Kenneth Osterberger

Kenneth Eli Osterberger, Sr.
Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 16th district
In office 1972–1992
Preceded by	Three-member delegation: J. D. DeBlieux William F. "Bill" Bernhard Lewis W. Eaton
Succeeded by	Jay Dardenne
Baton Rouge President Pro Tempore
In office 1969–1972
Preceded by	John Alphin, Jr.
Succeeded by	William Day, Jr.
Personal details
Born	April 3, 1930
Political party	Democrat-turned-Republican
Spouse(s)	Harriet Klung Osterberger
Children	Kenneth Osterberger, Jr. Donald Ross Klung, Michael Scott Klung, Melissa Ann Gingras
Residence	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Kenneth Eli Osterberger, Sr. (born April 3, 1930),^[1] is a former member of the Louisiana State Senate from East Baton Rouge Parish. He served first as a Democrat in the elections of 1972, 1975, 1979, and 1983 and then as a Republican in the contest held in 1987. His tenure ended in 1992, and he was succeeded by the Republican Jay Dardenne, the current Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. His legislative service corresponded with the first three administrations of Governor Edwin Edwards and the intervening years of Governors David C. Treen and Buddy Roemer.^[2]

Prior to his Senate service, Osterberger was from 1969 to 1972 the President Pro Tempore of the Baton Rouge Metro government.^[3]

In 1975, in his first reelection to the state Senate, Osterberger polled nearly two-thirds of the votes cast in the first ever nonpartisan blanket primary held in Louisiana, when he was challenged by the then Democrat, later Republican convert, David Duke, a former official with the Ku Klux Klan who then resided in Baton Rouge.

In 1983, Osterberger in his last race as a Democrat defeated the Republican "Rocky" Powell, 29,816 (73.8 percent) to 10,607 (26.2 percent).^[4]In Osterberger's last election to the Senate, as a Republican in 1987, he polled 37,172 votes (80.8 percent) to 8,845 (19.2 percent) for A. T. "Apple" Sanders, Jr., a Democrat who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1956 to 1964.^[5]

References

1. sos.la.gov/home.aspx?galogin=voter "Kenneth Osterberger, April 1930" Check |url= value (help). Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
2. "Membership of the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-Present" (PDF). senate.la.gov. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
3. "List of Baton Rouge City-Parish Government Presidents Pro Tem" (PDF). brgov.com. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
4. "Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 1983". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
5. "Primary election returns, October 24, 1987". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 30, 2014.