Don Cazayoux
Encyclopedia
Donald J. 'Don' Cazayoux, Jr. is a former Democratic
U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district
. He is currently US Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana.
He won the special election
held on May 3, 2008, to fill the seat vacated on February 2 by 21-year Republican
incumbent Richard H. Baker. He defeated Republican nominee Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins
and took his oath of office from Speaker
Nancy Pelosi
on May 6. Cazayoux was defeated by a Republican candidate, State Senator
Bill Cassidy
, in the November 4 general election
.
In April 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Cazayoux as United States Attorney
for the Middle District of Louisiana
, following a recommendation by U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu
from May 2009.
, Cazayoux is the son of Donald J. and Ann Cazayoux. His paternal grandparents were Jules Joseph Cazayoux, Jr. (1914–2010), who was employed by the Southern Cotton Oil Company, and the late Ida Belle Glynn Cazayoux. A Roman Catholic, he graduated from the Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee
in 1982. He earned his bachelor of arts
degree from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge and a Juris Doctor
from Georgetown University
in Washington, D.C.
After finishing his studies, Cazayoux practiced law and then became a prosecutor for Pointe Coupee Parish. As an assistant district attorney under the 18th Judicial Court District Attorney, Richard "Ricky" Ward, Cazayoux never lost a jury trial.
After his reelection in 2007, Cazayoux attempted to become Speaker of the state House, but the position went to Republican Jim Tucker
of the New Orleans suburbs.
Cazayoux's Republican opponent in the special election was Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins
, a newspaper
publisher who represented part of Baton Rouge in the Louisiana House
from 1972 to 2000, and had been narrowly defeated for election to the U.S. Senate in 1996. In the special election, Cazayoux received 49,702 votes (49.2 percent), to Jenkins' 46,741 (46.3 percent). Three minor candidates shared the remaining 4.52 percent of the ballots cast. Cazayoux clinched the seat with a nearly 5,000-vote margin in Jenkins' own East Baton Rouge Parish. Jenkins' greatest strength was in Livingston Parish, a heavily Republican suburb of Baton Rouge The defeat marked Jenkins' fifth defeat for major office — U.S. Senate in 1978, 1980, and 1996, and the former position of Louisiana elections commissioner in 1999.
In his congressional bid, Cazayoux had the support of organized labor, including the United Steelworkers
, as well as many traditional Democratic constituency groups. Cazayoux ran several ads making sport of difficulties people may have pronouncing his Cajun
last name. His first ad began with his daughters saying their father might have a hard time in the race because of it. The National Republican Congressional Committee
released an ad referring to him as "Don Tax You."
Cazayoux is the first Democrat to represent the 6th since four-term incumbent John Rarick
was defeated in the 1974 Democratic primary. The seat was won that fall by Republican Henson Moore
, who held it for twelve years before giving way to Baker in 1987.
Cazayoux lost his attempt for a full term in November 2008 to State Senator Bill Cassidy, who took 48 percent of the vote to Cazayoux' 40 percent. Jackson, this time running as an independent with funding from long-time Cassidy supporter, Lane Grigsby, finished third. The precinct tally shows that Jackson siphoned off most African-American (Democrat) votes which would otherwise have gone to Cazayoux. The Daily Kingfish published photos of Jackson meeting with Senator-elect Cassidy just three days after the election. Jackson garnered 36,133 votes—more than the 25,000-vote margin between Cassidy and Cazayoux, suggesting that his candidacy determined the winner. Cazayoux was one of five incumbent House Democrats to be defeated in the 2008 congressional elections, along with Nancy Boyda
(D-KS), William J. Jefferson
(D-LA), Nick Lampson
(D-TX), and Tim Mahoney
(D-FL).
Cazayoux's 2008 campaign was endorsed by Democrats for Life of America
.
.
He also supports expanding SCHIP, and favors withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq
. He calls himself "a John Breaux
Democrat."
(2002–2003). He and his wife, Cherie (married 1986), have three children, Michael, Chavanne, and Katie. Cazayoux is a distant relative of former U.S. Representative Lindy Boggs
of New Orleans.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district
Louisiana's 6th congressional district
Louisiana's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in south-central Louisiana, the district contains the state capital of Baton Rouge and its suburbs and the western half of the Florida Parishes and areas west and south of Baton Rouge...
