Gerry Earl Hinton

Education

He graduated from Slidell High School and served in the United States Army in the Korean War.

Career

Hinton was a native of Columbia in Marion County in southwestern Mississippi. He received his bachelor"s degree from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish. He received his chiropractor credentials from Texas Chiropractic College in Pasadena near Houston, Texas.

Prior to his state Senate service, Hinton served for sixteen years on the Slidell City Council.

Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler also began his political career on the city council. So did current District 90 State Representative Greg Cromer of Slidell.

Hinton was elected to the Senate in 1983 as a Democrat, having defeated Roy K. Burns, also a Democrat, 15,161 (534 percent) to 13,224 (466 percent). The District 11 seat had previously been held by Democrat West. East. "Bill" Dykes of Saint Helena Parish, who did not seek reelection after he was moved into the neighboring District 12 held by veteran Senate powerhouse Sixty Rayburn of Bogalusa.

He did not seek a fourth term in the Senate in the 1995 primary and was succeeded by Tom Schedler.

Prior to his Senate tenure, Hinton had worked for passage of the state"s chiropractic licensing acting Louisiana was the last of the states to pass a chiropractic licensing acting Hinton was at the ceremony in 1974, when then Governor Edwin Washington Edwards signed the legislation.

As the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, he worked to include chiropractic services in the Medicaid program and in health maintenance organizations.

On October 24, 1987, in his first election as a Republican, Senator Hinton polled 26,178 votes (619 percent). Three opponents, another Republican, a Democrat, and a "Number Party" candidate, shared the remaining 38.1 percent of the ballots.

In the primary held on October 19, 1991, Hinton defeated two Democratic challengers, having received 19,938 votes (558 percent). Hinton continued his medical practice until he was sidelined by lung cancer.

He died at his home in Slidell two days after his seventieth birthday.

Interment was at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Slidell. At the time of Doctor Hinton"s death, flags were flown at half-staff in Slidell. Then Slidell Mayor Sam Caruso said that Hinton "did more for this city and area than most people know.

As a senator, he was responsible for millions in state dollars spent on Slidell projects."

In 2008, A. G. Crowe, who holds Hinton"s former Senate seat, praised both Hinton and the late State Representative Edward C. Scogin, also of Slidell, for their "foresight" in making sure that the infrastructure in Saint Tammany Parish kept up with the population, which could reach nearly 300,000 in the 2010 census.

Crowe noted in a statement at dedication ceremonies that he considers both Hinton and Scogin as the prime sponsors of the Fremeaux interchange on Interstate 10.

Achievements

• Hinton subsequently switched parties and won as a Republican in the nonpartisan blanket primaries of 1987 and 1991.

Politics

Republican Party, Democratic Party.

Membership

Long involved in community affairs, Hinton was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the American Legion, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks lodge. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Slidell. Hinton served for nine years as a member of the Louisiana Board of Chiropractic Examiners and in 1984, the year his Senate tenure began, was designated "Chiropractor of the Year" by his peers.

Senator Hinton was a member of the Labor/Industrial Relations Committee.