Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=John Thomas "Tom" Schedler
|image=
|office=[[Louisiana]] Secretary of State
|term_start=November 22, 2010
|term_end=
|preceded=Jay Dardenne
|office2=Louisiana State Senator for District 11 (St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes)
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=1996
| term_end=2008
| preceded=Gerry E. Hinton
| succeeded=Jack Donahue
|office3=Slidell City Council member
|term_start3=1990
|term_end3=1996
|succeeded3=Michael J. Molbert
| birth_date=January 24, 1950
| birth_place=[[New Orleans]],<br> Louisiana
| residence=Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish
| alma_mater=De La Salle High School (New Orleans)<br>
University of Louisiana at[[ Lafayette]]
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
| occupation=[[Businessman]]; Politician
| spouse=Stephanie Gele Schedler
| parents=
| children=Michelle, Rachel, and Jessica<br>
Three granddaughters
}}
'''John Thomas Schedler''', known as '''Tom Schedler''' (born January 24, 1950), is the [[Republican Party|Republican]] secretary of state of his native U.S. state of [[Louisiana]].
From 1996 to 2008, Schedler was the District 11 state senator for St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes. Term-limited affer twelve years in the Senate, he was named chief deputy to the Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, a former Senate colleague of Schedler's from [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>''[[New Orleans Times-Picayune]]'', December 6, 2007.</ref> When Dardenne won a special election for lieutenant governor in 2010, Schedler became the secretary of state. On October 22, 2011, Schedler won a full term as secretary by narrowly defeating the outgoing state House Speaker Jim Tucker, 449,370 (50.5 percent) to 440,872 (49.5 percent). He won only twenty-six of the sixty-four parishes in the race against Tucker, and his margin of victory was attributed to his own St. Tammany Parish. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 22, 2011|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
==Background==
A [[New Orleans]] native, Schedler graduated in 1967 from De La Salle High School]. In 1999, he was honored by De La Salle as one of the school's 125 outstanding graduates over the first half-century of the institution. In 1971, Schedler received his [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in marketing from the University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]], then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He served in the [[U.S. Navy]] Reserve from 1971 to 1976 and the [[Louisiana National Guard]]. His business concerns have been in the fields of banking, real estate, and health-care management. In the middle 1990s, he was a hospital foundation director<ref name=enlou>Senate Diostrict 11, enlou.com (site no longer available), accessed November 4, 2009.</ref> in St. Tammany Parish.<ref name=bio/>
A former member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee, Schedler was a [[George W. Bush]]-committed delegate to the 2000 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was also chairman of the State Senate Republican delegation.<ref name=bio/>
From 1984 to 1990, Schedler was chairman of the Slidell Board of Zoning and Adjustment. In 1995, he was the president of the St. Tammany Municipal Association. From 1990 to 1996, Schedler served on the Slidell City Council, having been vice president and then president of the body. In 1990, at the age of forty, he was named "Slidell Citizen of the Year". In 1991, he graduated from the civic program "Leadership Louisiana",<ref name=enlou/> sponsored by the [[interest group]] Council for a Better Louisiana. Schedler is a former president of Slidell Rotary International, having also been a Paul P. Harris Fellow, an honor named for the founder of the organization. He has been affiliated with the Slidell [[Chamber of Commerce]] and the Lions Internatinal. He is married to the former Stephanie Gele (born March 3, 1950) of Lafayette, an administrator of [[hospice]] programs in the Greater New Orleans area. The Schedlers have three grown daughters, Michelle, Rachel, and Jessica. They attend St. Margaret Mary [[Roman Catholic Church in Slidell.<ref name=bio/> but reside in Mandeville, also in St. Tammany Parish.
