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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Simone Becnel Champagne | office=Louisiana State Representative<br> for District 49 (Iberia and Vermilion parishes) | term_start=January..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Simone Becnel Champagne
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative<br> for District 49 (Iberia and Vermilion parishes)
| term_start=January 2008
| term_end=2014
| preceded=Troy Hebert
| succeeded=[[Blake Miguez]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (July 2010)
| birth_date=December 27, 1954
| birth_place=Jeanerette, Iberia Parish<br>Louisiana
| occupation=[[Banker]]
| spouse=Gary Paul Champagne, Sr.
| children=Five children, including<br>
Gary Champagne, Jr.
}}
'''Simone Becnel Champagne''' (born December 27, 1954) is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] former state representative for District 49 (Iberia and Vermilion parishes) in south [[Louisiana]].
In 1971, she graduated from Jeanerette High School in Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. Thereafter, she studied [[banking]] in continuing education programs.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/members.asp?ID=49|title=Rep. Simone B. Champagne|publisher=house.louisiana.gov|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref>
Champagne resigned her House seat late in 2014 to accept appointment as the chief administrative officer in 2015 with the city of Youngsville near [[Lafayette]].<ref name=resignation>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/news/11068426-123/state-rep-herbert-dixon-resigns|title=State Rep. Herbert Dixon resigns House seat|author=Marsha Shuler|date=December 12, 2014|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=December 13, 2014}}</ref>
==Political life==
From 2002 to 2007, Champagne was the chief administrative officer for the combined Iberia Parish and city of New Iberia government. She resigned to run for state representative and faced no opposition. The incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], later [[Independent]], Troy Hebert, also of Jeanerette, vacated the seat because of term limits and instead was elected to the state Senate. Champagne won her House race as a Democrat, but in July 2010, she switched party allegiance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/h1812-2012.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012|publisher=legis.state.la.us|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref><ref name=vsmart>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=93867=|title=Representative Simone B. Champagne (LA)|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref>
Representative Champagne served on the House committees on (1) Appropriations, (2) Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs, (3) Natural Resources and Environment, (4) House Executive Committee, and (5) Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. She was a member of the Acadiana delegation, the Legislative Women's Caucus, the Republican legislative delegation, and the Louisiana Rural Caucus.<ref name=bio/> In 2009, Champagne was rated 100 percent by the Louisiana [[Right to Life]] Federation and the [[conservative]] Louisiana Family Forum and 65 percent by the trade association, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.<ref name=vsmart/>
===Special Senate election===
Early in 2011, Champagne ran in a [[special election]] for the state Senate but lost to a House colleague, [[Fred Mills (Louisiana politician)|Fred Henry Mills, Jr.]], a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish. Mills also switched from Democrat-to-Republican in 2010.<ref name=ereturns>Louisiana Secretary of
State, Election Returns, January 22, 2011.</ref>
In a campaign statement for the Senate race, Champagne said:
<blockquote>
Government spending and growth is the problem, it hinders our ability to grow our economy and small businesses. Now more than ever we need a true conservative in the State Senate, and that is why I decided to run for this important seat . . . If we want to create jobs we must get government out of the way. No more moratoriums, no more regulations and we can’t afford higher taxes. As a mother of five and grandmother of three, I’ve stretched a budget and done more with less. Shouldn’t our government do the same? . . . If we have learned anything in the past two years it is that we cannot afford to allow government to run rampant and continue the out-of-control spending. That is why I voted against the bloated Louisiana budget last year and supported legislation that allowed Louisiana to opt out of [[Barack Obama]]'s costly health-care mandate.<ref>{{cite web |author=Simone B. Champagne |title=Why I'm Running for Senate District 22 |date=January 5, 2011 |url=http://www.iberianet.com/articles/2011/02/02/elections/doc4d24fe4292fb5525290456.txt |publisher=''The Daily Iberian''|accessdate=February 26, 2011}}</ref></blockquote/>
Mills polled 12,812 votes in the special Senate election, or 60 percent of the total cast in the first round of balloting. Champagne finished second with 4,040 votes (19 percent).<ref name=ereturns/> Champagne campaigned as a "[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan Republican" and had the open support of Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[David Vitter]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Can anyone knock out frontrunner Fred Mills in the District 22 state Senate race? |author=Nathan Stubbs |date=January 19, 2011 |url=http://www.theind.com/cover-story/7633-fight-card |work=theind.com |accessdate=February 26, 2011}}</ref> Independent David Groner finished third with 2,534 votes (12 percent). The remaining ballots favored two other Republican candidates and a second Independent hopeful. No Democrats contested the position.<ref name=ereturns/>
==House reelection==
Champagne won reelection to a full term which she did not complete in the primary election held on October 22, 2011, having amassed more than two-thirds of the ballots cast over both Democratic and Republican opponents.<ref>Louisianan Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref>
A [[special election]] was held to choose a successor for the year remaining in Champagne's House term. Attorney [[Blake Miguez]] of Iberia Parish was elected to succeed Champagne.<ref>{{cite web|author=Zane Hill|date=February 22, 2015 |title= Miguez a state rep |url=http://www.iberianet.com/news/miguez-a-state-rep/article_ca342a3a-ba4c-11e4-aa19-03a2cc5aad9d.html |publisher=''The Daily Iberian''|access-date= }}</ref> On January 13, 2019, Miguez is slated to become the House Majority Leader, replacing [[Lance Harris]] of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champagne, Simone}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
|name=Simone Becnel Champagne
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative<br> for District 49 (Iberia and Vermilion parishes)
| term_start=January 2008
| term_end=2014
| preceded=Troy Hebert
| succeeded=[[Blake Miguez]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (July 2010)
| birth_date=December 27, 1954
| birth_place=Jeanerette, Iberia Parish<br>Louisiana
| occupation=[[Banker]]
| spouse=Gary Paul Champagne, Sr.
| children=Five children, including<br>
Gary Champagne, Jr.
