[1] He was elected to the State Central Committee of the Louisiana Republican Party in November 1992 and was shortly thereafter made its finance chairman.
[3] From 1995 onward, he grew involved in a leadership dispute between the party's Christian conservative wing—which he led—and the moderate wing led by Louisiana Governor Mike Foster.
Iowa Republicans suspected that the change was designed to improve the prospects of Phil Gramm, Francis' preferred candidate.
Fearful that the new seats would be filled by moderates and thus undo the majority the Christian conservatives had on the committee, Francis called on Republican State Senate leader John J. Hainkel Jr. to resign and sued the governor to have the bill reversed.
[11] Governor Foster asked the central committee to reconsider its caucuses scheduling and return to the use of a primary election, but Francis refused, saying "Our honor is at stake.
[16] He campaigned on "smaller government" and lowering taxes, placing second in the first election to State Representative Gerald Theunissen, a Democrat.
[19][1] In the November 2016 elections, Francis won a seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission for the 4th district, garnering 175,074 votes (54 percent) and defeating two other candidates.