Charles D. Lancaster, Jr.

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Charles D. Lancaster, Jr.
Louisiana State Representative from District 80 (Jefferson Parish)
In office 1972 – 1976
Preceded by	At-large membership
In office 1980 – January 14, 2008
Succeeded by	Joseph Lopinto

Born	September 22, 1943 (1943-09-22) (age 64)
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Patches Shannon Lancaster
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic

Charles D. Lancaster, Jr. (born September 22, 1943), is a Metairie attorney who remains the longest-serving Republican member of the House of Representatives. He represented what has become District 80 in a portion of populous Jefferson Parish (suburban New Orleans) for eight nonconsecutive four-year terms. In 2007, Lancaster was term-limited and could not seek reelection. His successor is fellow Republican Joseph Lopinto, who defeated another Republican, Glenn Lee, 6,170 (59 percent) to 4,357 (41 percent) in the October 20 jungle primary.

1 Early years and education
2 An active Republican
3 Legal practice
4 References

[edit] Early years and education

Lancaster graduated from Jesuit High School in New Orleans. He obtained his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University law school in New Orleans. He is a fellow in the Loyola University Institute of Politics.

Lancaster was chairman of the House Government Affairs Committee. He served on the Executive Committee, the Legislative Budgetary Control Council, and the Special Committee on Disaster Planning. He held subcommittee positions in Disaster Planning, Crisis Management, and Recovery and Long-Term Revitalization.

From 1968-1993, Lancaster was a major in the U.S. Army Reserve.

[edit] An active Republican

Lancaster has long been an active Republican party builder. In 1982, he was voted the "Outstanding Legislator" by the American Conservative Union. In 2006, he chaired the Republican Legislative Delegation Campaign Committee in preparation for the 2007 state elections. In 2004, Lancaster hosted a gala to honor the defection of Democratic Congressman Rodney Alexander of Quitman in Jackson Parish to the Republican Party. Lancaster had served with Alexander in the legislature. He had also served with Alexander's 2004 opponent John W. "Jock" Scott of Alexandria, when Scott was a Democrat and later when Scott too switched to the Republican Party. But incumbency drew Lancaster to support Alexander over Scott.

Lancaster was first elected when he was twenty-eight to the state House in the 1972 general election on the Republican ticket headed by gubernatorial nominee David C. Treen, then of Jefferson Parish. Lancaster that year defeated Democrat Calvin P. "Chuck" Lee, 6,018 votes (53.3 percent) to 5,281 (46.7 percent. At the time he was the only Republican of the thirteen House members whose districts included a portion of Jefferson Parish. And he was one of only four Republicans in the legislature in his first term. None of the four, including Lancaster, Arthur W. Sour, Jr., and B.F. O'Neal, Jr., both of Shreveport (Caddo Parish) and Edward Clark Gaudin of Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish), still serve in the body. Sour and O'Neal are deceased.

Lancaster lost his seat in 1975, when no Republican sought the governorship in the wake of the popularity of Democrat Edwin Washington Edwards. He returned to the legislature in 1980, when Treen was inaugurated as governor, after a narrow victory in the 1979 general election. Lancaster received 61.1 percent the 1979 election. Two other Republicans, Terry W. Gee and Charles Grisbaum, Jr., were also elected from Jefferson Parish to join Lancaster in the delegation. Grisbaum had been a Democrat prior to his change of parties in 1978 and was then elected as a Republican in 1979.

In Lancaster's last election, the 2003 jungle primary, Lancaster defeated fellow Republican Charles H. Sclafani in his district, which had become reliably GOP-inclined over Lancaster's long tenure.

Lancaster is a conservative Roman Catholic who sports a 0 percent voting record as scored by the National Abortion Rights Action League. He is also generally a favorite of business --the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry ranks him a 70 percent score; the AFL-CIO rates him 58. The Louisiana Hospital Association grants him 100 percent. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network rates him 56 percent. The conservative Family Forum rates him only 50 percent, but the Louisiana Electorate of Gays and Lesbians gives him a flat zero. One of Lancaster's Democratic colleagues during the first term, R. Harmon Drew, Sr., of Minden in Webster Parish, was said to consider Lancaster among the two keenest members of the whole legislature. In his final term, Lancaster was one of six Republicans from Jefferson Parish. The GOP members in the Jefferson delegation outnumbered the Democrats, 6-4.

[edit] Legal practice

In his private practice of law in Metairie, Lancaster handles primarily cases involving Driving Under The Influence (DUI), Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), Personal Injury, and Wills, Trusts & Estates.

His affiliations include the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Jefferson Parish Bar Association, the Louisiana Bar Association, the Jefferson Performing Arts Society, the New Orleans Sports Foundation, the Southern Republican Exchange, and the National Conference of State Legislators. He is also a former president of the National Republican Legislators Association.

Lancaster is married to the former Patches Shannon.