Dave L. Pearce
| David L. "Dave" Pearce | |
|---|---|
| Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry | |
|
In office 1952–1956 |
|
| Preceded by | W. E. Anderson |
| Succeeded by | Sidney McCrory |
| Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry | |
|
In office 1960–1976 |
|
| Preceded by | Sidney McCrory |
| Succeeded by | Gilbert L. "Gil" Dozier |
| Louisiana State Representative from West Carroll Parish | |
|
In office 1940–1948 |
|
| Preceded by | D.F. Edwards |
| Succeeded by | Dudley Seamans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 8, 1905 Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | May 28, 1984 (aged 78) |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Oldham Pearce (died 1974) |
| Children | Two daughters |
| Occupation | Farmer, businessman, insurance agent |
David L. "Dave" Pearce (September 8, 1905 – May 28, 1984), was a Democrat who served as the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry from 1952 to 1956 and again from 1960 to 1976. Allied with anti-Long elements in the state, Pearce was unseated in the Democratic primary after a single term in 1956 by the Longite entomologist Sidney McCrory of Ascension Parish. However, Pearce unseated McCrory to regain the post in 1960 and then lost it again in Louisiana's first-ever nonpartisan blanket primary in 1975 to a fellow Democrat, Gil Dozier. He also failed in a 1979 campaign to reclaim the office.
Pearce was born in Claiborne Parish in North Louisiana to a farmer and a school teacher. Reared on a farm, young Pearce graduated from the since defunct high school in Pioneer in West Carroll Parish in the northeastern corner of the state. He studied music in Dayton, Tennessee, under A. J. Shawlater. As a young man, Pearce sold brushes and mops to the wives of farmers in West and East Carroll parishes. In 1928, he married the former Elizabeth Oldham (1907–1974) and had two daughters. He operated a livestock auction barn in 1941; otherwise, he engaged in farming and ran a mercantile business.
He represented conservative and mostly white West Carroll Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1940 to 1948. In his second legislative term, which coincided with the first Jimmie Davis gubernatorial administration, he was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. From his experience as the legislative point man on agriculture, Pearce decided thereafter to seek the agriculture commissioner's post.
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