In 1964, Willis defeated Republican Robert Angers (1919–1988), a newspaperman who published the award-winning "Franklin Banner-Tribune" of St. Mary Parish and in 1968 established "Acadiana Profile" magazine. A former Democrat, Angers switched parties in 1960 and supported the gubernatorial and presidential candidacies of Charlton Lyons and Barry Goldwater in 1964 election. Willis easily gained another term with 52,532 votes (62.3 percent) to Angers's 31,806 ballots (37.7 percent). Though he carried no parishes in his campaign, Angers nearly won in the largest parish in the district—Lafayette—where he procured 49.6 percent of the vote and outpolled Goldwater by 3.5 percentage points.