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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Gillis James "Gil" Pinac |office=Louisiana State Representative<br> for District 42 (Acadia Parish) |term_start=1996 |term_end=Janu..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Gillis James "Gil" Pinac
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative<br> for District 42 (Acadia Parish)
|term_start=1996
|term_end=January 14, 2008
|preceded=Christopher Charles John
|succeeded=Jack Montoucet
|office2Member of the Crowley City Council
|term_start2=1987
|term_end2=1995
|birth_date=November 29, 1957
|spouse=Cherie Arceneaux Pinac
|children=Lauren Pinac<br>
Andrea Pinac<br>
Kelli Pinac<br>
Mary Catherine Pinac
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] turned [[Republican Party|Republican]](2008)
|occupation=[[Hospital]] administrator
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|alma_mater=Notre Dame High School
University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]]<br>
[[Louisiana State University]]
|footnotes='''Notes''':<br>
*Pinac switched parties after a 12-year legislative career and ran unsuccessfully as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate for the Louisiana Public Service Commission in a [[special election]] held on April 4, 2009.<br>
* A [[hospital]] administrator, Pinac previously served on the Crowley City Council for eight years and as mayor pro-tempore.
}}
'''Gillis James Pinac''', known as '''Gil Pinac''' (born November 29, 1957),<ref>"Louisiana: Gil Pinac", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: [[New Providence, New Jersey]], 2007), p. 668.</ref> is a former 12-year [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] state representative for Acadia Parish in south Louisiana. He resides in Crowly, where he formerly served on the city council. In 2008, he switched his affiliation to [[Republican Party|Republican]] a week before announcing his candidacy for the Louisiana Public Service Commission]in the [[special election]] held on April 4, 2009.<ref name=adtt>"Gil Pinac in race for PSC seat," ''The Alexandria Town Talk,'' accessed December 24, 2008.</ref>
==Background==
Pinac is a [[hospital]] administrator, the chief executive officer of Pin Mark Enterprises in [[Lafayette]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pinmarkenterprises.com/management.htm|title=Pin Market Enterprises|publisher=pinmarkenterprises.com|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref>
He graduated from the parochial school, Notre Dame High School of Acadia Parish, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in [[Business Administration]] from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He procured his [[Master of Business Administration]] from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. Pinac is married to the former Cherie Arceneaux and is the father of four daughters: Lauren, Andrea, Kelli, and Mary Catherine. The family holds membership at St. Michael's [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]] Church in Crowley.<ref name="adtt"/>
Prior to his legislative service, Pinac was as a member of the Crowley City Council from 1987 to 1995 and served for a time as mayor pro-tem.<ref name=adtt/>
==Campaign history==
===State representative===
Pinac was first elected to the District 42 seat in the state legislature in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on October 21, 1995, when he defeated a fellow Democrat, Isabella L. DelaHoussaye (born April 24, 1939) of Crowley, 6,512 (55.9 percent) to 5,148 ballots (44.2 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.</ref> Pinac succeeded Representative Christopher Charles John of Crowley, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1995. In 1996, John was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] for the since disbanded 7th congressional district.
In the Louisiana House, Pinac was the chairman of the Commerce Committee. He maintained a [[pro-life]] voting record<ref>{{cite web|url=http://brownpelicanla.com/index.php/all?cat=2|title=Lay Catholics Dedicated to Proclaiming the Truth|publisher=Brown Pelican Society|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> but was otherwise not [[conservative]]. In other legislative votes, Pinac opposed (1) [[human cloning]], (2) the restoration of mortgage interest deductions for Louisiana state income taxes, and (3) placing constitutional limits on state spending. He supported (1) more [[slot machine]]s at [[horse racing]] tracks, (2) permitting public officials to be employed by [[casino]]s, (3) allowing bars to be located near churches, and (4) [[tuition]] tax deductions for private schools.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://louisianavoterguide.com/races.asp?RaceID=x&OfficeSought=Senate&District=25|title=Louisiana Voter Guide, 2007|publisher=louisianavoterguide.com|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> Pinac was unopposed for his second and third terms in 1999 and 2003.
