Chris John
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Louisiana's 7th district
In office
January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2005
Preceded byJimmy Hayes
Succeeded byCharles Boustany
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 42nd district
In office
1988–1996
Preceded byDonald Thibodeaux
Succeeded byGil Pinac
Personal details
Born
Christopher Charles John

(1960-01-05) January 5, 1960
Crowley, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpousePayton Smith
RelativesJohn Smith (father-in-law)
EducationLouisiana State University, Baton Rouge (BA)

Christopher Charles John (born January 5, 1960) is an American politician and lobbyist who from 1997 to 2005 served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 7th congressional district, since disbanded and merged into the 3rd district.

Early life

Chris John was born in Crowley in Acadia Parish, one of six children, and reared as a Roman Catholic. He is of Lebanese, French, and German extraction. He attended Notre Dame Catholic High School in Crowley and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He was a page while his father, John N. John, III, was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. In the early 1980s, he was elected to the Crowley City Council.

Terms in Congress: Representative, and run for Senate

In 1996, John was elected to Congress. He defeated fellow Democrat Hunter Lundy in a runoff for the 7th district seat. In 2004, John surrendered his House seat to run for the seat in the U.S. Senate being vacated by popular Democrat and fellow Crowley native John Breaux, who endorsed him.

John, however, was defeated by Republican David Vitter of the New Orleans suburbs in the primary, Vitter garnered 51 percent of the vote, compared to 29 percent for John. The remainder of the ballots was split between then State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy and the African-American then-state senator Arthur Morrell, both Democrats. John's seat in the House fell into Republican hands, as Charles Boustany won the 7th district with 55 percent of the vote against Democrat Willie Landry Mount.[1] Kennedy later switched parties and succeeded Vitter as senator in 2017.

Post-political career

John is married to Payton Smith of Leesville, whose father, John R. Smith, is a member of the Louisiana State Senate and a former state House member. The Johns have two sons, who are twins. After his House career ended, John worked for two years as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Since August 2007, he has made his home in Lafayette, where he is chief lobbyist for the United States Oil and Gas Association. (Morning Advocate).

In 2009, John was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.[2]

Electoral history

Louisiana's 7th congressional district: Results 1996–2002[1]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct Other Party Votes Pct
1996 Christopher John 128,449 53% (no candidate) Hunter Lundy Democratic 113,351 47%
1998 Christopher John * (no candidate)
2000 Christopher John 152,796 83% (no candidate) Michael P. Harris Libertarian 30,687 17%
2002 Christopher John 138,659 87% (no candidate) Roberto Valletta Libertarian 21,051 13%
*No vote totals were recorded in 1998. Section 511 of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, as amended, provides that a candidate who is unopposed is declared elected by the people and his/her name shall not appear on the ballot in either the Primary or General Election.
Louisiana Senator (Class III): 2004 results[1]
Year Democrats Votes Pct Republicans Votes Pct Other Votes Pct
2004 Christopher John 542,150 29% David Vitter 943,014 51% Richard M. Fontanesi 15,097 1%
John Neely Kennedy 275,821 15% R. A. “Skip” Galan 12,463 1%
Arthur A. Morrell 47,222 3%
Sam Houston Melton, Jr. 12,289 1%

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original on July 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  2. ↑ "Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame". cityofwinnfield.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
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