. He is currently US Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana.
He won the special election
Louisiana's 6th congressional district special election, 2008
The February 2, 2008 resignation of Republican Richard Baker triggered a special election for Louisiana's 6th district. In anticipation of this election, party qualifying occurred before Baker's resignation. The timeline mirrored that of the 2008 special election for the 1st congressional district...
held on May 3, 2008, to fill the seat vacated on February 2 by 21-year Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
incumbent Richard H. Baker. He defeated Republican nominee Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins
Woody Jenkins
Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....
and took his oath of office from Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
on May 6. Cazayoux was defeated by a Republican candidate, State Senator
Louisiana State Senate
The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...
Bill Cassidy
Bill Cassidy
William "Bill" Cassidy is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:...
, in the November 4 general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
.
In April 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Cazayoux as United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the Middle District of Louisiana
United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
The United States Court for the Middle District of Louisiana comprises the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. Court is held at the United States Courthouse in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
, following a recommendation by U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
from May 2009.
Early life
A native of New RoadsNew Roads, Louisiana
New Roads is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana is located in New Roads . The population was 4,996 at the 2000 census. The city's ZIP code is 70760...
, Cazayoux is the son of Donald J. and Ann Cazayoux. His paternal grandparents were Jules Joseph Cazayoux, Jr. (1914–2010), who was employed by the Southern Cotton Oil Company, and the late Ida Belle Glynn Cazayoux. A Roman Catholic, he graduated from the Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee
Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee
Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee is a Catholic Interparochial school in New Roads, Louisiana. It was founded in 1904 by the Sisters of St. Joseph who were commissioned to bring Catholic education to Pointe Coupee Parish.-History:...
in 1982. He earned his bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge and a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
After finishing his studies, Cazayoux practiced law and then became a prosecutor for Pointe Coupee Parish. As an assistant district attorney under the 18th Judicial Court District Attorney, Richard "Ricky" Ward, Cazayoux never lost a jury trial.
Louisiana Legislature
Cazayoux was first elected to the state legislature in 1999. He represented District 18, a heavily Democratic district that includes his home in Pointe Coupee Parish as well as Iberville, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes. In the legislature, he became one of the few freshmen ever appointed to the powerful Appropriations Committee. He also worked for passage of laws to assist law enforcement in cracking down on child sexual predators.After his reelection in 2007, Cazayoux attempted to become Speaker of the state House, but the position went to Republican Jim Tucker
Jim Tucker (Louisiana politician)
James Wayne Tucker, known as Jim Tucker , is the departing Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and an ally of Governor Bobby Jindal. An investment banker from the Terrytown section of the New Orleans metropolitan area, Tucker's District 86 includes precincts from both Jefferson and...
of the New Orleans suburbs.
Congressional election
Cazayoux announced his candidacy for the 6th District shortly after Baker resigned. With the strong backing of the national party, he easily defeated fellow state representative Michael L. Jackson, who represents a portion of Baton Rouge, in the Democratic primary.Cazayoux's Republican opponent in the special election was Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins
Woody Jenkins
Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....
, a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
publisher who represented part of Baton Rouge in the Louisiana House
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
from 1972 to 2000, and had been narrowly defeated for election to the U.S. Senate in 1996. In the special election, Cazayoux received 49,702 votes (49.2 percent), to Jenkins' 46,741 (46.3 percent). Three minor candidates shared the remaining 4.52 percent of the ballots cast. Cazayoux clinched the seat with a nearly 5,000-vote margin in Jenkins' own East Baton Rouge Parish. Jenkins' greatest strength was in Livingston Parish, a heavily Republican suburb of Baton Rouge The defeat marked Jenkins' fifth defeat for major office — U.S. Senate in 1978, 1980, and 1996, and the former position of Louisiana elections commissioner in 1999.
In his congressional bid, Cazayoux had the support of organized labor, including the United Steelworkers
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S., the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United...
