John F. Schwegmann

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John F. Schwegmann​
Louisiana Public Service Commissioner for District 1 (New Orleans suburbs)​
In office January 1, 1981​ – December 31, 1996​
Preceded by	John G. Schwegmann, Jr. ​
Succeeded by	Jack Arthur "Jay" Blossman, Jr.​
Born	December 5, 1945​ New Orleans, Louisiana ​
Nationality	American​
Political party	Democrat-turned-Independent ​
Spouse(s)	Melinda Schwegmann ​
Children	John Guy Schwegmann Heidi Schwegmann Laurie D. Schwegmann​
Occupation	Businessman​

​ John F. Schwegmann (born December 5, 1945) is a businessman from Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, who was elected as a Democrat to the Louisiana Public Service Commission in 1981 to succeed his father, John Gerald Schwegmann, Jr. In 2002, Schwegmann declared himself an Independent. He served for fifteen years on the PSC, the public body which regulates rates for utilities and motor carriers. In 1996, however, he was unseated by the young Republican Jack Arthur "Jay" Blossman, Jr., of Covington in St. Tammany Parish.​

Background

Schwegmann was born to John Schwegmann, Jr., and his first wife, the former Mary Elizabeth Geisenheimer (1917–1994). His parents divorced when he was a toddler, and he was reared primarily with his younger, developmentally-challenged brother, Guy Schwegmann. The first Mrs. Schwegmann was also close to her ex-husband's daughter by the second marriage to the former Melba Margaret Wolfe (1926–1994). Margie Schwegmann Brown is hence a half sister of John F. Schwegmann, but the siblings have been at odds since the sale of the Schwegmann supermarket chain in 1997.​

John F. Schwegmann is married to Melinda B. Schwegmann, the Louisiana lieutenant governor from 1992 to 1996 and a former state representative for Orleans Parish (1997–2004). They have three children, John Guy Schwegmann, who died in 2022 at the age of fifty-two of ALS, Heidi Schwegmann Lazarra, and Laurie S. Damare.​ ​

Collapse of the Schwegmann grocery empire

​ The sale of the Metairie-based Schwegmann chain had a big impact on the economy of New Orleans as well as on the Schwegmann family personally. The company, known for its innovations, began in August 1946 but ceased to exist by 1999. When Schwegmanns acquired the National Food store chain, the company became so financially challenged that they sold the chain in 1997 and closed the remaining eighteen stores in 1999. One of those stores was at the time the largest grocery store in the world.

John F. Schwegmann denied responsibility for the sale of the company. He compared his situation to "No good deed goes unpunished." Margie Schwegmann Brown and 200 retired Schwegmann employees launched separate lawsuits against John F. Schwegmann in the years after the company's demise. Each won multimillion-dollar judgments against him.​

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans agreed with the Louisiana state appeals court and held that John F. Schwegmann failed to "administer the trust for the best interest of the beneficiary [his half-sister], and as such was personally liable for the losses sustained by the trust. . . . [Schwegmann] failed to administer, segregate, and protect trust funds, failed to account annually to the trust beneficiary ... and failed to distribute the trust funds to the beneficiary when he learned that the partnership managing the family business was in financial trouble, and made loans to himself through the family business by using trust funds."​

Adverse publicity over the turmoil surrounding the management of the Schwegmann companies may have contributed to John F. Schwegmann's defeat in the District 1 PSC race in 1996. In that race, Jay Blossman polled 133,455 votes (55 percent) to Schwegmann's 108,957 (45 percent).​ ​

Failed political comeback attempts

In 1998, John F. Schwegmann sought a comeback in the neighboring, predominantly African-American District 3 seat on the PSC formerly represented by Louis Lambert, the unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1979. Still a Democrat at the time, Schwegmann ran second in the nonpartisan blanket primary to incumbent Democrat Irma Muse Dixon. Schwegmann polled 29,619 votes (31 percent); Dixon, 42,911 (45 percent). A third candidate, Democrat Bernard L. Charbonnet, Jr., held the remaining 23,322 votes (24 percent). In the general election Dixon defeated Schwegmann by a large margin: 124,921 votes (70 percent) to Schwegmann's 53,420 ballots (30 percent). She is the first African American member of the PSC.

Blossman defeated John F. Schwegmann again in 2002, 104,963 votes (68 percent) to 49,643 ballots (32 percent). It was in the October 2002 primary that Schwegmann was first listed as an "independent" or officially "no party" on the Louisiana ballot.​

Schwegmann thereafter ran in a June 2005 special election for the state Senate seat vacated earlier by the death of popular veteran Republican John Joseph Hainkel, Jr., but he failed to gain a runoff berth. The seat is outside Schwegmann's domicile. He polled only 252 votes (1 percent). Two Republican women, Diane Winston and Julie Quinn went into the second round of balloting, and Quinn emerged victorious, 51-49 percent.​

Schwegmann has lost four consecutive elections since 1996. Melinda Schwegmann has lost the last two of her three statewide races.​

References

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