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'''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]].

'''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>

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 James Wilton "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>