Neil Riser

Hartwell Neil Riser, Jr.
Louisiana State Senator from District 32 (Avoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, Franklin, La Salle, Ouachita, Rapides, Richland, and West Feliciana parishes
Incumbent
Assumed office 2008
Preceded by	Noble Ellington
Personal details
Born	April 25, 1962 (1962-04-25) (age 49) Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Vicki Smith Riser
Children	Emilie and Allison Riser
Residence	Columbia, Louisiana
Alma mater	Caldwell Parish High School University of Louisiana at Monroe
Occupation	Funeral home owner

Riser's local Senate office in Columbia is located across from the Caldwell Parish Courthouse.

Hartwell Neil Riser, Jr., known as Neil Riser (born April 25, 1962),^[1] is a funeral home owner in Columbia, the seat of Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate. On January 14, 2008, Riser succeeded outgoing Democratic Senator Noble Ellington. Riser is the first Republican in modern times to have won this Senate seat. John Henry Baker of Delhi was the first Republican to have sought the seat, but in the general election held on February 1, 1972, Baker fell well short of victory. Ellington, from Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish, meanwhile, at the age of sixty-five, became a freshman member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. However, Ellington had also served earlier in the House from 1988 to 1996.

To win his Senate seat, Riser defeated the Democratic former State Representative Bryant O. Hammett, Jr., a civil engineer from Ferriday in Concordia Parish, located adjacent to the Mississippi River in eastern Louisiana. Hammett, a former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was the outgoing secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries under Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who did not seek reelection.^[2]

Riser polled 15,622 votes (55 percent) to Hammett's 12,817 ballots (45 percent). District 32 includes all of Catahoula, Concordia, Caldwell, Franklin, La Salle, and West Feliciana parishes and portions of Avoyelles, Ouachita, Rapides, and Richland parishes.^[3]

In the primary, Riser polled 49 percent of the vote and fell just short of an outright victory.^[4] Riser attributed his success to "a good grassroots system that helped us. We did it one vote at a time...We truly were able to win against an embedded political system."^[2]

Riser promised to file legislation to roll back the state income tax hike that became law when voters approved the Stelly Plan, named for former Republican State Representative Vic Stelly of Lake Charles. The rollback took effect early in 2009. Riser maintains that voters were misled when they ratified the Stelly Plan, which cut certain taxes and raised others.^[5]

Riser vowed that he would work with Governor Bobby Jindal "to move our state and our region forward." He indicated that he would work to reduce the tax burden on businesses and families. His website stresses education, health-care reform, highway expansion, traditional values, and Second Amendment rights.^[6] He advertised widely on the radio program of conservative talk show host Moon Griffon of Monroe, who urged listeners to support Riser.^[7] Riser also obtained the support of the late congressional candidate Lee Fletcher of Monroe, who declared him "solid as a rock and has the best background to represent real change" in Baton Rouge.^[8]

Riser was born in Columbia to Hartwell Riser, Sr. (1934–1985), and the former Lillian Gore (born 1937), since Lillian R. Gentry of Monroe, the wife of Herschel Gentry, Jr. He graduated in 1980 from Caldwell Parish High School in Columbia.^[6] Located south of Monroe in northeastern Louisiana, Columbia was also the home of Governor John McKeithen (1918–1999) and McKeithen's son, Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen (1946–2005).

In 1984, Riser earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana University). He is president and owner of Riser Funeral Homes in Caldwell and La Salle parishes. The Riser family has operated the funeral home since 1934. He also serves as a board member of Caldwell Bank and Trust in Columbia. He is a past president of Pelican State Life Insurance Company. He was previously in the timber business, having worked in logging at the age of fourteen.^[9]

Riser is married to the former Vicki Smith, the daughter of Glen and Carolyn Smith of the Fort Necessity community in Franklin Parish. She taught at River Oaks High School in Monroe. The couple has two daughters, Emilie (born 1988) and Allison (born 1992).^[6]

Riser served on the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee from 1996 to 2000.

Louisiana portal

References

1. ^ Net Detective :: Login :: Get the scoop on anyone!
2. ^ ^{a b} The News Star - www.thenewsstar.com - Monroe, LA
3. ^ "Louisiana election returns, November 17, 2007". sos.louisiana.gov. http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcmp&rqsdta=11170720012968. Retrieved November 25, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Louisiana election returns, October 20, 2007". sos.louisiana.gov. http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms3&rqsdta=102007. Retrieved November 25, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ The Ouachita Citizen: News: Riser announces candidacy for Senate District 32
6. ^ ^{a b c} Neil Riser for State Senate
7. ^ The Moon Griffon Show
8. ^ Louisiana News Link: Endorsement: Neil Riser Is Heads And Shoulders Better Than Bryant Hammett
9. ^ http://www.neilriser.com/; http://www.ouachitacitizen.com/news.php?id=815

Louisiana Senate
Preceded by Noble Ellington	Louisiana State Senator from District 32 (Avoyelles, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, Franklin, La Salle, Ouachita, Richland, Rapides, and West Feliciana parishes Hartwood Neil Riser, Jr. 2008–	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Riser, Neil
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 25, 1962
Place of birth	Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, USA
Date of death
Place of death