==Legislative service==
In addition to his St. Tammany Parish, Schedler's district included neighboring Tangipahoa Parish. Schedler served on the Health and Welfare, Judiciary C, Retirement, and Local and municipal Affairs committees. He is a former chairman of the Legislative Audit Advisory Council and the Louisiana Commission on Mental Health. He was also among the members of the select committee which handled legislative oversight of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/senators/Archives/2006/Schedler/LinkShell.asp?type=biography|title=Biography of Senator John T. "Tom" Schedler"|publisher=senate.legis.state.la.us|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref>
In 1999, Schedler was twice named "Legislator of the Month" by the Louisiana Municipal Association and received the Outstanding Legislator Award from the Victims and Citizens Against Crime. He was named "Legislator of the Year" by both the Louisiana Hospital Association and the Metro Hospital Council of New Orleans. He also received the Fred Henderson Memorial Award from the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Mental Illness. In 2000, the Alliance for Good Government, the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, the Louisiana Hospital Association, and the Louisiana Association for Mental Health named him "Legislator of the Year". In 2001, Schedler received the Franklin Smith Award from the Association for Retarded Citizens of Louisiana for his work with children with mental disabilities.<ref name=bio/>
In 2002, Schedler was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Rural Hospital Coalition and the Louisiana. School Counselor Association. He was also honored by the Rural Health Association and, again, the Louisiana Municipal Association. In 2003, he was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Black Bag Medical Society for his work in health care policy and workforce issues<ref name=bio/>
Schedler and then state Representative and later [[U.S. Senator]], [[David Vitter]], co-authored the repeal in July 2004 of the Louisiana inheritance tax,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=1171|title="Our Campaigns: Candidate David Vitter"|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=448149|title="Senate Resolution No. 156"|publisher=legis.state.la.us|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wills.about.com/b/2009/10/17/estate-taxes-by-state-does-louisiana-have-an-estate-tax.htm|title="Estate Taxes by State: Does Louisiana Have an Estate Tax?"|publisher=wills.about.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref> He authored or co-authored legislation in the areas of tort reform, ethics, and health care. In 1997 and 2000, he attempted to call a state constitutional convention to address the Louisiana tax code. He wrote legislation that generated approximately $1 billion of additional [[Medicaid]] funds for the elderly and disabled, all of which were placed in trust. After thirteen failed attempts, he obtained passge of the Preferred Drug Bill, estimated to save Medicaid $60 to $100 million per year in Louisiana. In 2003, Schedler led the passage of the first major reform bill dealing with the state charity hospital system, which dates to the era of [[Governor]] [[HueyLong|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]]<ref name=bio/>
==Election results==
In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 21, 1995, Gerry E. Hinton, a [[chiropractor]] and a three-term Republican state senator from Slidell, did not seek reelection. Schedler finished second and entered the Louisiana [[general election]] with Pat Brister, later the state chairman of the Louisiana [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]]. He received 6,122 (16.72 percent) to her 7,691 (21 percent). A third candidate, Republican Alvin D. Singletary (born 1942), Schedler's fellow Slidell city council member, ran third, having trailed Schedler by only seven votes, 6,155 (16.7 percent). Four other Republicans, two [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], and an unaffiliated contender, polled the remaining 46 percent of the primary ballots.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 21, 1995|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref> In the second balloting on November 18, Schedler won 23,354 (56.6 percent) to Brister's 17,876 (43.4 percent). Schedler was unopposed in the 1999 primary. On October 4, 2003, he convincingly defeated another fellow Republican, Bruce S. Authement of Covington, 22,366 votes (65.2 percent) to 11,920 (34.8 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 4, 2003|publisher=Louisiana secretary of state|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref>
Schedler held the District F seat on the Slidell City Council from June 1990 to January 1996. On March 26, 1994, he was reelected to the city council in a primary with fellow Republican Mark D. Fridge (born 1957), 632 to 476.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=March 26, 1994|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref> He resigned from the council in 1995 to become state senator. In a runoff election on April 20, 1996, Michael J. Molbert (born 1945), with 552 votes (52 percent) defeated Mark Fridge, who polled 509 ballots (48 percent) to finish Schedler's second city council term.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=April 20, 1996|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref>
