Ronnie Broughton

Ronnie Lavelle Broughton
Webster Parish School Board District 8 member
Incumbent
Assumed office 2003
Preceded by	Sue Beck
Personal details
Born	September 23, 1941 Magnolia, Columbia County Arkansas, USA Reared in Homer Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Political party	Republican-turned-Constitution Party
Spouse(s)	Glenda Sherrill Broughton (married 1970)
Children	Jennifer Aleece Broughton Sones Jason Karlisle Broughton
Parents	Elmon Ernest and Edna Arena Kirkpatrick Broughton
Residence	Minden, Webster Parish
Alma mater	Homer (Louisiana) High School Louisiana Tech University
Occupation	Businessman: Independent agent at Realty Marketplace
Religion	Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army Louisiana National Guard

Ronnie Lavelle Broughton (born September 23, 1941) ^[1][2] is a businessman and politician from Minden, Louisiana, who is the state chairman of the Constitution Party. A former Republican, he is a four-term member of the Webster Parish School Board.^[3][4]

Background

Broughton is the third of five children of the former Edna Arena Kirkpatrick (1915-2001)^[5] and Elmon Ernest Broughton (1914-2009), a native of rural Hico in Lincoln Parish and son of James Claude Broughton (1880-1931) and the former Nola Womack.^[6] Elmon Broughton was a driller in the oilfields and raised hay. Broughton was primarily reared in Homer, the seat of government of Claiborne Parish, where for two decades Elmon and Edna Broughton operated the former The Purple Cow restaurant, a popular community gathering place.^[6]

Broughton and his two older siblings, Ernest Broughton (born 1934) of Bremen, Georgia, and Lawana June Weaver (born 1938) of Minden, were born in Magnolia in Columbia County in southern Arkansas.^[2] His two younger brothers were born in Homer. Barry Lynn Broughton (1951-1980), served in the United States Air Force in the Vietnam War. John Randall Broughton (born November 1953), still resides in Homer. Elmon, Edna, and Barry Broughton are interred at Arlington Cemetery in Homer, the resting place of many notable individuals of Claiborne Parish.^[6] Broughton graduated in 1959 from Homer High School^[7] and attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, studies and dates of attendance not specified.^[8]

Broughton has also lived in Metairie in suburban Jefferson Parish outside New Orleans, dates not specified.^[9] He served in the United States Army and the Louisiana National Guard. After military service, he worked for an electric product manufacturer who serviced major industries across the state.^[10]

A long-term Minden resident, Broughton over the years has been affiliated with Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Boy Scouts of America, Lions International, the United Way of America, and the Webster Parish Fair Committee.^[11] An independent agent at Realty Marketplace,^[12] Broughton is married to the former Glenda Sherrill (born September 1945),^[13] daughter of Glenn Sherrill (1910-1993) and Lola M. Sherrill (1911-1981), who are interred at Old Athens Cemetery in Athens in Claiborne Parish.^[14] The Broughtons have two children, Jennifer Aleece Broughton Sones (born March 1971) and Jason Karlisle Broughton (born August 1976).^[9]

Broughton is an elder of the Minden Presbyterian Church.^[15]

Political life

Broughton is a former president and the current District 8 member of the 12-person elected Webster Parish School Board.^[16] Unopposed for his fourth term on the board in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 4, 2014,^[4] he is one of two members of the Constitution Party to hold office in Louisiana; the other is Police Chief Randy Fontenot of Eunice in St. Landry Parish.^[17] Broughton said the school board under his presidency had worked "on the path to improving our education system, classroom by classroom, and closing the chapter on federal intervention in our classrooms."^[18]

Broughton is a former elected member of the 144-member Louisiana Republican State Central Committee for House District 10. In 2000 and 2004, he was the chairman in Webster Parish for the successful presidential campaigns of George W. Bush.^[11]

In 2007, Broughton as a conservative Republican unsuccessfully challenged then State Representative Jean Doerge, a Democrat, for reelection to the District 10 seat in the state House which she had held since the death in 1998 of her husband, Everett Doerge. Broughton polled 35.2 percent of the ballots cast in a three-candidate field.^[19] When Doerge was term-limited, Broughton ran again for representative as a Republican in 2011 in a four-candidate field and finished last with 12.6 percent of the vote. Victory went to Doerge's endorsed candidate, Democrat Gene Reynolds of Dubberly in Webster Parish.^[20]

Broughton listed his 2011 legislative campaign priorities as:

Individual enterprise and small businesses [as] the core engine of our economic recovery and growth. We can strengthen our economy by fighting for sensible taxes on wages and business earnings, rewarding businesses that create private-sector jobs, and eliminating regulations that hamper growth and impose unnecessary cost.

It is not enough to grow the economy today. We must provide a high-quality education for all Louisianans in order to succeed in the future. ... Louisiana's students of today are its businessmen and women, its leaders and its families of tomorrow.

[We need] better opportunities for the citizens of our district, our state and our country. We deserve better. Smaller government is better—Local control is better—Parental choice for schools is better—Safer drug-free communities are better—Growing job opportunities are better ...^[16]

In 2013, Broughton was president of the Webster Parish Tea Party Patriots. He joined Brent Bozell, III, of the Media Research Center and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in demanding that the national media cover the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of the income tax returns of conservative activists. It was noted that the media had spent far more time on the birth of the royal baby than the IRS scandal.^[10][21]

On July 25, 2015, Broughton hosted a Constitution Party forum at Southern Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville, in which a retired Baptist minister, Scott Copeland, a Mississippi native from Weatherford, west of Fort Worth, Texas, was the speaker. Copeland is an announced candidate for the 2016 Constitution Party presidential nomination. At the gathering, Broughton said that he had seen many failures in his former Republican Party: "We [Constiution Party] like to say we don’t have a platform. We have the Constitution. ... let's get back to the Constitution."^[3] Broughton added. "The Constitution Party found me. It’s exactly what I think we should be doing as a country."^[3]

References

1. "Ronnie Broughton, September 1941". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
2. "James Claude Broughton: Elmon Ernest Broughton". oocities.org. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
3. "Constitution Party meets possible presidential nominee". The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
4. "Shake up for district 4, 5, 6 school board seats". Minden Press-Herald. November 5, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
5. "Edna A. Kirkpatrick Broughton". findagrave.com. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
6. "Elmon Ernest Broughton". The Shreveport Times on findagrave. September 29, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
7. "Ronnie Broughton (Class of 1959)". classmates.com. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
8. "Ronnie Broughton". Facebook. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
9. "Ronnie L. Broughton". inteliius.com. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
10. "Mr. Ronnie L. Broughton, President Webster Tea Party Patriots". zoominfo.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
11. "Ronnie Broughton". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
12. "Ronnie Broughton". linkedin.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
13. "Glenda Broughton, September 1945". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
14. "Glenn Sherrill". Homer Guardian-Journal on findagrave.com. April 22, 1993. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
15. "Leadership: The Session". mindenpresbyterianchurch.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
16. "Ronnie Broughton". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
17. "Election Results: Eunice Chief Of Police". Louisiana Secretary of State. December 6, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
18. Minden Press-Herald, July 8, 2011
19. "Election Results". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 20, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
20. "Election Results". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 22, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
21. "186 Conservative and Tea Party Leaders Join Bozell, Limbaugh to Demand Media Stop Censoring IRS Scandal: Royal baby gets more coverage in three days than IRS scandal in over ten weeks". Media Research Center. July 29, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2015.