Chris Roy, Jr.

Christopher Jude Roy, Jr. (born 1962), is an attorney in Alexandria, Louisiana, who is a Democratic former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives^[1] from District 25 in Rapides and Vernon parishes.^[2] The district includes two institutions of higher education, Louisiana College and Louisiana State University at Alexandria, and Fort Polk, the large United States Army base in western Louisiana.^[3]

Background

Roy's father, Christopher Roy, Sr. (born 1936), is also an Alexandria attorney^[4] who was a law partner of the late Camille Gravel in the former firm of Gravel, Roy, and Burnes.^[5] Roy is the older brother of Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy, also a Democrat, who was elected in 2006 and again in 2010.

In 1980, Roy graduated from the Roman Catholic Holy Savior Menard Central High School in Alexandria. In 1984, he received a Bachelor of Science in political science from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1987 from the historically black Southern University Law School, also in Baton Rouge. He and his wife, Lelia, have three children: Madeleine, Christopher III, and John.^[3]

Partisan politics

Had he sought a second term in the state House, Roy would have faced two Republicans in the October 22 nonpartisan blanket primary, Lance Harris and Barett Byrd of Woodworth in south Rapides Parish, a graduate of the University of Arkansas and a retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps.^[6] Harris, an Alexandria businessman, defeated Byrd in the primary, 7,577 (55.5 percent) to 6,088 (44.6 percent) and will hence succeed Roy in the legislature.^[7]

Instead, Roy announced his exit from the legislature so that he could spend more "Little League time" with his youngest son, John Roy, a seventh grader in 2011.^[1] Representative Roy also said that he had grown weary of partisan divisions, particularly during recent controversies over congressional reapportionment and legislative redistricting.^[8]

After a series of party switches by Democratic members from increasingly Republican-leaning areas and several special elections held in 2010 and 2011, Republicans claimed majorities in both legislative chambers for the first time since Reconstruction.^[9]

Elliott Stonecipher, a political consultant and pollster from Shreveport, noted that redistricting may have strengthened the slim Republican majorities in the legislature. Louisiana Senate District 29, represented by the retiring Democrat Joe McPherson, also of Woodworth, was carved up into a minority district that meanders from south Rapides to Lincoln parishes. Stonecipher said that while the ranks of African-American legislators may increase, the final numbers may not translate into Democrat numerical gains.^[8]

When the 28-year incumbent representative from District 25, Charles W. DeWitt, a former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, was term-limited, Roy became the Democratic candidate in the Louisiana general election held on November 17, 2007. In that contest, he defeated the Republican attorney Lance Maxwell, 7,558 (53.5 percent) to 6,570 (46.5 percent). A third candidate, Democrat Glen Beard, a former police chief in Alexandria, had been eliminated in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007.^[10] Maxwell carried the support of the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority, a political action committee associated with Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter. That group supported Barett Byrd in the 2011 primary.^[8]

Legislative life

In the House, Roy served on the committees of (1) Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development, (2) Commerce, and (3) Insurance.^[11]

In 2011, Roy obtained passage of an amendment which requires that a study committee report on methods of replacing revenue that might be lost through possible repeal of the Louisiana state income tax. The amendment was at odds with the intent of the House Ways and Means Committee, which opposed any stipulations that might hinder the repeal of the tax. Roy said that his amendment was desgned to guarantee funding for roads, hospitals, and the elderly should the $5.4 billion in revenues from the income tax ever end. Roy's amendment drew criticism from Ways and Means chairman Hunter Greene, a Republican from Baton Rouge.^[12]

Roy said that he had even considered switching to "No Party" or Independent status to seek a second term but decided that option null and void, considering the lack of a structured independent party in the state.^[8] Roy still maintains confidence that he could have been reelected had he run. In a statement to the media, Roy said that he is "proud of the work I have done in Baton Rouge fighting for economic development, standing up for consumers, lowering taxes, and holding government officials accountable to the people who pay their salaries – the taxpayers. I plan to stay involved in public life through community work and public service on a local level. ..."^[1]

References