As his successor in the state Senate, Schedler endorsed a fellow Republican, John Leo "Jack" Donahue, Jr., a Mandeville contractor<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senatorjackdonahue.com/news-campaign-74/64-jack-donahue-for-senate-newsletter-senator-tom-schedler.html|title="Jack Donahue for Senate
|publisher=senatorjackdonahue.com|accessdate=November 5, 2009}}</ref> who easily won the Senate seat in the 2007 primary election over the term-limited more [[conservative Republican State Representative Pete Schneider of Slidell.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical=|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 20, 2007|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 5, 2009}}</ref>
In June 2009, Schedler was listed as one of the directors of a national presidential fund-raising effort promoting then Governor [[Bobby Jindal]]. According to the campaign treasurer, Daniel Guin "Dan" Kyle, the former Louisiana legislative auditor, the group hoped to raise $60 million to persuade Jindal to seek the 2012 Republican nomination<ref name=jindal>{{cite web|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/48123092.html|title=Michelle Millhollon, "Official pulls out of Jindal group", June 16, 2009|publisher=''[[The Advocate (Baton Rouge)|Baton Rouge Morning Advocate]]''|accessdate=November 23, 2009}}</ref> eventually won by [[Mitt Romney]], a [[Moderate Republican]] from [[Massachusetts]] and now [[Utah]]. Others on the committee werer former State Representative [[Woody Jenkins]] and [[U.S. Representative]] [[Steve Scalise]]. Schedler had his name removed from the group, not because he opposes Jindal but because such fund-raising activity may have conflicted with his role as Dardenne's deputy.<ref name=jindal/>
Schedler said that it was difficult to raise funds for the 2011 secretary of state race against Jim Tucker because the mostly technical position is "one that's particularly difficult to get people excited about."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110909/NEWS01/110909012/Analysis-Many-La-incumbents-get-free-pass-|title=Many La. incumbents get a free pass, September 9, 2011|publisher='The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=September 11, 2011}}</ref>
In his bid for a second full term as secretary of state in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015, Schedler defeated Chris Tyson, an [[African-American]] Democrat from Baton Rouge,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/candidates-qualified-in-statewide-elections/|title=Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections|publisher=KEEL (AM)|accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref> 649,153 (62.2 percent) to 394,153 (37.8 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 24, 2015|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
==Election integrity issue==
In July 2017, Secretary Schedler cited "privacy" concerns ([[Social Security]] numbers, dates of birth, mother's maiden names, and party registrations, the latter of which constitute [[public information]]) for his refusal to turn over Louisiana voter registration information to [[U.S. President]] [[Donald Trump]]'s commission investigating potential fraud in the 2016 presidential election. Schedler called the request politically motivated and a “federal intrusion and overreach.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/|title=Louisiana rejects Trump commission request for voter data|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk, citing story from ''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser''|date=July 3, 2017|accessdate=July 5, 2017}}</ref>
Jeffrey Dennis Sadow, a conservative who is an associate [[political science]] [[professor]] at Louisiana State University in [[Shreveport]], questions why Schedler maintains faith in the integrity of elections held outside his state because Schedler's role as chief election officer applies only in Louisiana. Sadow suggested that Schedler considers any challenge to election integrity, no matter how potentially valid, as ultimately a loss of faith in the elections officials. He urged Schedler to cooperate with the federal voter integrity probe because "ensuring untainted elections is too important to politicize."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/jeff_sadow/article_d20c1070-6cb9-11e7-996b-4ba08a38469e.html|title=Louisiana officials should avoid 'playing politics' and cooperate with fraud probe|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=July 22, 2017|author=Jeffrey Dennis Sadow|accessdate=July 25, 2017}}</ref> Despite Sadow's questioning, Trump shut down the elections integrity unit after so many secretaries of state across the nation refused to cooperate.
In July 2016, Schedler rebuked comments made by Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, a fellow Republican whose father was a former state Republican chairman, regarding allegations of abuse of early voting procedures in Louisiana. Schedler called Nungesser
<blockquote>
at a minimum uninformed. [He] quite possibly [made] an insult to not only my office, but also our hard-working clerks of court and registrars of voters who are our trusted partners for every election. Lieutenant Governor Nungesser implied that voters can show up by the busload at any early voting site, even if they are not registered, sign a sheet of paper and have their vote count. But in reality, nothing could be further from the truth, and in practice, his claim is impossible to execute. ...
