Michael J. Michot

Michael John "Mike" Michot
Louisiana State Senate (District 23)
Incumbent
Assumed office 2000
Preceded by	J. Lomax "Max" Jordan, Jr.
Succeeded by	Page Cortez (pending)
Louisiana State Representative from District 43 (Lafayette Parish)
In office 1996–2000
Preceded by	Odon L. Bacque, Jr.
Succeeded by	Ernie Alexander
Personal details
Born	December 12, 1963 (1963-12-12) (age 47) Lafayette, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic Party prior to June 23, 1997; thereafter, Republican Party
Spouse(s)	Monique Broussard Michot
Occupation	Business, real estate
Religion	Roman Catholic
(1) Micot is a second generation political figure in Lafayette, for his father is a former Louisiana state representative, gubernatorial candidate in 1963, and former state superintendent of education. (2) Michot worked in 2007 for the election of his former fraternity brother, Page Cortez, to the same District 43 state House seat that Michot himself held from 1996 to 2000.

Michael John "Mike" Michot (born December 12, 1963) is the departing senior Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate, having represented District 23 (Lafayette Parish) since the year 2000. He is the outgoing hairman 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. Michot was elected as a Democrat to the House but switched parties on June 23, 1997, not quite midway in his term. He is the son of the semiretired businessman and former state Education Superintendent Louis J. Michot of Lafayette.

Michot considered running in the 2006 special election for Louisiana secretary of state but never filed his candidacy 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 won his House seat in the 1995 primary with 69 percent of the vote. He defeated both a Republican and a "No Party" challenger. In his first race as a Republican, Representative Michot unseated incumbent 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 was born to Louis Michot (born 1922) and the former Patricia Ann Smith (1926–2011), a week after his father, then a state representative, ran unsuccessfully for governor 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. Louis and Patricia Michot had ten children, eight of whom were still living at the time of their mother's death.

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, Micot is president of both Louis J. Michot & Associates and the Premier Medical Equipment Company. He cofounded 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 Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce Business Development Committee. He is past president of Acadiana Handicap Services, Inc. He is a member of the Cathedral-Carmel Foundation, the Lafayette Kiwanis Club, and the ULM Legislative Relations Committee.

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

Michot is now term-limited in the state Senate. He held a major fundraiser at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Baton Rouge for March 27, 2008, three days before the regular legislative session began, during which period the solicitation of campaign monies is forbidden by state law. Sponsorship at the fundraiser required $5,000. Host committee participation was $2,500, and regular tickets were $500.

Michot angered many of his constituents on June 10, 2008 by voting 'yea' on SB 672,^[1] which, had Governor Bobby Jindal not vetoed, would have tripled Louisiana legislators' pay, making them the 8th highest paid legislators in the country.

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

Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by Odon L. Bacque, Jr.	Louisiana State Representative from District 43 (Lafayette Parish) Michael John Michot 1992–2000	Succeeded by Ernie Alexander
Louisiana Senate
Preceded by J. Lomax "Max" Jordan	Louisiana State Senator from District 23 (Lafayette Parish) Michael John Michot 2000–	Succeeded by Page Cortez (pending January 2012)

References

1. ^ [1] "SB 3rd & Final Subj to Call SB 672 BY DUPLESSIS" LA State Legislature, 10 June 2008
2. ^ "Many La. incumbents get a free pass, September 9, 2011". Alexandria Daily Town Talk. http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110909/NEWS01/110909012/Analysis-Many-La-incumbents-get-free-pass-. Retrieved September 11, 2011. 

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)

Persondata
Name	Michot, Michael J.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 12, 1963
Place of birth	Lafayette, Louisiana
Date of death
Place of death