Sean Reilly

Sean Eugene Reilly (born 1961) is the Chief Executive Officer of Lamar Advertising Company in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Lamar Advertising was founded by Charles W. Lamar, Sr., Reilly's maternal great-grandfather as a small operation in Pensacola, Florida. It is one of the largest national corporations headquartered in Baton Rouge. Sean Reilly's older brother, Kevin P. Reilly, Jr. (born ca. 1954), is the President and Chairman of Lamar Advertising. Another brother, Wendell Reilly, was formerly affiliated with the company. Reilly's mother is Ann Lamar Switzer Reilly, known as Dee Dee Reilly, a native of California and a Baton Rouge civic figure.^[1] Sean Reilly earns nearly $700,000 annually from Lamar.^[2]

From 1988-1996, he served as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 68.^[3] He succeeded his father, Kevin Patrick Reilly, Sr., in the position. Reilly, Sr., a Massachusetts native, left the House to run unsuccessfully for Louisiana state treasurer in the 1987 nonpartisan blanket primary, having been defeated by future U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of New Orleans.

In the October 24, 1987, primary Sean Reilly led a Republican, Toni Higginbotham, and an Independent, Ben Peabody. Reilly received 7,928 votes (45.6 percent), to Higginbotham's 6,146 votes (35.4 percent) and Peabody's critical 3,311 ballots (19.1 percent),^[4] Reilly then defeated Higginbotham in the November 21 general election, 7,379 votes (54 percent) to 6,291 (46 percent).^[5] He ran unopposed for a second term in the House in the 1991 primary and did not seek a third term in 1995. He was succeeded by fellow Democrat William Daniel, a narrow winner over the Republican, Sandra Bologna Ribes.^[6]

Reilly is a large donor to Democratic candidates and party organizations, including two unsuccessful campaigns in 2008 waged for seats in the United States House of Representatives by Don Cazayoux of New Roads and Paul Carmouche of Shreveport, Louisiana. He also donated to the Democratic State Central Committee in Baton Rouge. In all, he contributed more than $55,000 in the 2008 cycle.^[7]

Reilly graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with both Bachelor of Arts (1984) and Juris Doctor (1989) degrees. He is Roman Catholic. In October 1989, Reilly wed the former Jennifer Marie Eplett, a graduate of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and a daughter of Mary Jane Coughlin Eplett, a reading specialist from Lexington, Massachusetts, and Dr. James Douglas Eplett, Sr. (1931–2002), a physician then of Nashua, New Hampshire.^[8]

From 1999-2005, Reilly served on the board of the Louisiana Community College and Technical College System.^[9] Despite Reilly's Democrat loyalty, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal named the former lawmaker as the chairman of the board of trustees of Blueprint Louisiana, a group which emphasizes technology and economic development statewide.^[10]

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