If [the person is] not a registered voter, the process for voting on a machine does not move forward. Louisiana does allow for [[provisional voting]] in federal elections, which allows voters to cast a conditional paper ballot if questions arise as to their eligibility. But make no mistake, by law, these votes are not counted until the voter is proven to be eligible, not before."
<ref name=tschedler>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/local/louisiana/2016/07/12/schedler-nungesser-got-wrong/86995208/|title=Schedler: Nungesser got it wrong|author=Bonnie Bolden|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|date=July 12, 2016|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}</ref></blockquote>
Nungesser said that his comments were taken out of context because he was referring to a local election in Plaquemines Parish in 2005. He said that he admires how Schedler handles the administrative duties of the secretary of state.<ref name=tschedler/>
==Sexual harassment suit==
In 2018, Schedler was named the defendant in [[sexual harassment]] lawsuit filed by an unidentified employee still working in the office of the secretary of state. In response to the suit, Schedler, who has long been estranged from his wife, the former Stephanie Gele on Mandeville, said that the relationship with the woman was consensual. However, the woman's attorney, Jill Craft, claims that the relationship was not consensual and began as early as 2007, before Schedler was the secretary of state and still a deputy to Jay Dardenne. The suit alleges that Schedler bought a townhouse in the complex where the woman lives and spied on her and that he obtained her cell phone to look through her contacts, including a boyfriend. In 2014, the harassment expanded to text, email messages, and cards "that became more sexual" in theme, according to the suit. He allegedly addressed her as "My dearest sunshine."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/02/schedler_claims_consensual_rel.html|title=Schedler claims consensual relationship with employee suing him for sexual harassment|date=February 22, 2018|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|author=Greg LaRose|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref> The suit also claims that Schedler gave the woman [[pornography]].<ref name=wafb/>
The sexual harassment suit prompted Democratic Governor [[John Bel Edwards]] and Republican state Senator Sharon Woodall Hewitt, who represents St. Tammany Parish, to call for Schedler's resignation as secretary of state. Hewitt said: "Sadly, I have reached the conclusion that Secretary Schedler can no longer be an effective leader or role model for our state. In the coming days, I hope that he too will reach the same conclusion and consider stepping down."
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brproud.com/news/local-news/governor-and-other-state-leadership-join-together-in-calling-for-schedlers-resignation/998699217|title=Governor and other state leadership join together in calling for Schedler's resignation|date=February 28, 2018|author=Norman Dotson|publisher=Brproud.com (Fox 44)|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Schedler said that while he would not resign immediately, he will not seek a third full term as secretary of state in the 2019 state elections. He indicated that an immediate resignation would be "cowardly" and noted that his office must prepare for the 2018 national election as well as ongoing special or local elections.<ref name=wafb>{{cite web|url=http://www.wafb.com/story/37728968/attorney-for-schedlers-accuser-fires-back-following-his-decision-to-not-resign-immediately|title=Attorney for Schedler's accuser fires back following his decision not to resign immediately|publisher=WAFB-TV| author=Scottie Hunter|date=March 14, 2018|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
Schedler said he will fight the allegations and argued that the truth in the dispute lies "somewhere in the middle". Meanwhile, he is on extended leave from his office.<ref>{{cite web|=http://www.wafb.com/story/37718691/sec-of-state-announces-will-not-seek-reelection-in-2019-amid-sexual-harassment-scandal|title=Secretary of State announces he will not seek reelection in 2019 amid sexual harassment scandal|publisher=WAFB-TV|date=March 13, 2018|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schedler, Tom}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:New Orleans]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:Sexual harassment]]
Created page with " {{Infobox officeholder | name=John Thomas "Tom" Schedler |image= |office=Louisiana Secretary of State |term_start=November 22, 2010 |term_end= |preceded=Jay Dardenne |off..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=John Thomas "Tom" Schedler
|image=
|office=[[Louisiana]] Secretary of State
|term_start=November 22, 2010
|term_end=
|preceded=Jay Dardenne
|office2=Louisiana State Senator for District 11 (St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes)
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=1996
| term_end=2008
| preceded=Gerry E. Hinton
| succeeded=Jack Donahue
|office3=Slidell City Council member
|term_start3=1990
|term_end3=1996
|succeeded3=Michael J. Molbert
| birth_date=January 24, 1950
| birth_place=[[New Orleans]],<br> Louisiana
| residence=Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish
| alma_mater=De La Salle High School (New Orleans)<br>
University of Louisiana at[[ Lafayette]]
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
| occupation=[[Businessman]]; Politician
| spouse=Stephanie Gele Schedler
| parents=
| children=Michelle, Rachel, and Jessica<br>
Three granddaughters
}}
'''John Thomas Schedler''', known as '''Tom Schedler''' (born January 24, 1950), is the [[Republican Party|Republican]] secretary of state of his native U.S. state of [[Louisiana]].
