Tony Bacala

A Roman Catholic, Bacala graduated from East Ascension High School in Gonzales and in 1982 received his degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He is the president of the LSU Law Enforcement Institute. In 2004, he graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was employed from 1977 to 2015 with the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Department. He is a member of the Industrial Development Board of Ascension Parish.[2]

Bacala is married to the former Lisa Faucheux (born July 1962), a Republican[3] who is employed by the Ascension Parish School Board.[4]

On January 11, 2016, Bacala succeeded outgoing Republican Representative Eddie J. Lambert, also of Prairieville, who instead moved up to the District 18 seat in the Louisiana State Senate. In the primary election of October 24, 2015, Bacala, with 6,987 votes (66 percent), defeated two other Republicans, Pat Bell, with 2,654 votes (25.1 percent), and Rusty Messer, who ran third with 947 votes (8.9 percent).[5]

He serves on the House Committees of Criminal Justice, Retirement, and Appropriations. He also sits on the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.[2]

In July 2017, House Republicans named the conservative Bacala as their caucus vice chairman to succeed John Schroder of Covington in St. Tammany Parish, who resigned his House seat to run in the October 14 special election for state treasurer. By secret ballot, Bacala defeated 29 to 26, his colleague Chris Leopold of Belle Chase in Plaquemines Parish, who is considered more moderate in outlook than Bacala. The majority leader is Lance Harris of Alexandra; Republican Taylor Barras of New Iberia, another conservative, is the House Speaker.[6]