Jay Batt

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John Batt
Member of the New Orleans City Council from District A
In office
June 1, 2002 – June 1, 2006
Preceded by Scott Shea
Succeeded by Shelley S. Midura
Personal details
Nationality American
Political party Republican
John "Jay" Batt, Jr. is a local politician and businessman from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is married to wife Andre Batt, and has two daughters with her, Bailey and Kelly Batt. He is the older brother of actor Bryan Batt.

Batt is a fifth generation, lifelong resident of New Orleans. In his earlier years he attended Isidore Newman School in New Orleans until 1978, and later attended boarding school at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey until 1979. Batt graduated from Tulane University with a BA of English in 1984 and went on to earn an MBA of Finance from University of New Orleans in 1986. While at Tulane, Batt was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity where he received the Order of the Lion Award.

As a business man, Batt has co-owned several Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Outlets since 1992 as well as other businesses.

Political career

A Republican, Batt served as the only member of his party on the New Orleans City Council, from 2002 to 2006, having represented District A.

District A runs from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain just below the Jefferson Parish line in New Orleans. It includes some of the most affluent sections of town, and some the most seriously damaged by the Levee failures of 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. The severe breach of the 17th Street Canal in the West End and Lakeview neighborhoods which was responsible for much of the flooding of the city is in District A. The largest section of District A to escape severe flooding was Carrollton.

Batt's promotion of various commercial developments over the objections of neighborhood associations aroused the opposition of some constituents in the year before Katrina. One group of dissatisfied District A constituents formed the "Anybody But Batt" political action committee to promote the election of a new councilperson for the district.

Batt faced an unusually difficult reelection bid for an incumbent New Orleans city councilmember. Batt succeeded in gaining more votes than any of his numerous opponents, and faced Shelley Stephenson Midura in a run-off election, which he lost. Midura is registered as a Democrat, but succeeded in also getting the endorsement of some of Batt's Republican primary opponents in the (since 1980) usually Republican District A.

Batt sought to regain his former seat in 2010, running against attorney and community activist Susan Guidry (D), Virginia Blanque (R) and Fred Robertson (independent).[1][2] In the 6 February election, Batt came in second with 39% of the vote behind Guidry with 44%. . Guidry and Batt faced a runoff election on 6 March, which Batt lost with 38% of the vote to Guidry's 62% .

Batt is currently serving as Deputy Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee as well as Chairman of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee. He was also elected Chairman of the Orleans Parish Board of Supervisors of Elections in 2012 (an organization in which he had been a member since 2008). Other boards and commission seats held by Batt are as follows: Board Member of the Planning and Technical Committee of the New Orleans Planning Commission from 2008-2010, President Elect of the Sugar Bowl Committee from 2012 to present, Crimestoppers Trustee from 2004 to present, Board Member for Beacon of Hope from 2006 to present, and Board Member of the Delgado Foundation from 2006 to present

Election History

Councilmember, District A, 2000

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, March 14, 2000

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Scott Shea Republican 6,451 (45%) Runoff
Jay Batt Republican 4,691 (33%) Runoff
Others n.a. 3,078 (22%) Defeated

Second Ballot, April 15, 2000

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Scott Shea Republican 7,245 (52%) Elected
Jay Batt Republican 6,557 (48%) Defeated

Councilmember, District A, 2002

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, February 2, 2002

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Scott Shea Republican 13,800 (48%) Runoff
Jay Batt Republican 11,370 (39%) Runoff
Sal Palmisano Republican 3,845 (13%) Defeated

Second Ballot, March 2, 2002

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Jay Batt Republican 15,152 (51%) Elected
Scott Shea Republican 14,697 (49%) Defeated

Councilmember, District A, 2006

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, April 22, 2006

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Jay Batt Republican 10,805 (40%) Runoff
Shelley Stephenson Midura Democratic 7,703 (28%) Runoff
Sal Palmisano Republican 3,272 (12%) Defeated
Others n.a. 5,374 (20%) Defeated

Second Ballot, May 20, 2006

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Shelley Stephenson Midura Democratic 14,552 (52%) Elected
Jay Batt Republican 13,670 (48%) Defeated

Councilmember, District A, 2010

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, February 6, 2010

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Susan Guidry Democratic 10,173 (44%) Runoff
Jay Batt Republican 9,046 (39%) Runoff
Virginia Blanque Republican 3,324 (14%) Defeated
Fred Robertson Independent 461 (2%) Defeated

Second Ballot, March 6, 2010

Candidate Affiliation Support Outcome
Susan Guidry Democratic 8,059 (62%) Elected
Jay Batt Republican 4,869 (38%) Defeated

Sources

Notes

  1. ↑ Frank Donze & Michelle Krupa, "Whose side is he on? Neither, says baffled contributor" in Times-Picayune, 21 October 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B3. This information appears in only the print version.
  2. ↑ http://media.nola.com/news_impact/images/nola-qualify-121209.gif

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Scott Shea (R)		 Councilmember, District A
2002–2006 		Succeeded by
Shelley Stephenson Midura (D)
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