From 1996 to 2008, Schedler was the District 11 state senator for St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes. Term-limited affer twelve years in the Senate, he was named chief deputy to the Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, a former Senate colleague of Schedler's from [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>''[[New Orleans Times-Picayune]]'', December 6, 2007.</ref> When Dardenne won a special election for lieutenant governor in 2010, Schedler became the secretary of state. On October 22, 2011, Schedler won a full term as secretary by narrowly defeating the outgoing state House Speaker Jim Tucker, 449,370 (50.5 percent) to 440,872 (49.5 percent). He won only twenty-six of the sixty-four parishes in the race against Tucker, and his margin of victory was attributed to his own St. Tammany Parish. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 22, 2011|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
==Background==
A [[New Orleans]] native, Schedler graduated in 1967 from De La Salle High School]. In 1999, he was honored by De La Salle as one of the school's 125 outstanding graduates over the first half-century of the institution. In 1971, Schedler received his [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in marketing from the University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]], then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He served in the [[U.S. Navy]] Reserve from 1971 to 1976 and the [[Louisiana National Guard]]. His business concerns have been in the fields of banking, real estate, and health-care management. In the middle 1990s, he was a hospital foundation director<ref name=enlou>Senate Diostrict 11, enlou.com (site no longer available), accessed November 4, 2009.</ref> in St. Tammany Parish.<ref name=bio/>
A former member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee, Schedler was a [[George W. Bush]]-committed delegate to the 2000 [[Republican National Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was also chairman of the State Senate Republican delegation.<ref name=bio/>
From 1984 to 1990, Schedler was chairman of the Slidell Board of Zoning and Adjustment. In 1995, he was the president of the St. Tammany Municipal Association. From 1990 to 1996, Schedler served on the Slidell City Council, having been vice president and then president of the body. In 1990, at the age of forty, he was named "Slidell Citizen of the Year". In 1991, he graduated from the civic program "Leadership Louisiana",<ref name=enlou/> sponsored by the [[interest group]] Council for a Better Louisiana. Schedler is a former president of Slidell Rotary International, having also been a Paul P. Harris Fellow, an honor named for the founder of the organization. He has been affiliated with the Slidell [[Chamber of Commerce]] and the Lions Internatinal. He is married to the former Stephanie Gele (born March 3, 1950) of Lafayette, an administrator of [[hospice]] programs in the Greater New Orleans area. The Schedlers have three grown daughters, Michelle, Rachel, and Jessica. They attend St. Margaret Mary [[Roman Catholic Church in Slidell.<ref name=bio/> but reside in Mandeville, also in St. Tammany Parish.
