Julie Quinn
| Julie Ann Unangst Quinn | |
| In office 2005–2012 | |
| Preceded by | John Hainkel |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Bodi White |
Member of the
Jefferson Parish School Board | |
| In office 2001–2005 | |
| Born | October 26, 1966 Greenville, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Francis Patrick Quinn (1996-2006, divorced) |
| Children | Two sons (Spencer and Ashton)[1] Parents |
| Residence | Metairie, Jefferson Parish |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University Loyola University New Orleans |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Julie Ann Unangst Quinn (born October 26, 1966) is an attorney from Metairie] Louisiana. A Republican, she is a former member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 6, which previously included parts of Jefferson, Orleans (Uptown section), St. Tammany, and Tangipahoa parishes..
Quinn was elected after winning a special election runoff held in July 2005 against fellow Republican Diane Winston of Covington, who was then a state representative. The Senate seat became available by the sudden death of veteran Republican lawmaker John Joseph Hainkel, Jr.
Background
Quinn is the oldest of three children born to Bruce Edward Unangst, Sr. (born January 1949), a native of Greenville in Mercer County in northwestern Pennsylvania, and the former Shirley Ann Lineman (born March 1948).[2] Bruce Unangst, I, is a resident of Madisonville, Louisiana, was served as the first president of the combined parish and municipal government for St. Tammany Parish.[2]He is a real estate agent and banker in the parish seat of government in Covington. Quinn’s mother also had political aspirations and unsuccessfully sought the District 76 seat in St. Tammany Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives in a four-candidate all-Republican field[2] in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 19, 1991.[3] In the second round of balloting, the incumbent Edward C. Scogin of Slidell, was unseated for the position that Shirley Unangst had sought by Suzanne Mayfield Krieger.[4]
She has two brothers, Bruce Unangst, II (born 1971), of Prairieville in Ascension Parish and Christopher Martin Unangst (born 1980) of Destin, Florida. Bruce Unangst, II, a Baton Rouge attorney ran unsuccessfully in 2014 for the Division C seat on the state 23rd Judicial District Court. He was defeated by fellow Republican Katherine Tess Percy Stromberg (born 1972), who polled 18,355 votes (61 percent) to Unangst's 11,657 (39 percent).[5] In the campaign, Stromberg questioned Unangst's role as a criminal defense attorney, having been co-counsel to serial killer Derrick Todd Lee. She argued in her advertising that Unangst had been dishonest in regarding of his experience in felony cases, which implied a "tough-on-crime" commitment possessed instead by Stromberg.[6]
Quinn graduated in 1989 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism. In 1992, she earned her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University in New Orleans, at which she was involved with the Law Review and Moot Court and was twice named a teaching assistant in legal research and writing.[2]
In 1996, Quinn married businessman Francis Patrick Quinn, owner of the Decatur hotel chain. In 2001, Quinn ran for and won a special election to the Jefferson Parish School Board. From that berth she declared her support for fiscal responsibility[2] and worked to establish the first magnet school in Jefferson Parish. The Quinns divorced in 2006. In 2012, then Jefferson Parish President John F. Young, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2015,[7] announced his engagement to Quinn.[8] However, the engagement was broken after a five-year relationship.[9] In 2019, Young sought to return to his previous post as Jefferson Parish president but was defeated by another Republican, Cynthia Lee Sheng.[10]
Career
In order to run for the Louisiana State Senate in 2005, Quinn resigned from the Jefferson Parish School Board. She was elected over state Representative Diane Winston and took the oath of office in August 2005, just three weeks before Hurricane Katrina.[1] Quinn was thereafter elected to a full term in the Senate seat in the primary held on October 20, 2007.[11]
Senator Quinn served on the House Insurance Committee, a position through which she became an advocate for property insurance reform. She also worked to require insurance companies to pay the claims to homeowners in the wake of Katrina. After her first legislative session, she was named "Senator of the Year" by the Louisiana Childcare Association. Within eighteen months, she was named Legislator of the Year by the Louisiana Orthopedic Association, the Louisiana Chiropractic Association, and the Louisiana Nurse Anesthetists. She has been twice named to the "Hall of Fame" of the conservative Louisiana Family Forum for a voting record 100 percent in line with the traditional values of that group.[12]
Additionally, Quinn supported her late Senate colleague Heulette Fontenot's Pet Evacuation Act of 2006 and in 2008 worked to pass legislation protecting and including animals in a Domestic Abuse Protective Order. In 2008 she was named "Legislator of the Year" by the United States Humane Society. Quinn sponsored a bill requiring mandatory jail time for people who violate a restraining order at the request of the Louisiana Coalition for Domestic Abuse. The bill is now law. She also filed a bill banning texting while driving in Louisiana that also became law.
In 2008, then Senate President Joel Chaisson, a Democrat from Destrehan in St. Charles Parish, named Quinn as chair of the Judiciary A Committee. In that role, she managed a large amount of non-fiscal legislation relating to clerks of court, tort reform, courts, property law, successions, family law, state civil code, code of evidence, and children’s code. She also served on the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs.[12][1]
In 2009, she championed the cause of homeowners having problems with Chinese drywall. In 2011, she chose not to run for re-election in part because redistricting would have placed her in the same senatorial district as fellow Republican Conrad Appel of Metairie. She was mentioned as a potential candidate for the state appeals court.[13]
She formerly was an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School in New Orleans. She taught “Legislative Policy,” geared to teaching law students the methods for changing law and arguing “legislative intent” in the courtroom.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Julie Quinn biogaphy. Quinnalsterberg.com. Retrieved on November 16, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Brenda Hodge (August 2, 2005). Senator Quinn Takes Oath of Office as New District 6 State Senator: Sets Education, Economic Development and Workforce Development as Priorities. Louisiana State Senate. Retrieved on November 16, 2019.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 16, 1991.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 4, 2014.
- ↑ David J. Mitchell (November 5, 2014). Judicial race in River Parishes heated as candidates complain of tactics. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on November 16, 2019.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 2015.
- ↑ Richard Rainey (February 24, 2012). John Young, Julie Quinn to marry. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on February 20, 2013.
- ↑ John Young, Parish President. Johnfyoung.com.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns (Jefferson Parish), October 12 2019.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Louisiana State Senate District 6. senate.legis.state.la.us. Retrieved on October 19, 2009; no longer on-line.
- ↑ Bill Barrow (March 19, 2011). On eve of redistricting session, Sen. Julie Quinn says she won't seek re-election. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on November 16, 2019.
