Mike Walsworth

Michael Arthur Walsworth, known as Mike Walsworth (born March 27, 1956), is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, elected in the October 20, 2007 jungle primary. Prior to this he represented District 15 (Ouachita Parish) in the Louisiana House of Representatives until he was unable to seek reelection due to term limits. His Senate District 33 includes Ouachita, Claiborne, Morehouse, Union, and West Carroll parishes. He defeated the Democratic State Representative Charles McDonald of the Fairbanks community in northern Ouachita Parish to succeed the term-limited Republican Senator Robert J. Barham of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish. Walsworth polled 17,292 (52 percent) to McDonald's 16,058 (48 percent). McDonald's House seat, to which he was term-limited, was narrowly won in the November 17, 2007, state election by a Republican, Sam Little, a retired farmer from Bastrop, the seat of Morehouse Parish. He rose to infamy in 2013 for his apparent ignorance of the process of evolution as it related to E. Coli bacteria, with critics highlighting his lack of basic science knowledge as likely underpinning his denial of empiricism.^[1]

Walsworth was a candidate for a seat on the Republican State Central Committee from his former State Representative District 15 berth in the Louisiana closed primary scheduled for February 9, 2008. However, he withdrew his candidacy two days before the election, and the position went by default to M. Randall "Randy" Donald.

Walsworth was first elected to the state House in the 1995 primary, when he unseated the Democrat Charles R. Anding. He assumed the seat in 1996.

Biography

Walsworth was born to the late Leo Walsworth and the former Lila "Tootsie" Kitchens (1921–2007) in West Monroe adjacent to Monroe in Ouachita Parish. His maternal grandparents, Marshall and Emily Kitchens, operated a grocery store in Monroe. Walsworth graduated from West Monroe High School in 1974. Thereafter, he procured a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeastern Louisiana University). He is a real estate developer. He previously worked in management of Coca-Cola. He was a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee from 1984 to 1996. He is affiliated with the Greater Ouachita Lions Club, the American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Civitan Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and the American Heart Association. He is also involved in the United Way, the National Rifle Association, and the ULM Alumni Association. Walsworth is the song leader at a local Church of Christ. He is the father of one daughter, Lindsay Michelle Walsworth, a ULM student.

"Looking at the generation, not the next election" is a motto of the Walsworth campaign. In the legislature, Walsworth worked to establish the Ouachita Port Commission and the Ouachita Expressway Commission. He authored the new law which prohibits video voyeurism. He worked on the Ethics Reform Bill to prohibit lawmakers from doing business with the state. He also worked to pass tort reform in his first legislative session. He has pushed for funding of rural schools, which abound in Senate District 15.

In his initial election to the House, Walsworth defeated Charles Anding, 7,745 (55 percent) to 6,403 (45 percent). In 1999, with 9,060 (67 percent), he defeated the Democrat Royce Calhoun, with 4,441 (33 percent) to win his second term in the House. He was unopposed in 2003.

In 2013, Walsworth joined with State Representative Rob Shadoin of Ruston to rename the Louisiana Highway 33 bridge over Lake D’Arbonne in Farmerville after the late Representative James Peyton Smith of Union Parish.^[2]

Controversy and Science Denialism

In a committee hearing on Louisiana State Senate Bill No. 374,^[3] Walsworth denied the validity of the theory of evolution by requiring an experiment that "proved" humans evolved from E-Coli.^[4] He indicated a lack of knowledge of the scientific method and scientific theory by claiming evolution was "just a theory." As a science teacher described Richard Lenski's decades-long study with E. coli bacteria which froze some and allowed others to evolve, Senator Walsworth asked whether any of them evolved into human beings.^[5] Louisiana state bill 374 was designed to repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act

References

News Articles

• "Meet the Next Governor of Louisiana" louisianaconservative.com April, 2007
• "Senate Candidate Mike Walsworth Leads the Way" louisianaconservative.com August, 2007
• "REPRESENTATIVE MIKE WALSWORTH “A Warrior for What Is Right”" louisianaconservative.com September, 2007
• "MONROE NEWSSTAR ENDORSES MIKE WALSWORTH - SENATE DISTRICT 33" louisianaconservative.com October, 2007

External links

• Louisiana State Senate - Mike Walsworth official government website
• Mike Walsworth for State Senate official campaign website