Lenar Whitney
Lenar L. Whitney is a Republican candidate who ran to represent District 2 on the Louisiana Public Service Commission in the 2017 election. Whitney was defeated in the October 14, 2017, primary election. Whitney is also a former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, representing District 53 from 2012 to 2016. She is the current national committeewoman for the Republican Party of Louisiana.[1]
Whitney was an RNC delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Louisiana. Whitney was one of 10 uncommitted delegates from Louisiana.[2]
Whitney was a 2014 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 6th Congressional District of Louisiana.[3][4][5] She did not receive enough votes to participate in the runoff on December 6, 2014.[6]
In the 2014 legislative session, Whitney and 12 other members of the House formed the Louisiana Legislative Conservative Coalition. The coalition, under the chair of Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R), was formed with the intent of pulling the Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation in a conservative direction and re-instilling conservative principles to the delegation.[7]
Biography
After graduating high school, Lenar Whitney began a dance studio in her hometown of Houma, Louisiana.[8] In 2007, Whitney opened Studio 371. In 2008, she became an account executive for the telecommunications company, AccessCom.[8] Whitney sits on the Oyster Advisory Committee Board for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.[9] In 2013, while serving as a state representative, Whitney was appointed to the Gulf Coast Legislative Council as the vice chairman.[10]
| Lenar Whitney's campaign ad on global warming. |
State Republican Party
- See also: 2016 Republican National Convention
In 2012, the same year she was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 53, Whitney was elected as the national committeewoman for the Republican Party of Louisiana. Whitney was an automatic delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention and was an uncommitted delegate.[11]
Louisiana House of Representatives committee assignments
Lenar Whitney was a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, representing District 53 from 2012 to 2016.
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Whitney served on the following committees:
| Louisiana committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health and Welfare |
| • Labor and Industrial Relations |
| • Ways and Means |
| • Joint Legislative Capital Outlay |
2012-2013
In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Whitney served on the following committees:
- Health and Welfare
- Labor and Industrial Relations
- Ways and Means
- Joint Legislative Capital Outlay Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2017
Louisiana held an election for the seat representing District 2 on the Louisiana Public Service Commission on October 14, 2017. This special election was called after the previous commissioner, Scott Angelle, was appointed to a position in the federal government by President Donald Trump.
Craig Greene (R) defeated incumbent Damon Baldone (R) and Lenar Whitney (R) in the election to Louisiana Public Service Commission, District 2.
| Election to Louisiana Public Service Commission, District 2, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Craig Greene |
54.94% | 43,000 | |
| Republican | Damon Baldone Incumbent | 24.35% | 19,058 | |
| Republican | Lenar Whitney | 20.71% | 16,207 | |
| Total Votes | 78,265 | |||
| Source: Secretary of State of Louisiana | ||||
2015
Elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives took place in 2015. A primary election was held on October 24, 2015, with a general election held in districts where necessary on November 21, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 10, 2015, at 4:30 p.m. CDT.[12]
Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. Incumbent Lenar Whitney (R) faced Tanner Magee (R) and Brenda Badin (D) in the October 24 blanket primary. Whitney and Magee advanced to the November 21 runoff, where Magee won election.[13][14]
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 53 Primary Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tanner Magee |
34.5% | 3,093 | |
| Republican | Lenar Whitney Incumbent |
34.2% | 3,064 | |
| Democratic | Brenda Badin | 31.3% | 2,809 | |
| Total Votes | 8,966 | |||
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 53 Runoff Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tanner Magee |
60.8% | 4,978 | |
| Republican | Lenar Whitney | 39.2% | 3,206 | |
| Total Votes | 8,184 | |||
2014
Whitney ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Louisiana's 6th District.[5] Whitney sought the Republican nomination in the primary. The primary took place on November 4, 2014.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Bell | 2.0% | 5,182 | |
| Republican | Dan Claitor | 10.26% | 26,524 | |
| Republican | Norm Clark | 0.71% | 1,848 | |
| Republican | Paul Dietzel | 13.55% | 35,024 | |
| Republican | Garret Graves |
27.36% | 70,715 | |
| Republican | Craig McCulloch | 2.25% | 5,815 | |
| Republican | Trey Thomas | 0.56% | 1,447 | |
| Republican | Lenar Whitney | 7.41% | 19,151 | |
| Democratic | Edwin Edwards |
30.12% | 77,866 | |
| Democratic | Richard Lieberman | 2.83% | 7,309 | |
