Edwards Barham

Erle Edwards Barham (July 10, 1937 – October 17, 2014) was an American farmer and conservationist. He was the first Republican elected—by a 29-vote margin—to the Louisiana State Senate since the era of Reconstruction.
Barham represented the agricultural District 33 from 1976 to 1980. He was narrowly unseated in the 1979 nonpartisan blanket primary by the Democrat David "Bo" Ginn of Bastrop, who held the seat until 1988.
Barham died in a plane crash on October 17, 2014. He was attempting to take off at Rayville Municipal Airport when his Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft struck a perimeter fence.