Murphy J. Foster, Jr.

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{{Infobox_Governor |name= Murphy J. Foster, Jr. |image= foster.jpg |caption= |order=54^th |office= Governor of Louisiana |term_start= 1996 |term_end= 2004 |lieutenant= |predecessor= Edwin Edwards |successor= Kathleen Babineaux Blanco |birth_date= July 11, 1930 |birth_place= |death_date= |death_place= |spouse= |profession= |party= Republican |footnotes= }}

Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr., (born 11 July, 1930 in Shreveport, Louisiana), is a Louisiana politician. A Republican, he was elected governor of Louisiana in 1995 and 1999, serving from January 1996 to January 2004. His grandfather, Murphy J. Foster, was governor of the state in the late 19th century. Foster is an Eagle Scout.

Foster defeated black Democratic candidates in both of his campaigns for governor, State Senator Cleo Fields in 1995 and Congressman William Jefferson in 1999. In the former race, future U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu ran third, just missing the general election berth. Foster entered the 1995 campaign as a Democrat but switched parties just prior to the filing period. His embrace of the "R" label undercut former Democrat-turned-Republican Governor Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer, III, who was seeking a gubernatorial comeback. Roemer ran fourth in the 1995 jungle primary.

In his 1995 campaign for governor, Foster paid more than $150,000 for former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke's mailing list of supporters. After failing to report the purchase as a campaign expenditure, Foster became the first Louisiana governor to admit and pay a fine for a violation of the state's ethics code. Foster insists he did not need to report the expenditure, since he paid with his personal funds and never actually used the list in the campaign. (La. Campaign Finance Opinion No. 99-630)

Foster initially seemed to favor Duke's run for the Senate seat being vacated in 1996 by J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., but under pressure from the Republican Party, he did not officially endorse Duke. The Senate seat was won in the general election by Johnston's choice, Mary Landrieu. Foster also endorsed Patrick J. Buchanan for the 1996 Republican nomination, the only governor to support Buchanan. However, he refused to vote in the Louisiana presidential primary held on March 12, 1996. Thereafter, he switched his support to Robert J. Dole.

Foster, an avid motorcycling enthusiast, introduced an initiative while governor to remove a legal mandate that required motorcyclists to wear helmets while on the road. This initiative was later overturned by Foster's successor, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco.

Foster was the Louisiana campaign chairman for George W. Bush in 2000. Prior to leaving office, Foster quarred with fellow Republican Rep. David Vitter over expanded gambling on Indian reservations. The dispute did not prevent Vitter from winning the other U.S. Senate seat vacated by Democrat John Breaux in 2005.

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