| Democratic | Peter Williams | 1.56% | 4,037 | |
| Libertarian | Rufus Holt Craig Jr. | 1.38% | 3,561 | |
| Total Votes | 258,479 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State | ||||
2011
On November 19, 2011, Whitney won election to District 53 of the Louisiana House of Representatives. She faced Theresa Ellender (R) and Billy Hebert (R) in the primary election on October 22, 2011. Because Louisiana uses a blanket primary system, a candidate can be declared the overall winner of the seat by garnering over 50 percent of the vote in the primary. However, since no candidate reached this threshold, a general election took place on November 19, 2011 between Whitney and Hebert.[15] Whitney defeated Hebert to win the seat.[16]
| Louisiana House of Representatives District 53 General Election, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Lenar Whitney |
59.2% | 3,709 | |
| Republican | Billy Hebert | 40.8% | 2,552 | |
| Total Votes | 6,261 | |||
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 53 Blanket Primary, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Lenar Whitney |
40.2% | 3,752 | |
| Republican | Billy Hebert | 31.2% | 2,908 | |
| Republican | Theresa Ellender | 28.6% | 2,663 | |
| Total Votes | 9,323 | |||
Campaign themes
2014
During her 2014 run for the U.S. House to represent Louisiana's 6th District, Whitney's campaign ran an ad arguing that climate change was a hoax. The ad received around 85,000 views in the month after it was released.[17] In the ad, Whitney stated that global warming was the "greatest deception in the history of mankind."[17][18]
Campaign finance summary
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Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Louisiana scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2015
In 2015, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 13 through June 11.
- Legislators are scored on bills of interest to Louisiana businesses.
- Legislators are scored on votes related to educators and public education.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to family issues.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to the environment.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 10 through June 3.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 to June 6.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through June 4.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for Lenar + Whitney + Louisiana + Legislature
See also
| Louisiana | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
- Louisiana Public Service Commission
- Louisiana Public Service Commission election, 2017
- Louisiana's 6th Congressional District
- Louisiana's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014
- Louisiana elections, 2014
- Louisiana House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Louisiana State Legislature
- Joint Committees
- Louisiana state legislative districts
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- Republican Party of Louisiana
- 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
- RNC delegate guidelines from Louisiana, 2016
- Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
External links
- Louisiana Republican Party
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Lenar Whitney for Public Service Commissioner - Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ GOP, "Lenar Whitney," accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ LA GOP, "Louisiana Republicans Elect National Convention Delegates," March 14, 2016
- ↑ NOLA.com, "Lenar Whitney floated as possible candidate in Louisiana's 6th congressional district," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Roll Call, "Republican Dance Studio Owner Mulls House Bid in Louisiana," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 NOLA.com, "Houma state representative Lenar Whitney officially enters congressional race," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "House Election Results," accessed November 4, 2014
- ↑ www.houmatoday.com, "Conservatives in state House forming new coalition," accessed February 20, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Houma Times, "Lenar Whitney: Dance, business and politics," January 25, 2012
- ↑ Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, "Oyster Advisory Committee Members," accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Louisiana lawmakers start up Gulf Coast legislators organization," February 8, 2013
- ↑ Louisiana GOP, "Louisiana Republicans Elect National Convention Delegates," March 14, 2016
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed January 11, 2016
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for November 19, 2011," accessed December 6, 2011
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Washington Post, "The most frightening candidate I’ve met in seven years interviewing congressional hopefuls," July 30, 2014
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "GOP Lawmaker Says Climate Change Is ‘The Greatest Deception In The History Of Mankind’," June 30, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2014 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2013 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2012 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Damon Baldone (D) |
Louisiana House of Representatives District 53 2012-2016 |
Succeeded by Tanner Magee (R) |
| |||||||
