John LaBruzzo
Encyclopedia
John Frank LaBruzzo is a businessman from Metairie
, Louisiana
, who is a departing Republican
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from District 81 in Jefferson Parish
. He occupied the legislative district formerly held by Charles Cusimano
, David Duke
, and David Vitter
. However, effective in January 2012, part of the district, including LaBruzzo's "Bucktown" residence, will be merged into neighboring District 94 in New Orleans
.
A New Orleans native, LaBruzzo is a graduate of the Roman Catholic boarding and day school, St. Stanislaus, located in Bay St. Louis
, Mississippi
. He received a Bachelor of Arts
degree in communications from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge
. He is employed in the fields of medical equipment and real estate sales.
LaBruzzo and his wife, the former Brandi M. Davison, originally from Baton Rouge, reside in Metairie with their young daughters, Ava and Emme LaBruzzo. He had immediately begun campaigning for the District 94 seat upon the close of the 2011 legislative session.
, which was breached in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
. The district consists of the mostly residential neighborhoods of "Bucktown" (moved to District 94), "Hog Alley," and "Old Metairie."
Many of the residents are upper income, especially in the Old Metairie neighborhoods near the Metairie Country Club and enclaves on Metairie Road. There are pockets of older, blue-collar residents and mostly middle-class whites. The district is arguably one of the most conservative in the state and has a large number of declared Republican voters.
LaBruzzo served on the Civil Law and Procedure. Health and Welfare, and Labor and Industrial Relations committees.
, later a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
, finished third with 2,488 votes (15.5 percent). Three other Republicans and a Democrat
held the balance of the votes cast. In the second round of balloting, called the general election
in Louisiana even if both candidates are of the same partisan affiliation, LaBruzzo prevailed with 10,142 votes (57.5 percent) to Landry's 7,504 votes (42.5 percent). LaBruzzo was unopposed for his second term in 2007.
In June 2005, Representative LaBruzzo, in only his second year in the House, entered the special election contest for the District 6 seat in the Louisiana State Senate
vacated by the death of veteran Republican lawmaker John Hainkel
. He finished fifth of seven candidates in the running, having received 1,772 votes (10 percent). Republicans Julie Quinn
and Diane Winston
entered the runoff election in July, and Quinn prevailed. In the Senate race, LaBruzzo had argued that he was more conservative than his intraparty rivals.
The voluntary sterilization plan was similar to a previous proposal by former Representative David Duke, whose 1991 legislation offered $100 a year to welfare recipients who used Norplant
. That proposal too was defeated. LaBruzzo's proposal urged permanent sterilization, rather than the temporary birth control advocated by Duke. Norplant has a 5-year period of effectiveness.
Retiring State Senator Joe McPherson
, a Democrat from Woodworth
in Rapides Parish
, said of LaBruzzo:
"You don't know whether to laugh at him or run from him. He comes up with all kinds of outlandish proposals. They don't go anywhere. They keep him in the news, and maybe if that's what a politician is looking for, maybe he's accomplishing his purpose."
The public furor and negative reaction that arose over LaBruzzo's proposal led to his losing a leadership position. On October 6, 2008, he was removed by Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Jim Tucker
as the vice chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee.
in District 94, and the two faced each other in the primary held on October 22, 2011. Lorusso prevailed with 5,087 votes (56.6 percent) to LaBruzzo's 3,909 (43.5 percent). Governor Bobby Jindal
had remained neutral in the Lorusso-LaBruzzo showdown, but Senator Vitter had appeared with Lorusso even though Vitter's Committee for a Republican Majority made no endorsement in the contest.
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who is a departing Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
from District 81 in Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
. He occupied the legislative district formerly held by Charles Cusimano
Charles Cusimano
Charles Vincent Cusimano, II, known as Chuck Cusimano is a Republican politician from Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana....
, David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
, and David Vitter
David Vitter
David Vitter is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of...
. However, effective in January 2012, part of the district, including LaBruzzo's "Bucktown" residence, will be merged into neighboring District 94 in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
.
A New Orleans native, LaBruzzo is a graduate of the Roman Catholic boarding and day school, St. Stanislaus, located in Bay St. Louis
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Bay Saint Louis is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 8,209. It is the county seat of Hancock County...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
. He received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in communications from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. He is employed in the fields of medical equipment and real estate sales.
LaBruzzo and his wife, the former Brandi M. Davison, originally from Baton Rouge, reside in Metairie with their young daughters, Ava and Emme LaBruzzo. He had immediately begun campaigning for the District 94 seat upon the close of the 2011 legislative session.
District profile
District 81 includes a section of Metairie, a large unincorporated area of Jefferson Parish, near the storied 17th Street Canal17th Street Canal
The 17th Street Canal is a drainage canal in Greater New Orleans, Louisiana, that flows into Lake Pontchartrain. The canal forms a significant portion of the boundary between the city of New Orleans and Metairie, Louisiana...
, which was breached in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. The district consists of the mostly residential neighborhoods of "Bucktown" (moved to District 94), "Hog Alley," and "Old Metairie."
Many of the residents are upper income, especially in the Old Metairie neighborhoods near the Metairie Country Club and enclaves on Metairie Road. There are pockets of older, blue-collar residents and mostly middle-class whites. The district is arguably one of the most conservative in the state and has a large number of declared Republican voters.
LaBruzzo served on the Civil Law and Procedure. Health and Welfare, and Labor and Industrial Relations committees.
