Hazel Beard
| Hazel Beard | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana | |
|
In office December 27, 1990 – December 27, 1994 |
|
| Preceded by | John Brennan Hussey |
| Succeeded by | Robert Warren Williams |
| Shreveport City Council member | |
|
In office 1986–1990 |
|
| Succeeded by | Robert Warren Williams |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Hazel Fain September 16, 1930 |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Charles Carroll Beard |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
Hazel Beard (née Fain; born September 16, 1930) is the first woman and the first Republican to have served as mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, since the era of Reconstruction. A fiscal conservative, Beard grappled with many economic and social problems during her single term as mayor from 1990 to 1994. Prior to her mayoral service, Beard was a small business owner and a member of the Shreveport City Council from the southwest portion of the city. She was the first woman to have been chairperson of the city council.
Beard entered the mayoral race against three serious opponents, including the African-American dentist C. O. Simpkins, Sr., a Democrat civil rights activist, and two fellow council members, Republican Carolyn Calhoun Whitehurst and Democrat Bill Bush. Bush, a businessman, led in the pre-election polls. Whitehurst, a real estate broker, later Carolyn C. Huckabay (born March 1935), is descended from a prominent DeSoto Parish family: her father, Riemer Calhoun, was a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1944 to 1952. Whitehurst, who represented a southeast Shreveport council district, had the support of The Shreveport Times.
Simpkins led in the primary with 31 percent of the ballots cast, but Beard secured the second slot to proceed to the general election. However, in the second round of balloting, Beard prevailed, 38,604 votes (59 percent) to Simpkins' 26,341 (41 percent).
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