Conrad Appel

Conrad Henry Appel, III (born 1951), is a Metairie, Louisiana, businessman who since 2008 has been a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 9 in suburban Jefferson Parish. Appel won a special election to succeed short-term Senator Steve Scalise, after Scalise was instead elected to the United States House of Representatives following the accession of U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal to the Louisiana governorship.

A New Orleans native, Appel graduated in 1969 from the college preparatory Isidore Newman School. In 1973, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Appel has had an extensive business career, with 35 years of management experience as Senior Executive of large general construction, construction management and specialty construction firms.

Appel is currently the president of three business, including Construction Management Services, Inc., Trinity Company - Real Estate and ConstructionSouth, Inc., of Metairie, which specializes in industrial and commercial general construction. He is also a licensed real estate broker and president of the firm Trinity Company.^[1]

As a first-time candidate Appel defeated fellow Republican Polly Thomas, a professor at the University of New Orleans, in a special election held at the time of the November 4, 2008, national general election. Thomas' defeat for the Senate seat was her fourth election loss since 1999. Appel said that he was pleased to have Thomas as his opponent: "Polly and I have been friends for a long time, and this has been a hard race for me. I'm really proud of Polly."^[2] Thomas had also run against Scalise in 2007 and polled only 29 percent of the vote in the regular legislative election.^[3] Appel received 21,853 votes (52.1 percent) to Thomas's 20,065 votes (47.9 percent).^[4]

Appel vowed to emphasize economic development in post-Hurricane Katrina period. He has been affiliated with the Jefferson Business Council and the New Orleans Dock Board. Upon his election, Appel said that he will not seek any other office than the Senate position.^[2] Appel serves on these committees: (1) Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs, (2) Education, (3) Judiciary C as vice chairman, (4) Retirement.^[5]

In 2010, Appel supported the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry 100 percent of the time. He backed the Louisiana Family Forum 90 percent of the time. In 2009, he was rated 100 percent by the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. In 2011, Appel voted to make the state tobacco tax permanent, but the measure was vetoed by Governor Jindal. He also voted against an amendment to the Smoke-free Air Act that would have forbidden smoking in bars and restaurants.^[6]

In 2011, Appel filed a bill, with Jindal's support, to merge the University of New Orleans with the historically black Southern University at New Orleans.^[6] Touted as a way to save funds earmarked for higher education, the measure nevertheless failed because of a lack of support in both houses of the legislature. Appel obtained passage of a bill to place the Schepis Museum in New Orleans into the state system. He also urged support for a state constitutional amendment to limit how public colleges can increase or implement student fees.^[7]

Appel and his wife, Carol Ann, have two children, Conrad Appel, IV, also known as Connor Appel, a student at St. Martin's Episcopal School, and Whitney Caroline Appel.^[1]

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