===State Senate election defeat===
Limited to three terms in the state House, Pinac instead ran as a Democrat in the primary held on October 20, 2007, for the District 25 seat in the state Senate seat vacated by another Democrat-turned-Republican, [[Gerald Theunissen]] of Jennings in Jefferson Davis Parish. In that same election, he was a strong backer of the Democrat [[Bob Odom]], who was eliminated from another term as state commissioner of agriculture and forestry. Pinac led in the primary with 13,437 votes (38.5 percent) and went into the [[general election]] with Republican [[Dan"Blade" Morrish]] of Jennings, who had trailed in the first round of balloting with 11,145 (32 percent). A third candidate, Republican [[Mark Abraham]], the president of the Lake Charles Port Authority, a member of the Lake Charles City Council from 1989 to 1992, and a former LSU [[football]] star.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=197|title=Mark Abraham for Louisiana Senate, District 25|publisher=louisianaconservative.com|accessdate=December 27, 2008}}</ref> ran third with a crucial 10,294 votes (29.5 percent)<ref name=lsos>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> In the November 17 general election, with a much lower turnout, Morrish prevailed with 11,186 (53.9 percent) to Pinac's 9,556 (46 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 17, 2007.</ref>
After his failure to win the state Senate seat, Pinac switched parties just prior to announcing that he would run for the PSC. Isabella delaHoussaye also switched to Republican affiliation and ran for the House seat again in 2007, but she was defeated by the Democrat Jack Montoucet, 57 to 43 percent.<ref name=lsos/>
===Seeking seat on Public Service Commission===
Pinac ran third in the 2009 PSC election. As he conceded defeated on election night, Pinac endorsed his fellow Republican, former [[U.S. Representative]] Clyde Cecil Holloway (1943-2016).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090405/NEWS01/904050327/-1/NEWSFRONT2|author=Robert Morgan, "Holloway, McPherson go into May PSC runoff"|date=April 5, 2009|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=April 5, 2009}}</ref>
Holloway led narrowly in the initial balloting with 32,258 votes (43.50 percent) to Democrat former state Senator [[Joe McPherson]] of Woodworth, also in Rapides Parish, who received 31,610 votes (42.63 percent). Pinac trailed with 10,280 ballots (13.86 percent), but he won his home parish of Acadia and polled four votes more than Holloway and McPherson, who tied with 120 votes each, in the small in population Cameron Parish on the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. McPherson's greatest strength was in Calcasieu Parish ([[Lake Charles]]), where he led 11,178 (50.40 percent) to Holloway's 7,873 (35.50 percent), and Pinac's 3,127 (14.10 percent). Holloway's total in Calcasieu was also his single largest parish total. The home of both runoff candidates, Rapides Parish, in a low turnout cast 6,527 ballots for Holloway, 5,327 for McPherson, and 791 for Pinac.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, April 4, 2009.</ref>
In the PSC special election, Pinac sought to succeed the Democrat [[Dale Sittig]] of Eunice on the PSC, who served from 1995 to 2008, when he resigned to accept the directorship of the Louisiana Offshore Port Authority, known by the acronym LOOP. Sittig is also a former member of the Louisiana House from neighboring District 41.<ref name=adtt/> A runoff election for the PSC seat was cancelled, when Democrat Joe McPherson, who lost to Sittig in a previous special election in 1995, withdrew from the race.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapolitics.com/|title=Gil Pinac|author=John McGinnis|publisher=lapolitics.com|accessdate=December 24, 2008; no longer on-line}}</ref> McPherson was reelected in his District 29 Senate seat in 2007 with 69 percent of the vote in the primary against another Democrat.<ref name=lsos/>
Holloway won the 2009 PSC race automatically without the need for a runoff contest.<ref name=bouterie>Nick Bouterie, "Can a Democrat Become a True Republican," accessed December 24, 2008</ref>
In his statement of PSC candidacy, Pinac promised to "fight to get more power to you, the Louisiana consumer. I will take a common sense approach while working to keep [[electric]] rates fair, encourage the development of new sources of reliable, affordable, clean energy, and demand the safe and quick return of power to our homes and businesses after disasters strike our state. Our day-to-day lives are affected every time we flip that electrical switch, and in these difficult economic times, we should get what we pay for: safe, reliable, and reasonably-priced electricity and other utilities."<ref name=adtt/>
In addition to Acadia, the PSC district includes all or part of seventeen parishes: Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula (part), Evangeline]], Grant, Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin Parish, Vermilion, and Vernon parishes. The PSC has jurisdiction over publicly owned utilities providing electric, water, waste water, [[natural gas]], and telecommunication services in addition to all the electric cooperatives in Louisiana. The PSC also regulates intrastate transportation, including passenger carrier services, waste haulers, household goods carriers, non-consensual towing, and intrastate pipelines.<ref name=adtt/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinac, Gil}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
|name=Gillis James "Gil" Pinac
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative<br> for District 42 (Acadia Parish)
|term_start=1996
|term_end=January 14, 2008
|preceded=Christopher Charles John
|succeeded=Jack Montoucet
|office2Member of the Crowley City Council
|term_start2=1987
|term_end2=1995
|birth_date=November 29, 1957
|spouse=Cherie Arceneaux Pinac
|children=Lauren Pinac<br>
Andrea Pinac<br>
Kelli Pinac<br>
Mary Catherine Pinac
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] turned [[Republican Party|Republican]](2008)
|occupation=[[Hospital]] administrator
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|alma_mater=Notre Dame High School
University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]]<br>
[[Louisiana State University]]
|footnotes='''Notes''':<br>
*Pinac switched parties after a 12-year legislative career and ran unsuccessfully as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate for the Louisiana Public Service Commission in a [[special election]] held on April 4, 2009.<br>
* A [[hospital]] administrator, Pinac previously served on the Crowley City Council for eight years and as mayor pro-tempore.
