Kenny Ray Cox

Kenny Ray Cox (born October 2, 1957)^[1] is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel from Mansfield, Louisiana, who is a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Natchitoches, Red River, and DeSoto parishes in the northwestern portion of his state.

Background

An African-American, Cox graduated in 1975 from Red River Senior High School, then known as Coushatta High School, in Coushatta, the seat of government for Red River Parish.^[2] He received a bachelor's degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Army Comptroller School. Cox lists his church affiliation as Christian. He and his wife, Candie, have four children and reside in Mansfield in DeSoto Parish.^[1]

Political life

In the general election held on November 19, 2011, Cox unseated the one-term Republican incumbent, Rick Nowlin of Natchitoches, who subsequently was elected a year later in 2012 as the first administrative President of Natchitoches Parish. Cox polled 5,556 votes (53.4 percent) to Nowlin's 4,847 (46.6 percent). Nowlin carried Natchitoches Parish but lost decisively to Cox in DeSoto and Red River parishes.^[3]

In the October 22 primary, Nowlin had narrowly led with 5,662 votes (43.6 percent), and Cox trailed with 5,506 votes (42.4 percent). Another Democrat, Ralph Wilson, who also sought the seat in 2007, held the remaining but critical 1,805 ballots (13.9 percent).^[4] Nowlin's defeat is attributed in part to his District 23 having become a majority African- American\\]] district in the 2011 redistricting based upon the 2010 census.^[5]

In 2007, Cox ran unsuccessfully in House District 7 against the Republican Richard Burford of Stonewall in DeSoto Parish, who was subsequently re-elected in the 2011 primary and has been a colleague of Cox since 2012. Burford is a candidate in 2015 for the Louisiana State Senate seat being vacated by the term-limited Republican Sherri Smith Buffington.

Representative Cox is a member of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, the Rural Caucus, and the Democratic Caucus. He sits on these committees: (1) Commerce, (2) Health and Welfare, (3) Labor and Industrial Relations, (4) Military and Veterans Affairs.^[1]

Though Cox sports ratings under 20 percent from the conservative Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, he is ranked 100 percent by Louisiana Right to Life. In 2014, he co-sponsored the requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics. That same year, he voted to extend the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. In 2013, he voted to increase judicial pay and for lifetime concealed carry gun permits. In 2012, he voted to prohibit the use of cell phones while driving and opposed the use of state tax incentives to recruit a National Basketball Association team to Louisiana. In 2012, he opposed the requirement for drug testing of welfare recipients and supported a reduction in the number of hours that polling locations remain open.^[6]

References