==Legislative service==
In addition to his St. Tammany Parish, Schedler's district included neighboring Tangipahoa Parish. Schedler served on the Health and Welfare, Judiciary C, Retirement, and Local and municipal Affairs committees. He is a former chairman of the Legislative Audit Advisory Council and the Louisiana Commission on Mental Health. He was also among the members of the select committee which handled legislative oversight of the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/senators/Archives/2006/Schedler/LinkShell.asp?type=biography|title=Biography of Senator John T. "Tom" Schedler"|publisher=senate.legis.state.la.us|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref>
In 1999, Schedler was twice named "Legislator of the Month" by the Louisiana Municipal Association and received the Outstanding Legislator Award from the Victims and Citizens Against Crime. He was named "Legislator of the Year" by both the Louisiana Hospital Association and the Metro Hospital Council of New Orleans. He also received the Fred Henderson Memorial Award from the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Mental Illness. In 2000, the Alliance for Good Government, the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, the Louisiana Hospital Association, and the Louisiana Association for Mental Health named him "Legislator of the Year". In 2001, Schedler received the Franklin Smith Award from the Association for Retarded Citizens of Louisiana for his work with children with mental disabilities.<ref name=bio/>
In 2002, Schedler was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Rural Hospital Coalition and the Louisiana. School Counselor Association. He was also honored by the Rural Health Association and, again, the Louisiana Municipal Association. In 2003, he was named "Legislator of the Year" by the Black Bag Medical Society for his work in health care policy and workforce issues<ref name=bio/>
Schedler and then state Representative and later [[U.S. Senator]], [[David Vitter]], co-authored the repeal in July 2004 of the Louisiana inheritance tax,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=1171|title="Our Campaigns: Candidate David Vitter"|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=448149|title="Senate Resolution No. 156"|publisher=legis.state.la.us|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wills.about.com/b/2009/10/17/estate-taxes-by-state-does-louisiana-have-an-estate-tax.htm|title="Estate Taxes by State: Does Louisiana Have an Estate Tax?"|publisher=wills.about.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref> He authored or co-authored legislation in the areas of tort reform, ethics, and health care. In 1997 and 2000, he attempted to call a state constitutional convention to address the Louisiana tax code. He wrote legislation that generated approximately $1 billion of additional [[Medicaid]] funds for the elderly and disabled, all of which were placed in trust. After thirteen failed attempts, he obtained passge of the Preferred Drug Bill, estimated to save Medicaid $60 to $100 million per year in Louisiana. In 2003, Schedler led the passage of the first major reform bill dealing with the state charity hospital system, which dates to the era of [[Governor]] [[HueyLong|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]]<ref name=bio/>
==Election results==
In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 21, 1995, Gerry E. Hinton, a [[chiropractor]] and a three-term Republican state senator from Slidell, did not seek reelection. Schedler finished second and entered the Louisiana [[general election]] with Pat Brister, later the state chairman of the Louisiana [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]]. He received 6,122 (16.72 percent) to her 7,691 (21 percent). A third candidate, Republican Alvin D. Singletary (born 1942), Schedler's fellow Slidell city council member, ran third, having trailed Schedler by only seven votes, 6,155 (16.7 percent). Four other Republicans, two [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], and an unaffiliated contender, polled the remaining 46 percent of the primary ballots.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 21, 1995|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref> In the second balloting on November 18, Schedler won 23,354 (56.6 percent) to Brister's 17,876 (43.4 percent). Schedler was unopposed in the 1999 primary. On October 4, 2003, he convincingly defeated another fellow Republican, Bruce S. Authement of Covington, 22,366 votes (65.2 percent) to 11,920 (34.8 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 4, 2003|publisher=Louisiana secretary of state|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref>
Schedler held the District F seat on the Slidell City Council from June 1990 to January 1996. On March 26, 1994, he was reelected to the city council in a primary with fellow Republican Mark D. Fridge (born 1957), 632 to 476.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=March 26, 1994|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref> He resigned from the council in 1995 to become state senator. In a runoff election on April 20, 1996, Michael J. Molbert (born 1945), with 552 votes (52 percent) defeated Mark Fridge, who polled 509 ballots (48 percent) to finish Schedler's second city council term.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=April 20, 1996|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 4, 2009}}</ref>
