Hyram Copeland
| Hyram Barney Copeland, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Vidalia, Louisiana | |
|
In office 1992–2016 |
|
| Preceded by | Sam Randazzo |
| Succeeded by | "Buz" Craft |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 30, 1940 Ferriday, Concordia Parish Louisiana, USA |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Sandra E. Copeland (born 1944) |
| Children | Stacey Denee' Copeland(born 1966) |
| Alma mater | University of Louisiana at Monroe |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Religion | American Baptist Association |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army Reserve |
Hyram Barney Copeland, Jr. (born December 30, 1940), is the departing mayor of Vidalia, the seat of government of Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana, opposite the Mississippi River from Natchez, Mississippi. First elected in 1992, Copeland was unseated in the primary election held on March 5, 2016, by his fellow Democrat, businessman Edwy Gene "Buz" Craft (born November 1959), 1,025 votes (53.7 percent) to 885 (46.3 percent).
Copeland was born in Ferriday in Concordia Parish and graduated from Ferriday High School. He attended the Southern Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana State College. From 1965 to 1971, he was a member of the United States Army Reserve. For more than twenty years, he worked for Sears as a department manager in Vidalia. He was self-employed from 1977 to 2000, while he also served part of that time as mayor.
A Democrat, Copeland served on the Vidalia City Council from 1976 until his election as mayor. On March 10, 1992, he unseated the incumbent Mayor Sam Randazzo (1925 – deceased), also a Democrat, 1,156 (52.9 percent) to 1,030 (47.1 percent). Four years earlier, on March 8, 1988, Randazzo had defeated two other Democrats with nearly two thirds of the vote to win his own second term as mayor. In 2008, Copeland won his fifth term as mayor over another Democrat, William "Bill" Murray, 1,088 (61.6 percent) to 678 (38.4 percent). Copeland was unopposed for his current sixth term in 2012.
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