}}
'''Simone Becnel Champagne''' (born December 27, 1954) is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] former state representative for District 49 (Iberia and Vermilion parishes) in south [[Louisiana]].
In 1971, she graduated from Jeanerette High School in Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. Thereafter, she studied [[banking]] in continuing education programs.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/members.asp?ID=49|title=Rep. Simone B. Champagne|publisher=house.louisiana.gov|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref>
Champagne resigned her House seat late in 2014 to accept appointment as the chief administrative officer in 2015 with the city of Youngsville near [[Lafayette]].<ref name=resignation>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/news/11068426-123/state-rep-herbert-dixon-resigns|title=State Rep. Herbert Dixon resigns House seat|author=Marsha Shuler|date=December 12, 2014|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=December 13, 2014}}</ref>
==Political life==
From 2002 to 2007, Champagne was the chief administrative officer for the combined Iberia Parish and city of New Iberia government. She resigned to run for state representative and faced no opposition. The incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], later [[Independent]], Troy Hebert, also of Jeanerette, vacated the seat because of term limits and instead was elected to the state Senate. Champagne won her House race as a Democrat, but in July 2010, she switched party allegiance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/h1812-2012.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012|publisher=legis.state.la.us|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref><ref name=vsmart>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=93867=|title=Representative Simone B. Champagne (LA)|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=February 20, 2011}}</ref>
Representative Champagne served on the House committees on (1) Appropriations, (2) Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs, (3) Natural Resources and Environment, (4) House Executive Committee, and (5) Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. She was a member of the Acadiana delegation, the Legislative Women's Caucus, the Republican legislative delegation, and the Louisiana Rural Caucus.<ref name=bio/> In 2009, Champagne was rated 100 percent by the Louisiana [[Right to Life]] Federation and the [[conservative]] Louisiana Family Forum and 65 percent by the trade association, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.<ref name=vsmart/>
===Special Senate election===
Early in 2011, Champagne ran in a [[special election]] for the state Senate but lost to a House colleague, [[Fred Mills (Louisiana politician)|Fred Henry Mills, Jr.]], a banker and pharmacist from St. Martin Parish. Mills also switched from Democrat-to-Republican in 2010.<ref name=ereturns>Louisiana Secretary of
State, Election Returns, January 22, 2011.</ref>
In a campaign statement for the Senate race, Champagne said:
<blockquote>
Government spending and growth is the problem, it hinders our ability to grow our economy and small businesses. Now more than ever we need a true conservative in the State Senate, and that is why I decided to run for this important seat . . . If we want to create jobs we must get government out of the way. No more moratoriums, no more regulations and we can’t afford higher taxes. As a mother of five and grandmother of three, I’ve stretched a budget and done more with less. Shouldn’t our government do the same? . . . If we have learned anything in the past two years it is that we cannot afford to allow government to run rampant and continue the out-of-control spending. That is why I voted against the bloated Louisiana budget last year and supported legislation that allowed Louisiana to opt out of [[Barack Obama]]'s costly health-care mandate.<ref>{{cite web |author=Simone B. Champagne |title=Why I'm Running for Senate District 22 |date=January 5, 2011 |url=http://www.iberianet.com/articles/2011/02/02/elections/doc4d24fe4292fb5525290456.txt |publisher=''The Daily Iberian''|accessdate=February 26, 2011}}</ref></blockquote/>
Mills polled 12,812 votes in the special Senate election, or 60 percent of the total cast in the first round of balloting. Champagne finished second with 4,040 votes (19 percent).<ref name=ereturns/> Champagne campaigned as a "[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan Republican" and had the open support of Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[David Vitter]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Can anyone knock out frontrunner Fred Mills in the District 22 state Senate race? |author=Nathan Stubbs |date=January 19, 2011 |url=http://www.theind.com/cover-story/7633-fight-card |work=theind.com |accessdate=February 26, 2011}}</ref> Independent David Groner finished third with 2,534 votes (12 percent). The remaining ballots favored two other Republican candidates and a second Independent hopeful. No Democrats contested the position.<ref name=ereturns/>
==House reelection==
Champagne won reelection to a full term which she did not complete in the primary election held on October 22, 2011, having amassed more than two-thirds of the ballots cast over both Democratic and Republican opponents.<ref>Louisianan Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref>
A [[special election]] was held to choose a successor for the year remaining in Champagne's House term. Attorney [[Blake Miguez]] of Iberia Parish was elected to succeed Champagne.<ref>{{cite web|author=Zane Hill|date=February 22, 2015 |title= Miguez a state rep |url=http://www.iberianet.com/news/miguez-a-state-rep/article_ca342a3a-ba4c-11e4-aa19-03a2cc5aad9d.html |publisher=''The Daily Iberian''|access-date= }}</ref> On January 13, 2019, Miguez is slated to become the House Majority Leader, replacing [[Lance Harris]] of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champagne, Simone}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]