, as well as many traditional Democratic constituency groups. Cazayoux ran several ads making sport of difficulties people may have pronouncing his Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
last name. His first ad began with his daughters saying their father might have a hard time in the race because of it. The National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
released an ad referring to him as "Don Tax You."
Cazayoux is the first Democrat to represent the 6th since four-term incumbent John Rarick
John Rarick
John Richard Rarick was a lawyer who served as a Louisiana state district court judge from 1961 to 1966 in St. Francisville, Louisiana, the seat of West Feliciana Parish, and as a Democratic U.S. representative from the Sixth Congressional District from 1967 to 1975...
was defeated in the 1974 Democratic primary. The seat was won that fall by Republican Henson Moore
Henson Moore
William Henson Moore III , is a retired attorney and businessman who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, having represented the Baton Rouge-based Sixth Congressional District, from 1975-1987. He is only the second Republican to have represented Louisiana in the House since...
, who held it for twelve years before giving way to Baker in 1987.
Cazayoux lost his attempt for a full term in November 2008 to State Senator Bill Cassidy, who took 48 percent of the vote to Cazayoux' 40 percent. Jackson, this time running as an independent with funding from long-time Cassidy supporter, Lane Grigsby, finished third. The precinct tally shows that Jackson siphoned off most African-American (Democrat) votes which would otherwise have gone to Cazayoux. The Daily Kingfish published photos of Jackson meeting with Senator-elect Cassidy just three days after the election. Jackson garnered 36,133 votes—more than the 25,000-vote margin between Cassidy and Cazayoux, suggesting that his candidacy determined the winner. Cazayoux was one of five incumbent House Democrats to be defeated in the 2008 congressional elections, along with Nancy Boyda
Nancy Boyda
Nancy Boyda is a former Democratic congresswoman representing .On November 4, 2008, Boyda was defeated for re-election by Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, after serving one term....
(D-KS), William J. Jefferson
William J. Jefferson
William Jennings "Bill" Jefferson is a former American politician, and a published author from the U.S. state of Louisiana. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party. He represented , which includes much of the...
(D-LA), Nick Lampson
Nick Lampson
Nicholas Valentino 'Nick' Lampson is an American politician from the state of Texas and was a Congressman representing the 22nd Congressional District of Texas. He was defeated by Pete Olson on November 4, 2008 in his re-election bid....
(D-TX), and Tim Mahoney
Tim Mahoney
Timothy Edward "Tim" Mahoney was a U.S. Representative for and a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected in November 2006 after his opponent, six-term Republican incumbent Mark Foley, resigned on September 29, 2006, after questions were raised about an email exchange with a congressional...
(D-FL).
Cazayoux's 2008 campaign was endorsed by Democrats for Life of America
Democrats for Life of America
Democrats for Life of America is an advocacy group in the United States attempting to reshape the political left, primarily the Democratic Party, into taking a pro-life position. Usually this involves political opposition to abortion, but the DFLA also opposes capital punishment and euthanasia...
.
Politics
Cazayoux is considered a moderate-to-conservative Democrat, which is typical for most Louisiana Democrats outside New Orleans. He strongly opposes abortion and gun control. The latter stance earned him an "A" rating from the National Rifle AssociationNational Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
.
He also supports expanding SCHIP, and favors withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. He calls himself "a John Breaux
John Breaux
John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. He was considered one of the more conservative national legislators from the Democratic Party...
Democrat."
Personal life
Cazayoux is a former president of the New Roads branch of the Lions ClubLions Clubs International
Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...
(2002–2003). He and his wife, Cherie (married 1986), have three children, Michael, Chavanne, and Katie. Cazayoux is a distant relative of former U.S. Representative Lindy Boggs
Lindy Boggs
Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, usually known as Lindy Boggs , is a United States political figure who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as ambassador to the Vatican. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana...
of New Orleans.
See also
- Louisiana's 6th congressional district special election, 2008Louisiana's 6th congressional district special election, 2008The February 2, 2008 resignation of Republican Richard Baker triggered a special election for Louisiana's 6th district. In anticipation of this election, party qualifying occurred before Baker's resignation. The timeline mirrored that of the 2008 special election for the 1st congressional district...
- United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2008#District 6