Louis Lambert, who had a long and productive career in the state Senate and on the Public Service Commission during the heyday of populist Democrats in Louisiana but who fell achingly short in the 1979 governor’s race, losing by only a handful of votes, died Saturday, according to Rev. Rodney Wood, a family friend.

Lambert died in Sorrento of liver cancer at age 84 after surviving three previous bouts of cancer.

“I’m a fighter,” he said weeks earlier. “I’m a strong Roman Catholic. I put my faith in Christ.”

From 1972 until 2004, except for two years, Lambert served in either the Senate or on the PSC, and he served as one of the delegates who in 1973 drafted the current state constitution.

Lambert became a household figure in Louisiana during the 1979 governor’s race, coming up just sho

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