}}
'''Gillis James Pinac''', known as '''Gil Pinac''' (born November 29, 1957),<ref>"Louisiana: Gil Pinac", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: [[New Providence, New Jersey]], 2007), p. 668.</ref> is a former 12-year [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] state representative for Acadia Parish in south Louisiana. He resides in Crowly, where he formerly served on the city council. In 2008, he switched his affiliation to [[Republican Party|Republican]] a week before announcing his candidacy for the Louisiana Public Service Commission]in the [[special election]] held on April 4, 2009.<ref name=adtt>"Gil Pinac in race for PSC seat," ''The Alexandria Town Talk,'' accessed December 24, 2008.</ref>
==Background==
Pinac is a [[hospital]] administrator, the chief executive officer of Pin Mark Enterprises in [[Lafayette]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pinmarkenterprises.com/management.htm|title=Pin Market Enterprises|publisher=pinmarkenterprises.com|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref>
He graduated from the parochial school, Notre Dame High School of Acadia Parish, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in [[Business Administration]] from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He procured his [[Master of Business Administration]] from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. Pinac is married to the former Cherie Arceneaux and is the father of four daughters: Lauren, Andrea, Kelli, and Mary Catherine. The family holds membership at St. Michael's [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]] Church in Crowley.<ref name="adtt"/>
Prior to his legislative service, Pinac was as a member of the Crowley City Council from 1987 to 1995 and served for a time as mayor pro-tem.<ref name=adtt/>
==Campaign history==
===State representative===
Pinac was first elected to the District 42 seat in the state legislature in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on October 21, 1995, when he defeated a fellow Democrat, Isabella L. DelaHoussaye (born April 24, 1939) of Crowley, 6,512 (55.9 percent) to 5,148 ballots (44.2 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.</ref> Pinac succeeded Representative Christopher Charles John of Crowley, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1995. In 1996, John was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] for the since disbanded 7th congressional district.
In the Louisiana House, Pinac was the chairman of the Commerce Committee. He maintained a [[pro-life]] voting record<ref>{{cite web|url=http://brownpelicanla.com/index.php/all?cat=2|title=Lay Catholics Dedicated to Proclaiming the Truth|publisher=Brown Pelican Society|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> but was otherwise not [[conservative]]. In other legislative votes, Pinac opposed (1) [[human cloning]], (2) the restoration of mortgage interest deductions for Louisiana state income taxes, and (3) placing constitutional limits on state spending. He supported (1) more [[slot machine]]s at [[horse racing]] tracks, (2) permitting public officials to be employed by [[casino]]s, (3) allowing bars to be located near churches, and (4) [[tuition]] tax deductions for private schools.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://louisianavoterguide.com/races.asp?RaceID=x&OfficeSought=Senate&District=25|title=Louisiana Voter Guide, 2007|publisher=louisianavoterguide.com|accessdate=December 24, 2008}}</ref> Pinac was unopposed for his second and third terms in 1999 and 2003.
