Les Farnum
| Leslie Allen "Les" Farnum | |
 | |
Louisiana State Representative for District 33 (Calcasieu Parish)
| |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 13, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Stuart Moss |
|---|---|
| Born | July 31, 1957 Sulphur, Louisiana |
| Political party | Democrat-turned-Republican (2019) |
| Spouse(s) | Karen Rogers Farnum |
| Children | Four children Three grandchildren |
| Residence | Sulphur, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Sulphur High School Sowela Technical Community College (Lake Charles) |
| Occupation | Division manager of Power and Control Systems in Lake Charles; engaged in engineering, maintenance, and construction |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Leslie Allen Farnum, known as Les Farnum (born July 31, 1957), is the District 33 state representative for Calcasieu Parish in the southwestern portion of Louisiana. To win his seat, Farnum changed parties from Democrat to Republican. With 6,208 votes (56 percent), he unseated the short-term more conservative Representative Stuart Moss, a Republican who received 4,793 votes (44 percent).[1]
In 2018, the District 33 seat opened when incumbent Representative Mike Danahay, a Democart, was elected mayor of Sulphur, a city twelve miles east of the larger Lake Charles. At the time Farnum was a member of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, an elected position. On November 6, 2018, Farnum ran for the House seat as a Democrat and polled 4,883 votes (39 percent). The victor for the year-long term was Republican Stuart Moss, who received 6,795 votes (54 percent). A second Democrat in the race, Teri Ann Estes Johnson (born July 10, 1959), the president of the Calcasieu Federation of Teachers, finished with 912 votes (7 percent).[2] [3]
Moss' defeat came only eleven months after his election as representative.
Farnum joins Democrats in choosing House Speaker
On January 13, 2020, Farnum, a former Democrat, 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 Independent legislators, and the Republican defectors.
References
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12, 2019.
- ↑ Theresa Schmidt (October 22, 2018). Three running for State Rep. 33 in west Calcasieu. KPLC-TV. Retrieved on October 26, 2018.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 2018.
