Editing Edwin Edwards (section)

==Fourth term as governor, 1992–1996==
In his last term, Edwards asked his boyhood friend, [[Raymond Laborde]], to leave the state House after twenty years to serve as commissioner of administration. Laborde, who had once defeated Edwards for class president at [[Marksville High School]] and had earlier been his legislative floor leader, agreed to join the administration.<ref>{{cite web |first=Timothy |last=Philip |url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070318/COMMUNITIES/703160358 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209123227/http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070318/COMMUNITIES/703160358 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 9, 2012 |title=Ex-governor tops list of colorful parish politicians |work=[[The Town Talk (Alexandria)|The Town Talk]], March 18, 2007 |access-date=December 19, 2009 }}</ref> He invited former state Representative [[Kevin Reilly (Louisiana politician)|Kevin P. Reilly Sr.]], of Baton Rouge, former CEO of [[Lamar Advertising Company]] to serve as secretary of economic development. Reilly had been removed in 1986 as chairman of the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee after having criticized Edwards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lsu.com/UNV002.NSF/%28NoteID%29/0EB8760B2EBFB14986256BC3005ADE30?OpenDocument |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714000652/http://www.lsu.com/UNV002.NSF/%28NoteID%29/0EB8760B2EBFB14986256BC3005ADE30?OpenDocument |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |title=Kevin and Dee Dee Reilly receive honorary degrees from LSU |publisher=lsu.com |access-date=March 13, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In 1992, Edwards appointed the professional [[penology|penologist]], [[Richard Stalder]], as secretary of the [[Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections]], a position that used to be given to political supporters.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oYGF3ZDsmEYC&q=Richard+Stalder&pg=PA44|title=Dennis Shere, Cain's Redemption: A Story of Hope and Transformation in America's Bloodiest Prison |pages= 44–45|publisher=[[Moody Publishers|Northfield Publishing Company]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-881273-24-0|access-date=December 16, 2013}}</ref> Stalder remained secretary until 2008, serving during three subsequent gubernatorial terms in the position.

During his previous term as governor, Edwards promoted casino gambling in Louisiana, which had been a major part of his platform in the 1991 campaign. In June 1992, his heavy lobbying led the state legislature to pass a bill calling for a single large land-based casino in New Orleans. He also appointed a board that, at his private direction, awarded 15 floating riverboat casinos that had been authorized by the Legislature and the Roemer administration. He appointed a political ally, Paul Fontenot, to head the State Police; he would oversee the licensing and investigation of casino operators. On another front he again demonstrated his broad commitment to civil rights by becoming the first Southern governor to issue an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons from discrimination in state governmental services, employment, and contracts.<ref>La. Executive Order EWE 92-7</ref>

Despite the discovery that some licensees had links to organized crime or other unsavory ties, Edwards blocked the revocation of their licenses. But a political backlash against gambling-related corruption began. Though he had originally planned to run for re-election in 1995, he announced in June 1994, shortly after marrying his second wife Candy Picou, that he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?57742-1/governor-retirement-address |title=Governor Retirement Address |publisher=C-SPAN |date=June 6, 1994 |access-date=November 9, 2014}}</ref> Edwards was succeeded as governor by State Senator [[Murphy J. Foster Jr.]], who ran as an opponent of gambling interests. Edwards retired to a newly purchased home in [[Baton Rouge]], intent on returning to a private law practice and living out his remaining days in contentment with his young wife, Candy, who was Edwards' junior by 37 years.