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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Stuart James Bishop |office=Louisiana State Representative for District 43 (Lafayette) | party=Republican |..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Stuart James Bishop
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative for District 43 ([[Lafayette]])
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=January 9, 2012
| term_end=
| preceded=[[Page Cortez]] (current Senate President)
| birth_date=August 19, 1975
| birth_place=Jeanerette, beria Parish, Louisiana
| residence=Lafayette, Louisiana
| alma_mater=[[Louisiana State University]]
| occupation=[[Business]]man
| spouse=Kim Dugas Bishop
| children=Donald and Cooper Bishop}}
'''Stuart James Bishop''' (born August 19, 1975)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/stuart-bishop/stewartbis29452bt|title=Stuart Bishop|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 31, 2020}}</ref> is a [[business]]man in [[Lafayette]], [[Louisiana]], who is the [[Republican Party|Republican]] state representative for District 43. In 2012, he succeeded his fellow Republican, [[Page Cortez]] of Lafayette, who was instead elected state senator and was elevated to Senate President on January 13, 2020.
With no previous political experience, Bishop was the only unopposed candidate for an open House seat in the Louisiana [[nonpartisan blanket primary]] held on October 22, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapolitics.com/|title=Two New Senators Walk in Unopposed|publisher=lapolitics.com|accessdate=September 16, 2011}}</ref>
Similarly, Cortez had no opponent in the 2011 Senate race to succeed the term-limited [[Michael J. Michot]], another Lafayette businessman and a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]-turned Republican.<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|date=September 9, 2011|publisher=The Alexandria Town Talk|accessdate=September 11, 2011; no longer on-line</ref>
==Background==
A native of Jeanerette, a small city in [[sugar]]-growing Iberia Parish, Bishop graduated from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. In 1997, after leaving LSU, he moved to Lafayette. He is an officer of his family's business, Baldwin Redi-Mix Concrete. Bishop and his wife, the former Kim Dugas, have two sons, Donald and Cooper Bishop.<ref name=indcom>{{cite web|url=http://www.theind.com/news/7807-bishop-eyeing-cortez-seat|title=Bishop eyeing Cortez seat|date= February 18, 2011|publisher=theind.com|accessdate=September 14, 2011}}</ref>
==Political life==
Even before it was clear that Bishop would run unopposed for the House seat, the candidate drew the endorsement of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, a statewide trade association.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://electstuartbishop.com/breaking-news-labi-endorses-bishop|title=LABI endorses Bishop|publisher=Electstuartbishop.com|accessdate=September 14, 2011; no longer on-line}}</ref> Bishop also carried the support of the [[Tea Party movement]], which endorsed his candidacy based on Bishop's stated belief in smaller government and the desire to reduce regulations that hamper business growth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402131152/http://www.teapartyoflafayette.com/dotnetnuke/Portals/0/JDwyer/Stuart%20Bishop1%20(2).pdf#||title=The TEA Party of Lafayette endorses Mr. Stuart Bishop for District 43 State Representative|publisher=Teapartyoflafayette.com|accessdate=September 16, 2011}}</ref>
As he took his legislative seat in the second term of Republican Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]], Bishop declared that the state is moving in the right direction: "I believe that business is obviously the backbone of everything, and I'm going to be a pro-business politician by all means." Bishop is a member of the Concrete and Aggregate Association of Louisiana, the National Redi-Mix Concrete Association, Downtown Lafayette Unlimited, and the Lafayette Education Foundation.<ref name=indcom/>
===Legislative ratings===
Bishop's legislative ratings have ranged from 97 to 100 percent from LABI. In 2012, he was rated 100 percent by the National Federation of Independent Business]]. In 2013 and 2014, the [[conservative]] Louisiana Family Forum scored him 90 percent each year. He is rated 100 percent by Louisiana [[Right to Life]]. In 2013 and 2014, the Louisiana Association of Educators rated him 0 percent for both years.<ref name=politicalsummary>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/134602/stuart-bishop#.VVIiO_lViko|title=Stuart Bishop's Ratings and Endorsements|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=January 31, 2020}}</ref>
