Jerome Zeringue
| Jerome Peter "Zee" Zeringue | |
 | |
| In office January 2016 – | |
| Preceded by | Gordon Dove |
|---|---|
| Born | April 1962 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Julie Marie Daigle Zeringue |
| Children | Zachary T. Zeringue |
| Residence | Houma, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Alma mater | Nicholls State University |
| Occupation | Executive director, Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Jerome Peter Zeringue, also known as Zee Zeringue (born April 1962),[1] is a Republican state representative for District 52 in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in south Louisiana. On January 11, 2016, Zeringue succeeded the term-limited Gordon Dove, who was instead elected as the president of Terrebonne Parish.
In the October 24, 2015 primary election, Zeringue, with 5,049 votes (50.03 percent), defeated by six votes another Republican candidate, J J Buquet, who polled 5,043 votes (49.97 percent).[2]
Zeringue is the executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District. Since 2008, he has been the chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority. He studied at Tulane University in New Orleans, Nicholls State University in Thibodaux , and received a bachelor's degree in zoology and a master's degree in fisheries science from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He and his wife, the former Julie Marie Daigle (also born 1962), reside in Houma; they have a son, Zachary Zeringue (born 1991).[3]
Early in 2016, as a freshman representative, Zeringue joined a large House majority, 76 to 28, in supporting legislation by then Representative Katrina Renee Jackson, since a Democratic state senator from Monroe, that increased the state sales tax by one cent over eighteen months, beginning April 1, 2018. The time frame was subsequently increased to twenty-seven months to extend through June 30, 2018. Joining Zeringue in support of the bill were area legislators, Tanner Magee, another Houma Republican, and Democrat Jerry "Truck" Gisclair of Larose in Lafourche Parish. Republican Beryl Adams Amedee, a conservative from Gray in Terrebonne Parish and Independent then legislator Dee Richard of Thibodaux opposed the tax hike.[4]
Zeringue joins Democrats in choosing House Speaker
On January 13, 2020, Zeringue was among twenty-three Republican lawmakers, known as the Fraud Squad, who voted for the Moderate Republican Clay Schexnayder of Ascension Parish, whose election as Speaker depended heavily on the votes of thirty-five Democratic lawmakers, along with two Independents, and the Republican defectors. Statewide radio commentator Moon Griffon coined the term "Fraud Squad" for the twenty-three dissidents nominally in the Republican Party. The Schexnayder selection was achieved by Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards making contacts with lawmakers.[5]
Zeringue was unopposed for this third and final term in the state House in the primary election held on October 14, 2023.
References
- ↑ Jerome Zeringue, ZIP 70360; date of birth: April 1962. Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin. Retrieved on January 31, 2020.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 2015.
- ↑ Jerome Zeringue's Biography. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on January 31, 2020.
- ↑ Jeremy Harper (February 27, 2016). Local lawmakers mixed on tax hikes. Houma Today. Retrieved on March 26, 2016; material no longer on-line.
- ↑ The Moon Griffon Show, January 23, 2020.
