Heather Cloud
| Heather Deshea Miley Cloud | |
 | |
Louisiana State Senator
for District 28 (Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, and St. Landry parishes) | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 13, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Eric LaFleur |
|---|---|
| Born | April 12, 1982 Place of birth missing Resident of Turkey Creek |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Jody Lynn Cloud |
| Children | Logan and Ethan Cloud |
| Occupation | Educator-turned-businesswoman |
| Religion | Christian |
Heather Deshea Miley Cloud (born April 12, 1982), is the Republican state senator for District 28, which encompasses Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, and St. Landry parishes in south Louisiana. On January 13, 2020, she will succeed the term-limited Democratic Senator Eric LaFleur of Ville Platte in Evangeline Parish.
Political life
Cloud finished the Senate race with 22,293 votes (63 percent) and defeated two Democratic candidate, both outgoing state representatives, Robert Allen Johnson (born 1975), an attorney from Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, and Bernard LeBas, a pharmacist from Ville Platte. Johnson received 8,370 (24 percent); LeBas, 4,646 (13 percent). There was a 52 percent turnout of registered voters. Accompanying Cloud's victory was the election of a Republican businessman, Daryl Deshotel, to succeed Johnson in the state House.[1]
From 2011 to 2019, she was a two-term mayor of rural Turkey Creek in Evangeline Parish. She was from 2011 to 2018 the president of the Evangeline Parish Tax Commission. She ran for mayor after state auditors found irregularities in the finances of the village. Though small in population, Turkey Creek owns a large utility system that furnishes water to thousands of customer sin northern Evangeline Parish. The mayor is also the director of operations and finance for the utility system. In this capacity, Mayor Cloud became experienced in dealing with the state agencies, the departments of Health and Hospitals and Environmental Quality.[2] On February 21, 2015, Cloud was reelected mayor, 53 to 45 percent over a No Party opponent, Bert K. Campbell. Turnout in the race was 78.3 percent of registered voters.[3]
Cloud is also the Evangeline Parish representative on the Louisiana Republican State Executive, a 144-member body which meets in Baton Rouge.[2]
In 2018, Cloud was an unsuccessful candidate for Louisiana Secretary of State to complete the term of [ Republican Tom Schedler, who resigned amid a sex scandal. Cloud finished eighth in a field of nine candidates with 71,195 votes (5 percent). Republican Kyle Ardoin emerged the winner of the special election,[4] and he then won a full term as secretary of state on November 16, 2019, in the same election in which Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards narrowly defeated the Baton Rouge businessman Republican Eddie Rispone.
Personal life
Cloud was formerly employed by the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce in Abbeville. In 2005, she left a brief career as an elementary school educator. Cloud and her husband, Jody Lynn Cloud (born 1977), have two sons, Logan and Ethan Cloud. The Clouds operate a restaurant and a trucking company.[2]
In 2017, at the age of thirty-five, Cloud was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery was performed at MD Anderson in Houston. The cancer metastasized beyond her thyroid to numerous lymph nodes. She was preparing for radiation treatment when tests revealed that the cancer had disappeared. Cloud describes herself as "a woman of great faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe in present-day miracles."[2]
References
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 About Heather Cloud. heathercloudforlouisiana.com. Retrieved on December 4, 2019.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, February 21, 2015.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 2018.
