Brian Moyer (1941-) was Governor of Louisiana in 1993, succeeding Sarah Nathan and preceding John Friberg. Moyer was a populist Republican who was a staunch opponent of gun control and taxation, but he was unable to stop the Democrats from pushing for universal healthcare and a state ambulance service. Opposed by Democrats for his fiscal conservatism and by the Establishment Republicans for his failure to fight the Democratic agenda, he lost for re-election later in 1993.
Biography[]
Brian Moyer was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1941 to a white middle-class family of Southern Baptists. Moyer worked as a car salesman before entering politics as a populist Republican. He was elected to the State House in 1990, representing the Scotlandville neighborhood of northern Baton Rouge and some of its more conservative suburbs. Moyer was a perennial candidate for Governor for three years, but, in 1993, he took advantage of conservative and racial backlash against Governor Sarah Nathan to win the gubernatorial election with 39.7% of the vote, defeating Nathan's 32.1% and former Republican governor John Friberg's 28.2%.
Under Moyer, the State House voted 30-3 against gun control, 16-13 in favor of universal healthcare, and 26-3 in favor of a state ambulance service. In the early 1993 elections, the Democrats won 38.92% of the vote and 14 seats, while the populist Republicans fell to 31.76% and 11 seats and the Establishment Republicans rose to 29.31% and 11 seats. The ensuing gubernatorial election saw former governor John Friberg return to office with 38.1% of the vote, defeating Moyer's 29.8% and Nathan's 32.1%.