Henry "Tank" Powell

A native of Bogalusa in Washington Parish, Powell graduated in 1963 from Bogalusa High School, where he excelled as an All-American football player, and presumably acquired his unusual nickname. Powell graduated in 1968 from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, also in Tangipahoa Parish. In 1982, he was named to the board of directors of First Savings and Loan Association of Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond.[5]

Powell has long been affiliated with Prudential Insurance, having been "Agent of the Year" and also "Man of the Year" designation from Tangipahoa Life Underwriters. Powell is a member of both the Hammond and Ponchatoula chambers of commerce as well as the Economic Development Foundation of Tangipahoa Parish. He is a member of the SLU Alumni Association. His wife is Kathy N. Powell (born ca. 1944).[6] Powell is a former member of the Southwood Academy School Board in Hammond. He is also active in the Masonic lodge in Ponchatoula. He is a Baptist deacon.[5]

Powell initially ran for the state House in the nonpartisan blanket primary in 1995, when he faced two Democrats, incumbent Dennis Paul Hebert of Ponchatoula[7] and W.E. Blackwell. Powell nearly won the position outright, having polled 6,605 (49.27 percent) to Hebert’s 5,814 (43.37 percent), and Blackwell’s remaining 988 votes (7.37 percent).[8] In the ensuing general election Powell narrowly topped Hebert, 7,803 (50.8 percent) to 7,563 (49.2 percent). [9]

In 1999, Hebert's son, Dennis "Bubba" Hebert, Jr., challenged Powell in the primary but lost, 4,258 votes (32 percent) to 9,037 (68 percent).[10] In the 2003 primary, Powell handily dispatched fellow Republican Charles J. "Chuck" Fulda, IV, 9,769 votes (75 percent) to 3,256 (25 percent).[11] In the 2007 primary, Powell, who was term-limited, was succeeded by fellow Republican Steve Pugh, who lost a bid for the seat in 1991 to Dennis Hebert. By 2007, the district had become so Republican that a lone Democratic House candidate received less than 12 percent of the vote.[12]