SORRENTO — Former Public Service Commissioner Chairman Louis Lambert Jr., who came within 9,492 votes of being elected Louisiana governor after Edwin Edwards' first two terms in office, has died. He was 84.

Lambert developed a sense of politics early, working as a page at the Louisiana Legislature and later in Washington. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science at LSU and a law degree from Loyola in New Orleans. According to his obituary, while in law school he drove a school bus in the morning, taught school later in the day and attended classes at night.

He married Mary Gayle Smith in 1966, after meeting her while working as a lifeguard at the Gonzales swimming pool. They adopted three children through Catholic social services.

Lambert opened a law practice in 1968, won a s

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