In 2014, Bishop co-sponsored the requirement that [[abortion]] providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the bill was approved by the full House, 88-5. In 2014, he voted to extend the time for implementation of the [[Common Core]] State Standards Initiative. He voted to prohibit the transportation of dogs in the beds of pick-up trucks while traveling on [[interstate highway]]s. He did not vote on the requirement that companies give notice when they engage in hydraulic [[fracking]]. He voted against the [[repeal]] of the anti-sodomy laws. He co-sponsored the establishment in 2013 of surrogacy contracts. He voted to reduce penalties for the possession of [[marijuana]]. He supported lifetime concealed carry gun permits and voted for concealed carry in restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages. He opposed making information about permit holders a matter of public record. Bishop in 2013 voted against an increase in judicial pay and opposed the removal of the mandatory retirement age for judges. In 2012, he voted to prohibit telephone usage while one is driving. Bishop supported the requirement for drug testing of welfare recipients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/134602/stuart-bishop#.VVIj0flVikp|title=Stuart Bishop's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|date=January 31, 2020}}</ref>
===Anti-littering campaign===
In April 2017, the House Education Committee approved legislation introduced by Representative Bishop, to require public schools to add [[litter]] prevention and awareness instruction for pupils in [[kindergarten]] to the fifth grade. "I grew up on Bayou Teche, and it's filthy; I live half a mile from the Vermilion River, and it's filthy. It's a travesty what we are doing to our state. I'm tired of seeing cans and bottles floating down our bayous," Bishop said in plugging for his bill.<ref name=litterlaw/> A few weeks earlier, then state parks director Robert Jocelyn Barham, a former state senator from Morehouse Parish, in testimony before a House committee termed Louisiana "the trashiest state in the nation. We should hang our heads in shame when [[Arkansas]] and [[Mississippi]] are cleaner than Louisiana."<ref name=litterlaw>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/04/28/trashiest-state-lawmaker-believes-kids-can-change-las-litter-culture/101018884/|title=Trashiest state? Lawmaker believes kids can change La.'s litter culture|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk|author=[[Greg Hilburn]]|date=April 28, 2017|accessdate=May 1, 2017; no longer on-line}}</ref>
===Fistfight with colleague===
On May 15, 2018, Bishop and then state Senator Norby Chabert, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Houma in Terrebonne Parish engaged in a fistfight over legislative disagreement at the River Room in Baton Rouge. The two apologized for attacking the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http:www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2018/05/16/lawmakers-come-blows-b-r-bar/615455002/|title=Lawmakers come to blows|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|date=May 16, 2018|accessdate=January 31, 2020}}</ref>f>
===Joining the Democrats in choosing the House Speaker===
Though is voting record has been conservatives on many issues, Bishop joined twenty-three dissident [[Moderate Republican]]s to elect Republican [[Clay Schexnayder]] of Ascension Parish as House Speaker. Schexnayder defeated the more conservative Republican challenger, [[Sherman Mack]] of Livingston Parish, 60-45. Schexnayder's victory was sealed with the support of all thirty-five House Democrats, many of whom are members of the Black Caucus, two Independent legislator, and the twenty-three dissident votes, including his own. Statewide [[radio]] commentator [[Moon Griffon]], based in Bishop's Lafayette, is a long-time critic of the representative. Griffon labeled the twenty-three dissenters as the [[Louisiana Republican Fraud Squad|Fraud Squad]].<ref>''[[Moon Griffon|The Moon Griffon Show]],'' January 23, 2020.</ref>
Bishop will be term-limited in 2024 and unable to seek a fourth House term in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] in the fall of 2023.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Stuart}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
|name=Stuart James Bishop
|office=[[Louisiana]] State Representative for District 43 ([[Lafayette]])
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=January 9, 2012
| term_end=
| preceded=[[Page Cortez]] (current Senate President)
| birth_date=August 19, 1975
| birth_place=Jeanerette, beria Parish, Louisiana
| residence=Lafayette, Louisiana
| alma_mater=[[Louisiana State University]]
| occupation=[[Business]]man
| spouse=Kim Dugas Bishop
| children=Donald and Cooper Bishop}}
'''Stuart James Bishop''' (born August 19, 1975)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/stuart-bishop/stewartbis29452bt|title=Stuart Bishop|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 31, 2020}}</ref> is a [[business]]man in [[Lafayette]], [[Louisiana]], who is the [[Republican Party|Republican]] state representative for District 43. In 2012, he succeeded his fellow Republican, [[Page Cortez]] of Lafayette, who was instead elected state senator and was elevated to Senate President on January 13, 2020.
