Mike Walsworth

Michael Arthur Walsworth (born March 27, 1956) is an American real estate developer from West Monroe, Louisiana, who is a former Republican member for District 33 of the Louisiana State Senate, holding the seat from 2008 until 2020. He previously represented District 15 (Ouachita Parish) in the Louisiana House of Representatives until term-limited.

Mike Walsworth
Member of the Louisiana Senate
from the 33rd district
In office
2008–2020
Preceded byRobert Jocelyn Barham
Succeeded byStewart Cathey, Jr.
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 15th district
In office
1996–2008
Preceded byCharles Anding
Succeeded byFrank A. Hoffmann
Personal details
Born (1956-03-27) March 27, 1956
West Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, USA
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Married
ChildrenLindsay Walsworth Cobb, Kaden Walsworth, Corbin Walsworth
EducationUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe
OccupationReal estate developer

Walsworth's Senate district includes Ouachita, Claiborne, Morehouse, Union, and West Carroll parishes. He defeated the Democratic State Representative Charles McDonald of Fairbanks community in northern Ouachita Parish to succeed the term-limited Republican Senator Robert J. Barham of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish. Walsworth polled 17,292 (51.7 percent) to McDonald's 16,058 (48.3 percent).[1] McDonald's House seat, to which he was term-limited, was narrowly won in the November 17, 2007, state election by a Republican, Sam Little, retired farmer from Bastrop, seat of Morehouse Parish.

From 1984 to 1996, Walsworth was a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee. On February 9, 2008, he sought to return to the committee to represent his former State Representative District 15 berth. But he withdrew his candidacy two days before the closed primary election, and the position went by default to M. Randall "Randy" Donald. Walsworth was first elected to the state House in the 1995 primary when he unseated two-term Democrat Charles Anding of West Monroe and assumed the seat in 1996.

Biography

Walsworth was born to Leo Walsworth and the former Lila "Tootsie" Kitchens (1921–2007) in West Monroe in Ouachita Parish. His maternal grandparents, Marshall and Emily Kitchens, operated a grocery store in Monroe. Walsworth graduated in 1974 from West Monroe High School and thereafter procured a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana University). He is a real estate developer. He previously worked in management of Coca-Cola. He is affiliated with the Greater Ouachita Lions Club, American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, Civitan Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and American Heart Association. He is also involved in the United Way of America, National Rifle Association, and ULM Alumni Association. Walsworth is the song leader at a local Church of Christ. He is the father of one daughter, Lindsay Michelle Walsworth. "Looking at the generation, not the next election" has been a motto of Walsworth's political campaigns. In the legislature, Walsworth worked to establish the Ouachita Port Commission and the Ouachita Expressway Commission. He authored a law which renders video voyeurism illegal in Louisiana. He worked on the Ethics Reform Bill to prohibit lawmakers from doing business with the state. He also worked to pass tort reform in his first legislative session. He has pushed for funding of rural schools, which abound in House District 15 and Senate District 33.

In his initial election to the House, Walsworth defeated Charles Anding, 7,745 (55 percent) to 6,403 (45 percent).[2] In 1999, with 9,060 votes (67 percent), Walsworth defeated Democrat Royce Calhoun, who had 4,441 votes (33 percent), to win a second term in the House. Walsworth was unopposed in 2003 for his third and final term in the House. In 2013, Walsworth joined State Representative Rob Shadoin of Ruston to rename the Louisiana Highway 33 bridge over Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville after Representative James Peyton Smith of Union Parish. James Peyton Smith had died in 2006.[3]

2015 reelection campaign

To remain in the state Senate, Walsworth faced opposition in the nonpartisan blanket primary scheduled for October 24, 2015, from his intra-party rival, former U.S. Representative Vance McAllister.

Walsworth handily turned back McAllister's challenge, 15,891 votes (62.3 percent) to 9,626 (37.7 percent).[4]

In January 2016, Senate President John Alario appointed Walsworth chairman of the Environment Committee.[5]

Walsworth is the chairman of two legislative committees, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and the Legislative Audit Advisory Committee. He also serves as the vice-chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget and the Senate Education Committee. Senator Walsworth is the former chairman of the Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation. He has won numerous pro-business, economic development, early childhood education, and school-based health center awards. In 2014, he was rated 100% pro-life by Louisiana Right to Life. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, he was named Outstanding Family Advocate by the conservative Louisiana Family Forum and in 2013, he was given their Life and Liberty Award.

Term-limited in the state Senate, Walsworth is a Republican candidate for Ouachita Parish Clerk of Court in the nonpartisan blanket primary on October 12, 2019. He ruled out an attempt to return to the District 15 state House seat that he held prior to 2008. The outgoing District 15 representative, Republican Frank A. Hoffmann, is raising money to contest Walsworth's Senate seat.[6]

References
  1. "Results for Election Date: 10/20/2007". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  2. "Results for Election Date: 10/21/1995". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  3. "Greg Hilburn, State honors the late Rep. Smith with bridge renaming, September 12, 2013". Monroe News-Star. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  4. "Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  5. Greg Hilburn (January 13, 2016). "Senate Labor chair won't support minimum wage increase". The Monroe News-Star. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  6. Sam Hanna, Jr., "Who Wants to Serve?", The Colfax Chronicle, January 31, 2019, p. 4.

News Articles
Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by
Charles Anding		 Louisiana State Representative from District 16
1996 – 2008		 Succeeded by
Frank A. Hoffmann
Louisiana State Senate
Preceded by
Robert Jocelyn Barham		 Louisiana State Senator from District 33
2008 – 2020		 Succeeded by
Stewart Cathey, Jr.
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