As his successor in the state Senate, Schedler endorsed a fellow Republican, John Leo "Jack" Donahue, Jr., a Mandeville contractor<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senatorjackdonahue.com/news-campaign-74/64-jack-donahue-for-senate-newsletter-senator-tom-schedler.html|title="Jack Donahue for Senate
|publisher=senatorjackdonahue.com|accessdate=November 5, 2009}}</ref> who easily won the Senate seat in the 2007 primary election over the term-limited more [[conservative Republican State Representative Pete Schneider of Slidell.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical=|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 20, 2007|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 5, 2009}}</ref>
In June 2009, Schedler was listed as one of the directors of a national presidential fund-raising effort promoting then Governor [[Bobby Jindal]]. According to the campaign treasurer, Daniel Guin "Dan" Kyle, the former Louisiana legislative auditor, the group hoped to raise $60 million to persuade Jindal to seek the 2012 Republican nomination<ref name=jindal>{{cite web|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/48123092.html|title=Michelle Millhollon, "Official pulls out of Jindal group", June 16, 2009|publisher=''[[The Advocate (Baton Rouge)|Baton Rouge Morning Advocate]]''|accessdate=November 23, 2009}}</ref> eventually won by [[Mitt Romney]], a [[Moderate Republican]] from [[Massachusetts]] and now [[Utah]]. Others on the committee werer former State Representative [[Woody Jenkins]] and [[U.S. Representative]] [[Steve Scalise]]. Schedler had his name removed from the group, not because he opposes Jindal but because such fund-raising activity may have conflicted with his role as Dardenne's deputy.<ref name=jindal/>
Schedler said that it was difficult to raise funds for the 2011 secretary of state race against Jim Tucker because the mostly technical position is "one that's particularly difficult to get people excited about."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110909/NEWS01/110909012/Analysis-Many-La-incumbents-get-free-pass-|title=Many La. incumbents get a free pass, September 9, 2011|publisher='The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=September 11, 2011}}</ref>
In his bid for a second full term as secretary of state in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015, Schedler defeated Chris Tyson, an [[African-American]] Democrat from Baton Rouge,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/candidates-qualified-in-statewide-elections/|title=Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections|publisher=KEEL (AM)|accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref> 649,153 (62.2 percent) to 394,153 (37.8 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Louisiana election returns|date=October 24, 2015|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
==Election integrity issue==
In July 2017, Secretary Schedler cited "privacy" concerns ([[Social Security]] numbers, dates of birth, mother's maiden names, and party registrations, the latter of which constitute [[public information]]) for his refusal to turn over Louisiana voter registration information to [[U.S. President]] [[Donald Trump]]'s commission investigating potential fraud in the 2016 presidential election. Schedler called the request politically motivated and a “federal intrusion and overreach.”<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/|title=Louisiana rejects Trump commission request for voter data|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk, citing story from ''The Lafayette Daily Advertiser''|date=July 3, 2017|accessdate=July 5, 2017}}</ref>
Jeffrey Dennis Sadow, a conservative who is an associate [[political science]] [[professor]] at Louisiana State University in [[Shreveport]], questions why Schedler maintains faith in the integrity of elections held outside his state because Schedler's role as chief election officer applies only in Louisiana. Sadow suggested that Schedler considers any challenge to election integrity, no matter how potentially valid, as ultimately a loss of faith in the elections officials. He urged Schedler to cooperate with the federal voter integrity probe because "ensuring untainted elections is too important to politicize."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/jeff_sadow/article_d20c1070-6cb9-11e7-996b-4ba08a38469e.html|title=Louisiana officials should avoid 'playing politics' and cooperate with fraud probe|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=July 22, 2017|author=Jeffrey Dennis Sadow|accessdate=July 25, 2017}}</ref> Despite Sadow's questioning, Trump shut down the elections integrity unit after so many secretaries of state across the nation refused to cooperate.