Legislative elections
In the nonpartisan blanket primary for House District 81 held in October 2003, the Republican incumbent Jennifer Sneed did not seek a second term. John LaBruzzo led a large field of candidates in the primary with 4,111 votes (25.6 percent). He was placed in a runoff with fellow Republican Mickey Landry, who trailed with 3,717 votes (23.1 percent). Eric SkrmettaEric Skrmetta
Eric Frederick Skrmetta is an attorney from Metairie, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from District 1, which includes suburban New Orleans, the eastern Florida Parishes, and the River Parishes...
, later a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...
, finished third with 2,488 votes (15.5 percent). Three other Republicans and a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
held the balance of the votes cast. In the second round of balloting, called the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
in Louisiana even if both candidates are of the same partisan affiliation, LaBruzzo prevailed with 10,142 votes (57.5 percent) to Landry's 7,504 votes (42.5 percent). LaBruzzo was unopposed for his second term in 2007.
In June 2005, Representative LaBruzzo, in only his second year in the House, entered the special election contest for the District 6 seat in the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Senate
The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All Senators serve four year terms and are assigned multiple committees to work on. The Republicans control the State Senate following a Special Election Victory in District 26 by Jonathan W. Perry...
vacated by the death of veteran Republican lawmaker John Hainkel
John Hainkel
John Joseph Hainkel, Jr., was a gregarious, ruffled, and raspy-voiced legislator from New Orleans who died in office after thirty-seven years of service...
. He finished fifth of seven candidates in the running, having received 1,772 votes (10 percent). Republicans Julie Quinn
Julie Quinn
Julie Ann Unangst Quinn is an attorney from Metairie, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate...
and Diane Winston
Diane Winston
Diane Grisham Winston is a businesswoman from Covington, Louisiana, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1996 until term-limited in 2008. Her District 77 includes parts of St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes in suburban New Orleans. In 2012, the district...
entered the runoff election in July, and Quinn prevailed. In the Senate race, LaBruzzo had argued that he was more conservative than his intraparty rivals.
Voluntary sterilization proposal
On September 23, 2008, LaBruzzo raised controversy by proposing that women who receive public welfare benefits should receive $1,000 if they voluntarily choose to be sterilized. The proposal was criticized by opponents as "racist, sexist, unethical, and immoral."The voluntary sterilization plan was similar to a previous proposal by former Representative David Duke, whose 1991 legislation offered $100 a year to welfare recipients who used Norplant
Norplant
Norplant is a form of birth control developed by the Population Council that was first approved in 1983 in Finland, where it was manufactured by Leiras Oy Pharmaceuticals...
. That proposal too was defeated. LaBruzzo's proposal urged permanent sterilization, rather than the temporary birth control advocated by Duke. Norplant has a 5-year period of effectiveness.
Retiring State Senator Joe McPherson
Joe McPherson
William Joseph "Joe" McPherson, Jr., is a retiring veteran Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from Woodworth, a small community south of Alexandria, Louisiana, the seat of government of Rapides Parish and the largest city in the Central Louisiana region...
, a Democrat from Woodworth
Woodworth, Louisiana
Woodworth is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,080 at the 2000 census....
in Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
, said of LaBruzzo:
"You don't know whether to laugh at him or run from him. He comes up with all kinds of outlandish proposals. They don't go anywhere. They keep him in the news, and maybe if that's what a politician is looking for, maybe he's accomplishing his purpose."
The public furor and negative reaction that arose over LaBruzzo's proposal led to his losing a leadership position. On October 6, 2008, he was removed by Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Jim Tucker
Jim Tucker (Louisiana politician)
James Wayne Tucker, known as Jim Tucker , is the departing Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and an ally of Governor Bobby Jindal. An investment banker from the Terrytown section of the New Orleans metropolitan area, Tucker's District 86 includes precincts from both Jefferson and...
as the vice chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee.
Pro-life legislator
LaBruzzo is among the most pro-life of Louisiana state legislators. In 2011, he defended a bill that he introduced to establish a "prosecutable crime for doctors" who perform abortions except in medical emergencies. LaBruzzo likened women who procure abortions to heroin addicts:- I can assure you if abortion is illegal, it will have a dramatic decrease in the number of abortions that take place. Now the opponents in the opposition argue that whether we make it illegal or not, people are going to get abortions. Well, we’ve illegalized [sic] murder and drugs for a long, long time, and yet those crimes continue to take place. And it’s not our stance here to say that "just because people smoke pot and break the law or use heroin and break the law, then we should legalize it." There are many who say we should. But we don’t agree, we don’t think so. We think it’s wrong and it’s best to keep it illegal ... This is the pro-life bill. And I think you’d [his colleagues] be in a difficult situation if you voted against this bill and tried to convince everybody that you are ardently pro-life.
2011 primary defeat
Under the House redistricting plan, LaBruzzo was placed into the same district as neighboring first-term Republican Representative Nicholas LorussoNicholas Lorusso
Nicholas J. Lorusso, also known as Nick Lorusso , is an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 94 in Orleans Parish...
in District 94, and the two faced each other in the primary held on October 22, 2011. Lorusso prevailed with 5,087 votes (56.6 percent) to LaBruzzo's 3,909 (43.5 percent). Governor Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
had remained neutral in the Lorusso-LaBruzzo showdown, but Senator Vitter had appeared with Lorusso even though Vitter's Committee for a Republican Majority made no endorsement in the contest.