John Kennedy (Louisiana politician)

Kennedy at the Natchitoches Christmas Parade in 2014

Kennedy left the Foster administration when he was elected as Louisiana State Treasurer in 1999, having unseated incumbent Democrat Ken Duncan, 621,796 (55.6 percent) to 497,319 (44.4 percent).[9] Kennedy was re-elected Treasurer without opposition in 2003, 2007 and 2011.[10] In 2015, he defeated his single opponent challenger with 80 percent of the vote.

In the 2004 election, Kennedy endorsed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry over George W. Bush.[11]

After being courted by the Republican Party for months, Kennedy announced in a letter to his constituents that he was leaving the Democratic Party and joining the Republicans, effective August 27, 2007. In his letter, he announced that he would run again for State Treasurer.[12]

During his third term as state treasurer to which he was elected in 2007, Kennedy devised a twenty-four-point plan by which the state could save money.[13] Governor Bobby Jindal said Kennedy could "streamline" his own department. Many of Kennedy's ideas were derived from the Louisiana Commission for Streamlining Government, on which he served in his official capacity as State Treasurer.[14]

Then-President-elect Donald Trump and Kennedy campaigning in Baton Rouge

In 2004, Kennedy campaigned for the United States Senate seat held by John Breaux, who retired from elected office. Kennedy ran as a Democrat in the state's jungle primary, losing to Republican David Vitter and Democrat Chris John.[15] Vitter won the election in the primary.[12][16]

Kennedy ran for the U.S. Senate again in 2008, this time as a Republican. He was defeated, 52.1 to 45.7 percent, by incumbent Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu; the same year, Republican presidential nominee John McCain defeated Barack Obama in Louisiana, but Obama was elected nationwide.[17][18]

On January 26, 2016, Kennedy announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate for a third time. In seeking to succeed the retiring David Vitter, he faced more than twenty opponents.[19] Vitter announced his retirement from the Senate in 2015 after losing a bid for governor to the Democrat John Bel Edwards.[20]

Kennedy's senatorial campaign was endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Rifle Association, the National Right to Life Committee, the American Conservative Union, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and President-elect Donald Trump.[21][22] Kennedy, who had supported Vitter for governor the previous year, won the jungle primary and faced Democrat Foster Campbell in a December 10 runoff election. President-elect Donald Trump—who had received Kennedy's support in the 2016 presidential election[23]—campaigned for Kennedy the day before the runoff election.[24] Kennedy defeated Campbell, 536,204 (61 percent) to 347,813 (39 percent), in the runoff election. Kennedy lost the largest populated parishes of Orleans and East Baton Rouge, in which he had been reared, but he was a runaway winner in Campbell's home parish of Bossier.[25]

Kennedy was sworn in as Louisiana's junior U.S. Senator on January 3, 2017.

In June 2017, Kennedy "grilled" Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in a hearing before the Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Service, Education and Related Agencies. In the exchange, he contrasted the lack of school choice available for younger pupils in many rural areas of the country to the widespread brands of mayonnaise available on the grocery store shelf: "Now I can go down to my overpriced Capitol Hill grocery this afternoon and choose among about six different types of mayonnaise. How come I can't do that for my kid?" Kennedy said. The remark attracted national attention. DeVos replied that the Trump administration budget proposal would give parents and students more power and opportunity so that American education could again become "the envy of the world."[26]

Kennedy has attracted comment for his manner in the Senate. In a January 2018 article The Huffington Post reported: "Since being elected to the Senate a year ago, Kennedy ... has made a name for himself on Capitol Hill with his wit, humor and penchant for folksy expressions ― a notable feat in a place where jargon and arcane procedure tend to reign supreme".[27]

In the months leading up to the 2019 election, Kennedy was mentioned as a prospective candidate for governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary against Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards. But on December 3, 2018, Kennedy announced that he would not run for governor, and said that he preferred to remain in the Senate.[28]

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede, Kennedy announced that—following the precedent set by Democratic lawmakers in 2001,[29] 2005,[30] and 2017 electoral college certifications[31]—he would, along with eleven other Republican senators, object to certifying portions of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count on January 6,[32] citing election integrity concerns.[33] He was participating in the certification when the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol happened. He called the attack "despicable and shameful." Kennedy called the participants rioters and for them "to go to jail and pay for the destruction they caused."[34] When the Capitol was secure and Congress returned to complete the certification, Kennedy voted to sustain the objection to certifying Arizona’s electoral votes[35]—Arizona being the tightest state race in the 2020 presidential election[36]—calling for a bipartisan electoral review commission "to ensure full confidence and transparency in our elections."[37] Kennedy did not object to certifying the electoral votes from Pennsylvania or any other state.[38] As a result of his vote, Big Easy Magazine called for Kennedy to be expelled from Congress.[39]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (Chairmen)
• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Policy
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration
  • Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
  • Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law
  • Subcommittee on Intellectual Property
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Caucuses

• Senate Republican Conference

Senator Kennedy stated he would be filing a bill to "prohibit airlines from putting animals in overhead bins" following the death of a dog in an overhead bin while flying United Airlines during March 2018.[41] He said, "officials would face significant fines" if noncompliant.[42] In March 2018, Kennedy introduced the Welfare Of Our Furry Friends (WOOFF) Act, but the bill died in committee.[43]

Kennedy is "strongly opposed" to abortion.[44]

Kennedy has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA), which endorsed him during his 2016 Senate run. He is very close to former NRA president Wayne LaPierre.[45][46]

Kennedy crossed party lines to oppose the appointment of three of U.S. President Donald Trump's U.S. District Court judicial nominees who Kennedy believed were not qualified for the positions. They were Jeff Mateer, Brett Talley, and Matthew S. Petersen. All three nominations were withdrawn by the White House.[47] On December 13, 2017, during Petersen's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kennedy questioned Petersen about basic legal procedure,[48] asking if he knew what the Daubert standard was, and what a motion in limine was. Petersen struggled to answer.[49][50] Kennedy also voted against the nomination of Gregory G. Katsas to the D.C. Circuit, though the nomination was still confirmed.[51]

He opposed the First Step Act. The bill passed 87–12 on December 18, 2018.[52]

John Kennedy introduced a bill on March 7, 2018, that would "prohibit companies like Comcast and Verizon from blocking or throttling web content."[53] Kennedy was one of three Republican senators, the others were Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who voted with the entirety of the Democratic caucus on May 16, 2018, to overturn the FCC's repeal of net neutrality.

In April 2018, Kennedy was one of eight Republican senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and acting Secretary of State John Sullivan expressing "deep concern" over a report by the United Nations exposing "North Korean sanctions evasion involving Russia and China" and asserting that the findings "demonstrate an elaborate and alarming military-venture between rogue, tyrannical states to avoid United States and international sanctions and inflict terror and death upon thousands of innocent people" while calling it "imperative that the United States provides a swift and appropriate response to the continued use of chemical weapons used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his forces, and works to address the shortcomings in sanctions enforcement."[54]

In January 2019, Kennedy was one of eleven Republican senators to vote to advance legislation intended to block President Trump's intent to lift sanctions against three Russian companies.[55]