Phillip Wesley Preis, Sr., known as Phil Preis (born April 18, 1950), is a Democratic

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...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, based 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...

, 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 specializes in mergers and acquisitions. A native of Newellton

Newellton, Louisiana

Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population is 1,227 in the 2010 census, a decline of 255 from 2000. Newellton is some 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake....

 in Tensas Parish

Tensas Parish, Louisiana

Tensas Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is St. Joseph. In 2010, the population of Tensas Parish was 5,252; it is the least-populous of all sixty-four parishes....

 in northeastern Louisiana, Preis is the son of Patricia M. Preis of Newellton and Edwin Gustav Preis, Sr.

Edwin G. Preis

Edwin Gustav Preis, Sr. , was a farmer and businessman who served from 1972 to 2000 as the Democratic mayor of the town of Newellton in Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana....

 (1916–2011), a former Newellton mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

, who was also from 1976 to 1977 the president of the Louisiana Municipal Association.

Preis graduated in 1968 from the defunct Newellton High School

Newellton High School

Newellton High School was a rural public high school in Newellton in northern Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, along the Mississippi River. NHS operated throughout most of the 20th century until its closure in 2006...

. In 1972, he obtained his Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in accounting 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. He procured his Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 degree in 1975 from Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 in Washington, D.C. He is affiliated with Omicron Delta Kappa

Omicron Delta Kappa

Omicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...

; Beta Gamma Sigma

Beta Gamma Sigma

Beta Gamma Sigma or ΒΓΣ is an honor society for business students and scholars. Founded in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin, it has over 650,000 members, selected from over 500 chapters in AACSB-accredited business schools...

, and Phi Kappa Phi

Phi Kappa Phi

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society established 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education"...

. His Baton Rouge law firm is Preis Gordon.

Preis ran unsuccessfully for governor in both 1995 and 1999. In the October 21, 1995 gubernatorial election, he finished fifth in a field of sixteen candidates with 9.03 percent of the vote. He received a plurality of the vote in his native Tensas Parish (36.91 percent) and in neighboring Franklin Parish (26.17 percent), which includes Winnsboro

Winnsboro, Louisiana

Winnsboro is a city in and the parish seat of Franklin Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of July 2009, the estimated city population was 4,377...

.

In the October 23, 1999 gubernatorial election, Preis ran fourth among eleven candidates, having polled 1.81 percent of the statewide vote. That race was decisively won by the incumbent 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...

 Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.

Murphy J. Foster, Jr.

Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...

Preis and his wife, Terry, have four children, Phillip Preis, Jr., Caroline Preis Graham, Michael Preis, of Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and Jennifer Preis, of Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, Texas. Preis's brother, Edwin G. Preis, Jr. (born 1947), is an attorney with the firm, Preis and Roy in Lafayette

Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

, Louisiana. His sister is Patricia Preis Thompson, the wife of Dr. Tony Thompson, formerly of Newellton and now of Nacogdoches

Nacogdoches, Texas

Nacogdoches is a city in Nacogdoches County, Texas, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the city's population to be 32,996. It is the county seat of Nacogdoches County and is situated in East Texas. Nacogdoches is a sister city of Natchitoches, Louisiana.Nacogdoches is the home of...

, Texas.