Henry "Tank" Powell

Henry Watson "Tank" Powell
Louisiana House of Representatives from District 73 (Tangipahoa Parish)
In office 1996–2008
Preceded by	Dennis Paul Hebert
Succeeded by	Steve Pugh
Personal details
Born	(1945-07-18) July 18, 1945 Bogalusa Washington Parish, Louisiana, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kathy N. Powell
Residence	Ponchatoula Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Alma mater	Bogalusa High School Southeastern Louisiana University
Occupation	Insurance agent
Religion	Baptist

Henry Watson Powell, known as Henry "Tank" Powell (born July 18, 1945), is an insurance agent in Ponchatoula in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 73 from 1996 until term-limited in 2008. He and Leonard R. "Pop" Hataway, former sheriff of Grant Parish, were subsequently appointed in 2008 by Governor Bobby Jindal to the five-member Louisiana Board of Pardons. In 2012, Powell and Hataway were reappointed to the pardon board, a part-time position that pays $36,000 annually.

Biography

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.

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). 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.

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 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). In the ensuing general election Powell narrowly topped Hebert, 7,803 (50.8 percent) to 7,563 (49.2 percent).

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). In the 2003 primary, Powell handily dispatched fellow Republican Charles J. "Chuck" Fulda, IV, 9,769 votes (75 percent) to 3,256 (25 percent). 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.

References

Preceded by Dennis Paul Hebert

Louisiana State Representative for District 73 (Tangipahoa Parish) Henry Watson "Tank" Powell 1996–2008

Succeeded by Steve Pugh