Former Louisiana Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, a Democrat who chaired the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and who fought off a surprisingly strong challenge from David Duke in 1990, died Tuesday. He was 92.
Johnston, a moderate Democrat who served from 1972 through 1997, was a strong defender of nuclear energy and a mild-mannered lawmaker prone to deal-making in a state often known for populist flamethrowers.
His election to the Senate came after he unsuccessfully ran for Louisiana governor in 1971; he lost to Edwin W. Edwards in a Democratic runoff, which nonetheless gave him the name recognition to successfully run for Senate a few months later.
