Michael J. Michot

Michael John Michot, known as Mike Michot (born December 12, 1963), is a Republican former member of the Louisiana State Senate, having represented District 23 (Lafayette Parish) from 2000 to 2012. He formerly was the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Michot was unopposed for his third Senate term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007. Previously, he served in District 43 in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1996 to 2000. He was elected as a Democrat to the House but switched parties on June 23, 1997, not quite midway in his term.

Background

Michot was born in Lafayette to Louis Joseph Michot, Jr. (1922-2012), and the former Patricia Ann Smith (1926–2011) a week after his father, then a state representative, ran unsuccessfully for governor of Louisiana in the 1963 Democratic primary. The two leading candidates who emerged from the primary were former New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison and the winner of the runoff primary, John J. McKeithen of tiny Columbia in north Louisiana. Louis Michot rebounded to served on the elected State Board of Education and as state education superintendent (1972–1976), having ousted the legendary William J. "Bill" Dodd in the 1971 primary. Michot has seven living siblings.

Mike Michot graduated from the Roman Catholic Cathedral-Carmel High School in Lafayette. He then received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana). At ULL, Michot was a fraternity brother of current State Representative Page Cortez, a Lafayette Republican who defeated Patrick LeBlanc in the 2007 House primary. A real estate developer, Michot is president of both Louis J. Michot & Associates and the Premier Medical Equipment Company.

Michot is married to the former Monique Broussard (born ca. 1966). His brother, Patrick Louis "Rick" Michot (born 1948), is a judge of the 15th District Court in Lafayette and also a Republican convert. Mike and Rick Michot are members of "Les Freres Michot", a popular Lafayette-based Cajun music band.

He co-founded the interest group known as Citizens for Accountable Government. He is vice president of both the Broussard Industrial Development Board and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acadiana. He is a past chairman of the Business Development Committee of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. He is past president of Acadiana Handicap Services, Inc. He is a member of the Cathedral-Carmel Foundation, and the Lafayette Kiwanis International.

Legislative career

In the 1995 primary, Michot won his House seat with 69 percent of the vote. He defeated both a Republican and a "No Party" challenger. In his first race as a Republican in 1999, Representative Michot unseated State Senator J. Lomax "Max" Jordan, a fellow Republican, 68-32 percent. Michot was reelected to the Senate in the 2003 primary with 88 percent of the vote over fellow Republican Herman L. Vidrine.

He was the vice chairman of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs Committee. He also chaired the Senate Select Committee on Consumer Affairs and Technology. In the latter capacity, Michot in 2004 piloted the "Share Your Opinions" program to permit citizens to log on to the Internet and "vote" on important public policy. Michot said that in the technologically-driven world, it is "important to use every available tool when it comes to aiding the public in their interaction with their legislators."

Michot considered running in the 2006 special election for Louisiana secretary of state but never filed his papers. The position went instead to his state Senate colleague Jay Dardenne of Baton Rouge, who in 2010 was elected lieutenant governor in another special election.

Michot angered many of his constituents on June 10, 2008 by voting 'yea' on SB 672,^[1] which, had it not been vetoed by Governor Bobby Jindal, would have tripled Louisiana legislator pay, making the lawmakers the eighth highest paid in the nation.

Michot was succeeded in the Senate in January 2012 by his friend State Representative Page Cortez, who ran unopposed for the position in the October 22 primary. Cortez's House seat was in turn filled by Lafayette businessman Stuart Bishop, who was also unopposed.^[2]

References

http://www.enlou.com/officeholders/housedistrict43.htm

http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/s1880-2004.pdf#search='c.c.%20taddy%20aycock' http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Michot/

http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Michot/releases/2004/05-28-2004.htm

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10219528

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10239928

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10040328

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/16425171.html (Michot fundraiser)