martin Jr. got into a feud with Earl Long who was able to pass legislation to strip him of much of his power.

Martin’s duties also included oversight of the insurance industry in Louisiana, but Long had the legislature create a separate Commissioner of Insurance, and also created the job of Custodian of Voting Machines, stripping another role from the Secretary of State.

Wade O. Martin Jr. had considered running for the governor’s office as early as 1948 but waited too long to do it. He ran in 1975 at the age of 66, finishing a weak third behind second-place Bob Jones, son of former Gov. Sam Jones, and Edwin Edwards, who was then at the height of his popularity and running for a second term.

(The Secretary of State’s office nonetheless remained in St. Martin Parish hands for the next term, as Cecilia High graduate and state Sen. Paul Hardy upset state Rep. P.J. Mills of
Shreveport to replace Martin in that job.)

After that, Martin, who had always been considered a conservative by nature and in politics, became a Republican and supported Dave Treen for governor and Ronald Reagan for president.

That probably caused some dirt kicking if not outright rolling over in the graves of both Drauzin Angelle and Wade Martin Sr.

You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jhbradshaw@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.