Changes

In 2011, Whitney won the right to succeed the term-limited [[Democrat]] Damon Baldone, who later claimed Republican affiliation. She defeated fellow Republican Billy Hebert, a member of the Terrebonne Parish Council, 3,709 (59 percent) top 2,552 (41 percent). District 53 encompasses the Oakshire, Broadmoor, Park Avenue,  Bayou Blue, Cocodrie, Montegut, Bourg, and Pointe-aux-Chenes sections of Houma, the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish.<ref name=houmac>{{cite web|url=http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20111122/articles/111129914?p=1&tc=pg|title=Nate Monroe, "Terrebonne elections yield historic results"|publisher=''Houma Courier'', November 22, 2011|accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref>

In 2011, Whitney won the right to succeed the term-limited [[Democrat]] Damon Baldone, who later claimed Republican affiliation. She defeated fellow Republican Billy Hebert, a member of the Terrebonne Parish Council, 3,709 (59 percent) top 2,552 (41 percent). District 53 encompasses the Oakshire, Broadmoor, Park Avenue,  Bayou Blue, Cocodrie, Montegut, Bourg, and Pointe-aux-Chenes sections of Houma, the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish.<ref name=houmac>{{cite web|url=http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20111122/articles/111129914?p=1&tc=pg|title=Nate Monroe, "Terrebonne elections yield historic results"|publisher=''Houma Courier'', November 22, 2011|accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref>

Whitney graduated from Vanderbilt High School in Houma and obtained an associate's degree in business from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Since she was sixteen, she has operated a dance school. She has sales experience in oil field fabrication, repair and maintenance, and the media and telecommunications. Her husband, Lee Whitney, has operated Whitney Signs since the early 1980 and is a strong supporter of the [[Second Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]. He was reared in Houma and Upper Caillou and established a lifelong friendship with the politically connected Chabert family.  Whitney traces her family tree on the Ledet and Boquet side directly to the Bourg/Montegut’s families. Whitney has two children; both graduates of [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lenarwhitney.com/about-lenar-whitney/|title=About Lenar Whitney|publisher=lenarwhitney.com|accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref>

Whitney graduated from Vanderbilt High School in Houma and obtained an associate's degree in business from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Since she was sixteen, she has operated a dance school. She has sales experience in oil field fabrication, repair and maintenance, and the media and telecommunications. Her husband, Lee Whitney, has operated Whitney Signs since the early 1980s and is a strong supporter of the [[Second Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]. He was reared in Houma and Upper Caillou and established a lifelong friendship with the politically connected Chabert family.  Whitney traces her family tree on the Ledet and Boquet side directly to the Bourg/Montegut’s families. Whitney has two children; both graduates of [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lenarwhitney.com/about-lenar-whitney/|title=About Lenar Whitney|publisher=lenarwhitney.com|accessdate=May 16, 2012}}</ref>

Whitney is the first woman to represent Terrebonne in the legislature and the first Republican to hold the District 53 seat. She describes herelf as a [[conservative]] pledged to reduce taxation and the size of government.<ref name=houmac/>

Whitney is the first woman to represent Terrebonne in the legislature and the first Republican to hold the District 53 seat. She describes herelf as a [[conservative]] pledged to reduce taxation and the size of government.<ref name=houmac/>

In 2014, Whitney ran unsuccessfully in the primary for Louisiana's 6th congressional district seat vacated by [[Bill Cassidy]], a [[Baton Rouge]] physician who instead unseated [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]]. Whitney lost out to fellow Republican [[Garret Graves]], who defeated former [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] in the same congressional election held on December 6, 2014.  

In 2014, Whitney ran unsuccessfully in the primary for Louisiana's 6th congressional district seat vacated by [[Bill Cassidy]], a [[Baton Rouge]] physician who instead unseated [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]]. Whitney lost out to fellow Republican [[Garret Graves]], who defeated former [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] in the same congressional election held on December 6, 2014.  

Whitney was unseated in the 2015 election by another Republican, [[Tanner Magee]], a [[lawyer]] from Houma. On October 14, 2017, Whitney finished in a relatively weak third place in the special election for the District 2 seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission vacated by Scott Angelle, who joined the [[Donald Trump]] administration. Victory went to another Republican candidate, Dr. [[Craig Greene]], an orthopedic surgeon from [[Baton Rouge]], who led the race with exactly 43,000 votes (55 percent). The third candidate was Whitney's House predecessor, Damon J. Baldone, who received 19,058 votes (24 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Election Returns|date=October 14, 2017|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=October 15, 2017}}</ref> Baldone had held the PSC position on an interim basis since Angelle's departure in June by appointment of Democratic [[Governor]] [[John Bel Edwards]].

Whitney was unseated in the 2015 election by another Republican, [[Tanner Magee]], a [[lawyer]] from Houma. On October 14, 2017, Whitney finished in a relatively weak third place in the special election for the District 2 seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission vacated by Scott Angelle, who joined the [[Donald Trump]] administration. Victory went to another Republican candidate, Dr. [[Craig Greene]], an orthopedic surgeon from [[Baton Rouge]], who led the race with exactly 43,000 votes (55 percent). The third candidate was Whitney's House predecessor, Damon J. Baldone, who received 19,058 votes (24 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Election Returns|date=October 14, 2017|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=October 15, 2017}}</ref> Baldone had held the PSC position on an interim basis since Angelle's departure in June by appointment of Democratic Governor [[John Bel Edwards]].

   

   

==References==

==References==