Republican Party of Louisiana

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Republican Party of Louisiana
Chairperson Roger F. Villere, Jr.
Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal
President of the Senate John A. Alario, Jr.
Speaker of the House Chuck Kleckley
Headquarters 530 Lakeland Dr.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802
Student wing College Republicans
Youth wing Young Republicans Teenage Republicans
Ideology Conservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Social conservatism
Colors Red
United States Senate delegation
2 / 2
United States House of Representatives delegation
6 / 7
Executive Offices
7 / 7
Louisiana State Senate
25 / 39
Louisiana House of Representatives
58 / 105
Website
http://www.lagop.com
Politics of Louisiana
Elections
Bobby Jindal, current Governor of Louisiana.
David Vitter
Roger F. Villere, Jr.

The Republican Party of Louisiana is the U.S. state of Louisiana's organization of the national Republican Party. The state chairman is Roger F. Villere, Jr., a businessman from Metairie in Jefferson Parish. Every statewide elected official in Louisiana is a Republican.

History

The Republican Party of Louisiana was established as the "Friends of Universal Suffrage" on November 4, 1865, by a group of mixed whites, free blacks, and freedmen led by Benjamin Flanders.[1]

The party has shown in recent decades the resurgence characteristic of other southern Republican state parties. From the Reconstruction era to the early 1950s, no Republican won a single electoral vote in any Louisiana presidential election; however, the state went for Republican presidential candidate Dwight David Eisenhower in 1956, the first of nine Republican presidential victories in the state among the 14 presidential campaigns from 1956 to 2008 inclusive. Louisiana's U.S. House delegation has overall had a Republican tilt since the 1990s, and party membership has incrementally increased in both houses of the Louisiana legislature[2] as well as in other political offices around the state. Republicans have held the Louisiana governorship most of the time since election of David C. Treen to that office in 1979, no Republican having been elected governor prior to 1979 since William Pitt Kellogg during the Reconstruction era. Charlton Lyons had made the first serious Republican gubernatorial campaign in 1964 and drew a then record 37.5 percent of the general election vote.[3]

Another major breakthrough occurred in 2004 when David Vitter, a U.S. representative, became Louisiana's first Republican to be elected United States Senator since the Reconstruction era. As of 2010 the Republican Party holds all of the statewide elected offices which include Governor Bobby Jindal, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne, Secretary of State Tom Schedler, State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy, Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, Commissioner of Agriculture & Forestry Mike Strain, and Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon. A milestone of sorts was achieved in 2009 when election of Republican former U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway to the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates utility companies, gave that body its first-ever Republican majority. In 2010,Republicans gained majority of both houses of the Louisiama state legislature. Prior to 2010, Republicans had not controlled either Louisiana legislative house since Reconstruction.[4]

Organization

The Republican Party of Louisiana is represented by its 144-member State Central Committee, which is established in the Louisiana Election Code, essentially Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes (LRS).[5] LRS Title 18 also provides for the Parish Executive Committee within each civil parish (county). The 144 members are based on the 105 state representatives and 39 state senators. Both committees are elected by party members in public elections set by law. Although not naming the parties, the Louisiana Election Code describes them in terms of requirements to be counted among the "recognized political parties." Besides the Republican Party, the only other party which routinely meets these requirements is the Democratic Party. Within each civil parish a representative of each recognized party's Parish Executive Committee serves on the Parish Board of Election Supervisors.[6]

The State Central Committee attempts to coordinate the efforts of the parish executive committees and related organizations.

Policy positions

Family values

The state party believes that the family unit is the foundation of our nation that ties together significant aspects of society. The party believes that marriage is a union between one man and woman; same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples of children are both opposed. Abortion is opposed and adoption is seen as a viable option instead. The protection of all unborn children is supported.

Education

The state party believes in the importance of education, whether it is through the means of public, private, religious or home-schooling. The party supports the "No Child Left Behind" law. Including the Pledge of Allegiance and the showing of the American flag in school classrooms are both supported. In reference to sex education, the party believes that students should not be allowed to receive sex education without prior approval from parents. Also, the party believes students should be educated on the ideal of abstinence until marriage.

National policy

The state party supports the War on Terror and the presence of American troops overseas. The party supports spending cuts as a viable solution to maintaining the federal budget. The party supports preserving Social Security and making health care accessible to citizens by providing an array of affordable options to individuals. Public assistance is supported, as so long as it is earned by members of society through the means of employment. The party supports the expulsion of illegal aliens.

Justice

The state party believes that law and order is one of the utmost responsibilities of government, in that it ensures the protection of life, liberty and freedom for society as a whole. The party is in support of capital punishment, however believes that its use should be reserved for the most atrocious criminal acts.

Economic policy

The state party believes that our government should put citizens in a position to attain jobs and currency. In times when the U.S. is suffering economically, the party supports the reduction of government spending.

Notable events

Current elected officials

The Republican Party of Louisiana controls all seven of the statewide constitutional offices and holds a majority in the Louisiana House of Representatives and in the Louisiana Senate. The party also holds both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and six of the seven U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

Statewide offices

List of state Republican chairmen

Notes

  1. ↑ Rebecca J. Scott, Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery (Cambridge, 2005), 39.
  2. ↑ Republicans, as of 2009, had not been in the majority in either the Louisiana House or the Louisiana Senate since the Reconstruction era. The first Republicans (Morley A. Hudson and Taylor W. O'Hearn) in the 20th Century were elected to the House in 1964, and the first Republican elected to the Senate was Edwards Barham in 1975. Despite this long period before achieving a majority, members often secured important leadership posts. A notable example is John Hainkel, the first person in U.S. history to have served by election of his peers as Speaker of the House and as President of the Senate in any state legislature.
  3. ↑ See also Francis Grevemberg's 1960 Louisiana Republican gubernatorial campaign.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Louisiana Election Code (Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes).
  6. ↑ A position occupied by Joseph Cao, for example, in Orleans Parish prior to his being elected to represent Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.

External links

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