Chuck Kleckley

Charles Edward "Chuck" Kleckley​
Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives​
In office January 9, 2012​ – January 11, 2016​
Preceded by	Jim Tucker​
Succeeded by	Taylor Barras​
Succeeded by	Mark Abraham​
Louisiana State Representative for District 36 (Calcasieu Parish)
In office January 2005​ – January 11, 2016​
Preceded by	Dan Flavin​
Born	December 3, 1959​
Political party	Republican​
Spouse(s)	Laurie Pitman Kleckley​
Residence	Lake Charles, Louisiana
Alma mater	McNeese State University​

Charles Edward Kleckley, known as Chuck KIleckley (born December 3, 1959), is a businessman in Lake Charles, Louisiana, who is a Republican former Speaker of the state House of Representatives. From 2005 to 2016, he represented House District 36 in southwestern Calcasieu Parish.^[1]

Term-limited in the primary election held on October 24, 2015, Kleckley was succeeded in the House by a Moderate Republican, Mark Abraham, who after a single term in the office was elected in 2019 to the state Senate.​

Kleckley received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles. His District 36 practically surrounds McNeese, which attracts students regionally and provides local jobs. The district contains bedroom communities, where reside managerial and professional workers as well as higher-paid blue-collar personnel.^[2]​

Kleckley previously served on the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body. He was unopposed in a special election in 2005 to succeed Republican Dan Flavin, a real estate agency owner who resigned early in his fifth term. Kleckley was also reelected without opposition in 2007 and 2011 to his first and second full terms.^[2]​

In 2007, Representative Kleckley received a 94 percent rating from the business interest group, the[Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.^[2]​ In 2008, Kleckley voted against a controversial legislative pay raise ultimately vetoed by Republican then Governor Bobby Jindal.^[3]​

On October 25, 2011, Governor Jindal endorsed Kleckley as his choice to succeed the term-limited Jim Tucker as the state House Speaker.^[4] Others who had announced for the position soon withdrew, including Republican Representatives Joel Robideaux of Lafayette and Erich Ponti and Hunter Greene, both of Baton Rouge.^[5] The House of Representatives historically handily confirms the governor's choice as the Speaker, and Robideaux soon left the competition.​ However, Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, could not obtain his Speaker of choice in 2016, as the post passed to Republican Taylor Barras of New Iberia.

Representative Kleckley pursued an interest in coastal issues ranging from natural resources to conservation, having monitored the formerly troubled board that manages the Port of Lake Charles. He also worked to procure the passage of legislation which expanded the functions of the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District.

In 2012, Kleckley worked with House Republicans and Governor Jindal to pass a monumental education reform package that promoted parental choice and the ability for a child to escape a failing school district. The bold reforms also added strict requirements for teacher tenure evaluations. During the same legislative session, under Kleckley's leadership, the House passed Constitutional Amendment #2 to the Louisiana State Constitution. It is a law that labels the right to bear arms as a "fundamental right" and subject to "strict scrutiny." It provides the strongest protection of the right to keep and bear arms of any jurisdiction in the United States.^[2]

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