===State Senate election defeat===
Limited to three terms in the state House, Pinac instead ran as a Democrat in the primary held on October 20, 2007, for the District 25 seat in the state Senate seat vacated by another Democrat-turned-Republican, [[Gerald Theunissen]] of Jennings in Jefferson Davis Parish. In that same election, he was a strong backer of the Democrat [[Bob Odom]], who was eliminated from another term as state commissioner of agriculture and forestry. Pinac led in the primary with 13,437 votes (38.5 percent) and went into the [[general election]] with Republican [[Dan"Blade" Morrish]] of Jennings, who had trailed in the first round of balloting with 11,145 (32 percent). A third candidate, Republican [[Mark Abraham]], the president of the Lake Charles Port Authority, a member of the Lake Charles City Council from 1989 to 1992, and a former LSU [[football]] star.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=197|title=Mark Abraham for Louisiana Senate, District 25|publisher=louisianaconservative.com|accessdate=December 27, 2008}}</ref> ran third with a crucial 10,294 votes (29.5 percent)<ref name=lsos>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> In the November 17 general election, with a much lower turnout, Morrish prevailed with 11,186 (53.9 percent) to Pinac's 9,556 (46 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 17, 2007.</ref>
After his failure to win the state Senate seat, Pinac switched parties just prior to announcing that he would run for the PSC. Isabella delaHoussaye also switched to Republican affiliation and ran for the House seat again in 2007, but she was defeated by the Democrat Jack Montoucet, 57 to 43 percent.<ref name=lsos/>
===Seeking seat on Public Service Commission===
Pinac ran third in the 2009 PSC election. As he conceded defeated on election night, Pinac endorsed his fellow Republican, former [[U.S. Representative]] Clyde Cecil Holloway (1943-2016).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090405/NEWS01/904050327/-1/NEWSFRONT2|author=Robert Morgan, "Holloway, McPherson go into May PSC runoff"|date=April 5, 2009|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=April 5, 2009}}</ref>
Holloway led narrowly in the initial balloting with 32,258 votes (43.50 percent) to Democrat former state Senator [[Joe McPherson]] of Woodworth, also in Rapides Parish, who received 31,610 votes (42.63 percent). Pinac trailed with 10,280 ballots (13.86 percent), but he won his home parish of Acadia and polled four votes more than Holloway and McPherson, who tied with 120 votes each, in the small in population Cameron Parish on the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. McPherson's greatest strength was in Calcasieu Parish ([[Lake Charles]]), where he led 11,178 (50.40 percent) to Holloway's 7,873 (35.50 percent), and Pinac's 3,127 (14.10 percent). Holloway's total in Calcasieu was also his single largest parish total. The home of both runoff candidates, Rapides Parish, in a low turnout cast 6,527 ballots for Holloway, 5,327 for McPherson, and 791 for Pinac.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, April 4, 2009.</ref>
In the PSC special election, Pinac sought to succeed the Democrat [[Dale Sittig]] of Eunice on the PSC, who served from 1995 to 2008, when he resigned to accept the directorship of the Louisiana Offshore Port Authority, known by the acronym LOOP. Sittig is also a former member of the Louisiana House from neighboring District 41.<ref name=adtt/> A runoff election for the PSC seat was cancelled, when Democrat Joe McPherson, who lost to Sittig in a previous special election in 1995, withdrew from the race.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapolitics.com/|title=Gil Pinac|author=John McGinnis|publisher=lapolitics.com|accessdate=December 24, 2008; no longer on-line}}</ref> McPherson was reelected in his District 29 Senate seat in 2007 with 69 percent of the vote in the primary against another Democrat.<ref name=lsos/>
Holloway won the 2009 PSC race automatically without the need for a runoff contest.<ref name=bouterie>Nick Bouterie, "Can a Democrat Become a True Republican," accessed December 24, 2008</ref>
In his statement of PSC candidacy, Pinac promised to "fight to get more power to you, the Louisiana consumer. I will take a common sense approach while working to keep [[electric]] rates fair, encourage the development of new sources of reliable, affordable, clean energy, and demand the safe and quick return of power to our homes and businesses after disasters strike our state. Our day-to-day lives are affected every time we flip that electrical switch, and in these difficult economic times, we should get what we pay for: safe, reliable, and reasonably-priced electricity and other utilities."<ref name=adtt/>
In addition to Acadia, the PSC district includes all or part of seventeen parishes: Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula (part), Evangeline]], Grant, Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin Parish, Vermilion, and Vernon parishes. The PSC has jurisdiction over publicly owned utilities providing electric, water, waste water, [[natural gas]], and telecommunication services in addition to all the electric cooperatives in Louisiana. The PSC also regulates intrastate transportation, including passenger carrier services, waste haulers, household goods carriers, non-consensual towing, and intrastate pipelines.<ref name=adtt/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinac, Gil}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]