In 1932, Overton unseated the two-term US Senator Edwin S. Broussard, of New Iberia, for the Democratic nomination, then equivalent to election in Louisiana. Overton was warmly endorsed by Long, who then became his Senate colleague. Six years earlier, Long had helped Broussard turn back a challenge from a conservative former governor, Jared Y. Sanders Sr., but the two had long since parted political alliances. In his autobiography, "Every Man a King", Long notes that Overton won all sixty-four parishes against Broussard, including the incumbent's on Iberia Parish. Long said that Overton had "always been very kind to me. let me speak in his meetings every time he ran for the Senate."