Bryan Wagner

James Bryan Wagner, known as Bryan Wagner (March 2, 1943 – July 29, 2018), was the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected to the New Orleans City Council. He filled a vacancy of an unexpired term in District A from May 1980 to April 1982 and a full term until 1986.^[1][2]

Background[]

Wagner was the younger of two sons of the late Wiltz W. Wagner, Sr., and Helen Bell Wagner (c. 1913–2004), who taught English at the University of New Orleans. Helen Wagner graduated from H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College and Tulane University. She represented Louisiana as the "Acadian Girl" at the Paris World Exposition of 1931. A parishioner of the Episcopalian Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans, she also served on the vestry and altar guild. Wagner's brother, Wiltz Wagner, Jr. (born July 7, 1939), of Fairhope, Alabama, is a Ph.D. professor and lung specialist at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile.^{[3] [4]}

Wagner attended Isidore Newman School, New Orleans Academy, and Tulane University.^[2] He operated an insurance agency on Carondelet Street in New Orleans.^[5]

In later years, Wagner became heavily involved in horse racing. He often spent summers in Del Mar, California, to be near the famed racetrack.^[2] Wagner won the 2009 National Handicapping Championship Tour, as it was then known, and qualified twelve times to the National Horseplayers Championship, during which he earned $101,000. He was part of the NHC since its founding in 1999. For two years, he could not qualify because his wife and the mother of their three children, the former Judy White (born June 9, 1950), sat on the board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.^[6]

Political life[]

In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on April 5, 1980 in District A, Wagner polled 5,513 votes (24.4 percent) and went into the May 17 general election against Democrat Florence W. "Flo" Schornstein (born August 1934), who polled 7,037 (31.2 percent). Five other Democratic candidates received 44.4 percent in the primary. Wagner secured considerable Democratic support and went on to defeat Mrs. Schornstein, 11,900 votes (51.2 percent) to 11,353 ballots (48.8 percent).^[7] The position opened when Frank Friedler retired after serving for six years on the council.^[5]

Since Wagner's tenure, only a handful of Republicans have been elected to the New Orleans City Council:

• , an unsuccessful candidate for state insurance commissioner in the 1991 general election, for the U.S. Senate in 1996, and for mayor of New Orleans in the 2006 nonpartisan blanket primary.^[8]
• Suzanne Haik Terrell, council member from 1994 to 2000; the last Louisiana elections commissioner from 2000 to 2004, and the failed Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002 against Mary Landrieu and for state attorney general against Charles Foti in 2003.
• Jay Batt, with service from 2002 to 2006.

Wagner's election to the city council marked a turning point for District A (Lakeview and Uptown), which did not again elect a Democrat until 2006, with the victory of Shelley Midura, who unseated the last Republican in the seat, Jay Batt. “If it hadn’t been for Bryan Wagner, I’m not sure there would be much of a Republican Party in Orleans Parish,” said Batt, the head of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee. Peggy Wilson, who succeeded Wagner in District A, credited Wagner's support for her having been chosen as his successor: "He was very nice to me the whole time that we ran, which was unusual … He sent me flowers the day after the election when I had lost to him [in 1982]. ... He understood politics better than anyone I ever met.”^[9]

The electoral success of Wilson, Terrell, and Batt benefited from the Republican leanings of District A.

Wagner served on numerous municipal boards and commissions, including the Audubon Commission and the board of the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, named for the first African-American mayor of New Orleans, Democrat Ernest Nathan Morial. He was said to have worked well with Democrats in developing policy.^[2]

In 1986, Wagner was named Republican national committeeman for Louisiana to succeed Frank Spooner of Monroe, who stepped down after nine years in the position. Wagner remained active in the state party. He headed the Louisiana delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, which nominated the McCain-Palin ticket. Spooner was also a delegate to the 2008 convention.

In 1996, in supporting Bob Dole of Kansas in the unsuccessful race against U.S. President Bill Clinton, Wagner said that the Louisiana GOP should conduct a serious outreach into the black community.^[10]

In 2008, Wagner served as manager for the successful campaign of Joseph Cao for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.^[11] Cao was subsequently unseated in 2010 by the Democrat Cedric Richmond, who still holds the seat.

Upon Wagner's death at the age of seventy-five, Republican U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy released a statement: "Bryan was a stalwart leader for our party for fifty years, long before Republicans could even dream of being elected in Orleans Parish. He will be sorely missed, and his many contributions to the cause will make a difference for years to come. Laura and I extend our heartfelt condolences to Bryan’s wife, Judy, and the rest of his family.”^[12]

Wagner's memorial service was held on August 6, 2018 at the chapel at Christ Church, 2919 St. Charles Avenue.^[2]

References[]