Jay Dardenne

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Jay Dardenne

Secretary of State
In office 2006 – Present
Preceded by	Al Ater

Born	February 6, 1954 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Cathy Dardenne
Profession	Politician

John Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr. (born February 6, 1954), is the new Republican secretary of state of Louisiana. Formerly, Dardenne was a state senator from the Baton Rouge suburbs, having served from 1992 until after his election on September 30, 2006 as secretary of state.

[edit] Personal information and early career

Dardenne is the son of Janet Abramson Dardenne and the late John Leigh Dardenne, Sr. He is married to the former Cathy McDonald and has two sons, John, III, and Matthew. Dardenne is Jewish. He graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, with both bachelor's and law degrees. He was elected student body president while at LSU.

He is also a community leader, active in numerous social and civic endeavors in his native Baton Rouge, including the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the annual Labor Day Telethon, the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, and the River City Festivals Association. He currently serves as chairman of the U. S. National Senior Sports Classic (the Senior Olympics) and has served as president of ten nonprofit entities serving the greater Baton Rouge Community.

In 1987, Dardenne narrowly lost his first race for the state Senate against Democrat Larry Bankston. He then ran the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council in a special election and won. He held that seat until 1992.

In 1991, Dardenne ran again for the state Senate. He trailed fellow Republican Lynda Imes in the primary but came back to win the seat in the general election. He quickly gained a reputation as a champion of reform and a thorn in the side of Democratic Governor Edwin Edwards, though few of his reform proposals were passed

Following the election of Republican Murphy J. "Mike" Foster as governor in 1995, Dardenne became the governor's floor leader and began to pass landmark legislation. He continued to push for reforms in the administration of Foster's successor, Democrat Kathleen Blanco, but Blanco largely shunned Dardenne.

Among other accomplishments, Dardenne helped pass constitutional amendments on term limits, coastal erosion and victims' rights, the creation of a single State Board of Ethics, spearheading reform of the river pilots' system, and working to reduce government waste as the chairman of the Louisiana Senate Finance Committee.

Dardenne was named the "National Republican Legislator of the Year" in 2003. According to the Louisiana Political Fax Weekly of December 20, 2002, "Jay Dardenne... is widely regarded as one of the most talented lawmakers to ever serve [sic] in the Capitol."

[edit] Secretary of state candidacy and transition

Dardenne ran in the September 30 special election to complete the term vacated by the death of former Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen, a fellow Republican who died in the summer of 2005. McKeithen had been temporarily succeeded by his friend, former Democratic State Representative Al Ater, at the time an assistant secretary of state under McKeithen, who chose not to run for the post in the special election.

The major candidates in the race were Dardenne, Democratic state Senator Francis Heitmeier of New Orleans and ex-State Republican Party Chairman Mike Francis of Lafayette. The race was characterized by attacks on Dardenne from Francis (both Pro-Life) over predominantly social issues, including a vote that Dardenne cast in the 1990s, which, by altering the Hyde Amendment, allowed government-funded abortions related to rape and incest. Dardenne maintained that his vote was required to allow the flow of Medicare and Medicaid funds into Louisiana.

Despite these attacks, Dardenne was able to make himself the candidate of reform in the race, and racked up huge numbers of votes in the Baton Rouge area, the suburbs of New Orleans and even into the city of New Orleans itself, taking 30 percent of the vote in the open primary. Heitmeier received 28 percent, and Francis received 26 percent. A Dardenne v. Heitmeier runoff loomed. Minor candidates took the rest of the vote. Francis chose not to endorse either candidate and stated his intentions to run for the seat in the 2007 regular election.

About two weeks into the special election runoff, Heitmeier withdrew from the race. He cited the fact that his New Orleans black voter base had been decimated because of Hurricane Katrina. He said that without help from national Democrats, victory over Dardenne would be impossible. Perhaps, his action was premature in light of the national Democratic sweep in the 2006 midterm elections.

There was speculation that the secretary of state race could mark a sea change in Louisiana politics because Dardenne, Francis and two minor Republicans together received 54 percent of the vote in the city of New Orleans. Dardenne alone obtained 40 percent. New Orleans has previously been the power base for the state Democratic Party; several major Democrats could be hurt by this, including Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.

Following Heitmeier's withdrawal, Dardenne was declared the winner by default. He was sworn into office on November 10, 2006. He will seek the position for a full four-year term in 2007.