In July 2016, Schedler rebuked comments made by Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, a fellow Republican whose father was a former state Republican chairman, regarding allegations of abuse of early voting procedures in Louisiana. Schedler called Nungesser
<blockquote>
at a minimum uninformed. [He] quite possibly [made] an insult to not only my office, but also our hard-working clerks of court and registrars of voters who are our trusted partners for every election. Lieutenant Governor Nungesser implied that voters can show up by the busload at any early voting site, even if they are not registered, sign a sheet of paper and have their vote count. But in reality, nothing could be further from the truth, and in practice, his claim is impossible to execute. ...
If [the person is] not a registered voter, the process for voting on a machine does not move forward. Louisiana does allow for [[provisional voting]] in federal elections, which allows voters to cast a conditional paper ballot if questions arise as to their eligibility. But make no mistake, by law, these votes are not counted until the voter is proven to be eligible, not before."
<ref name=tschedler>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/local/louisiana/2016/07/12/schedler-nungesser-got-wrong/86995208/|title=Schedler: Nungesser got it wrong|author=Bonnie Bolden|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|date=July 12, 2016|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}</ref></blockquote>
Nungesser said that his comments were taken out of context because he was referring to a local election in Plaquemines Parish in 2005. He said that he admires how Schedler handles the administrative duties of the secretary of state.<ref name=tschedler/>
==Sexual harassment suit==
In 2018, Schedler was named the defendant in [[sexual harassment]] lawsuit filed by an unidentified employee still working in the office of the secretary of state. In response to the suit, Schedler, who has long been estranged from his wife, the former Stephanie Gele on Mandeville, said that the relationship with the woman was consensual. However, the woman's attorney, Jill Craft, claims that the relationship was not consensual and began as early as 2007, before Schedler was the secretary of state and still a deputy to Jay Dardenne. The suit alleges that Schedler bought a townhouse in the complex where the woman lives and spied on her and that he obtained her cell phone to look through her contacts, including a boyfriend. In 2014, the harassment expanded to text, email messages, and cards "that became more sexual" in theme, according to the suit. He allegedly addressed her as "My dearest sunshine."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/02/schedler_claims_consensual_rel.html|title=Schedler claims consensual relationship with employee suing him for sexual harassment|date=February 22, 2018|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|author=Greg LaRose|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref> The suit also claims that Schedler gave the woman [[pornography]].<ref name=wafb/>
The sexual harassment suit prompted Democratic Governor [[John Bel Edwards]] and Republican state Senator Sharon Woodall Hewitt, who represents St. Tammany Parish, to call for Schedler's resignation as secretary of state. Hewitt said: "Sadly, I have reached the conclusion that Secretary Schedler can no longer be an effective leader or role model for our state. In the coming days, I hope that he too will reach the same conclusion and consider stepping down."
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brproud.com/news/local-news/governor-and-other-state-leadership-join-together-in-calling-for-schedlers-resignation/998699217|title=Governor and other state leadership join together in calling for Schedler's resignation|date=February 28, 2018|author=Norman Dotson|publisher=Brproud.com (Fox 44)|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref> Schedler said that while he would not resign immediately, he will not seek a third full term as secretary of state in the 2019 state elections. He indicated that an immediate resignation would be "cowardly" and noted that his office must prepare for the 2018 national election as well as ongoing special or local elections.<ref name=wafb>{{cite web|url=http://www.wafb.com/story/37728968/attorney-for-schedlers-accuser-fires-back-following-his-decision-to-not-resign-immediately|title=Attorney for Schedler's accuser fires back following his decision not to resign immediately|publisher=WAFB-TV| author=Scottie Hunter|date=March 14, 2018|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
Schedler said he will fight the allegations and argued that the truth in the dispute lies "somewhere in the middle". Meanwhile, he is on extended leave from his office.<ref>{{cite web|=http://www.wafb.com/story/37718691/sec-of-state-announces-will-not-seek-reelection-in-2019-amid-sexual-harassment-scandal|title=Secretary of State announces he will not seek reelection in 2019 amid sexual harassment scandal|publisher=WAFB-TV|date=March 13, 2018|accessdate=March 16, 2018}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schedler, Tom}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:New Orleans]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
[[Category:United States Navy]]
[[Category:Sexual harassment]]