With no previous political experience, Bishop was the only unopposed candidate for an open House seat in the Louisiana [[nonpartisan blanket primary]] held on October 22, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapolitics.com/|title=Two New Senators Walk in Unopposed|publisher=lapolitics.com|accessdate=September 16, 2011}}</ref>
Similarly, Cortez had no opponent in the 2011 Senate race to succeed the term-limited [[Michael J. Michot]], another Lafayette businessman and a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]-turned Republican.<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|date=September 9, 2011|publisher=The Alexandria Town Talk|accessdate=September 11, 2011; no longer on-line</ref>
==Background==
A native of Jeanerette, a small city in [[sugar]]-growing Iberia Parish, Bishop graduated from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. In 1997, after leaving LSU, he moved to Lafayette. He is an officer of his family's business, Baldwin Redi-Mix Concrete. Bishop and his wife, the former Kim Dugas, have two sons, Donald and Cooper Bishop.<ref name=indcom>{{cite web|url=http://www.theind.com/news/7807-bishop-eyeing-cortez-seat|title=Bishop eyeing Cortez seat|date= February 18, 2011|publisher=theind.com|accessdate=September 14, 2011}}</ref>
==Political life==
Even before it was clear that Bishop would run unopposed for the House seat, the candidate drew the endorsement of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, a statewide trade association.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://electstuartbishop.com/breaking-news-labi-endorses-bishop|title=LABI endorses Bishop|publisher=Electstuartbishop.com|accessdate=September 14, 2011; no longer on-line}}</ref> Bishop also carried the support of the [[Tea Party movement]], which endorsed his candidacy based on Bishop's stated belief in smaller government and the desire to reduce regulations that hamper business growth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402131152/http://www.teapartyoflafayette.com/dotnetnuke/Portals/0/JDwyer/Stuart%20Bishop1%20(2).pdf#||title=The TEA Party of Lafayette endorses Mr. Stuart Bishop for District 43 State Representative|publisher=Teapartyoflafayette.com|accessdate=September 16, 2011}}</ref>
As he took his legislative seat in the second term of Republican Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]], Bishop declared that the state is moving in the right direction: "I believe that business is obviously the backbone of everything, and I'm going to be a pro-business politician by all means." Bishop is a member of the Concrete and Aggregate Association of Louisiana, the National Redi-Mix Concrete Association, Downtown Lafayette Unlimited, and the Lafayette Education Foundation.<ref name=indcom/>
===Legislative ratings===
Bishop's legislative ratings have ranged from 97 to 100 percent from LABI. In 2012, he was rated 100 percent by the National Federation of Independent Business]]. In 2013 and 2014, the [[conservative]] Louisiana Family Forum scored him 90 percent each year. He is rated 100 percent by Louisiana [[Right to Life]]. In 2013 and 2014, the Louisiana Association of Educators rated him 0 percent for both years.<ref name=politicalsummary>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/134602/stuart-bishop#.VVIiO_lViko|title=Stuart Bishop's Ratings and Endorsements|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=January 31, 2020}}</ref>
In 2014, Bishop co-sponsored the requirement that [[abortion]] providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the bill was approved by the full House, 88-5. In 2014, he voted to extend the time for implementation of the [[Common Core]] State Standards Initiative. He voted to prohibit the transportation of dogs in the beds of pick-up trucks while traveling on [[interstate highway]]s. He did not vote on the requirement that companies give notice when they engage in hydraulic [[fracking]]. He voted against the [[repeal]] of the anti-sodomy laws. He co-sponsored the establishment in 2013 of surrogacy contracts. He voted to reduce penalties for the possession of [[marijuana]]. He supported lifetime concealed carry gun permits and voted for concealed carry in restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages. He opposed making information about permit holders a matter of public record. Bishop in 2013 voted against an increase in judicial pay and opposed the removal of the mandatory retirement age for judges. In 2012, he voted to prohibit telephone usage while one is driving. Bishop supported the requirement for drug testing of welfare recipients.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/134602/stuart-bishop#.VVIj0flVikp|title=Stuart Bishop's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|date=January 31, 2020}}</ref>
===Anti-littering campaign===
In April 2017, the House Education Committee approved legislation introduced by Representative Bishop, to require public schools to add [[litter]] prevention and awareness instruction for pupils in [[kindergarten]] to the fifth grade. "I grew up on Bayou Teche, and it's filthy; I live half a mile from the Vermilion River, and it's filthy. It's a travesty what we are doing to our state. I'm tired of seeing cans and bottles floating down our bayous," Bishop said in plugging for his bill.<ref name=litterlaw/> A few weeks earlier, then state parks director Robert Jocelyn Barham, a former state senator from Morehouse Parish, in testimony before a House committee termed Louisiana "the trashiest state in the nation. We should hang our heads in shame when [[Arkansas]] and [[Mississippi]] are cleaner than Louisiana."<ref name=litterlaw>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/04/28/trashiest-state-lawmaker-believes-kids-can-change-las-litter-culture/101018884/|title=Trashiest state? Lawmaker believes kids can change La.'s litter culture|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk|author=[[Greg Hilburn]]|date=April 28, 2017|accessdate=May 1, 2017; no longer on-line}}</ref>
===Fistfight with colleague===
On May 15, 2018, Bishop and then state Senator Norby Chabert, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Houma in Terrebonne Parish engaged in a fistfight over legislative disagreement at the River Room in Baton Rouge. The two apologized for attacking the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http:www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2018/05/16/lawmakers-come-blows-b-r-bar/615455002/|title=Lawmakers come to blows|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|date=May 16, 2018|accessdate=January 31, 2020}}</ref>f>
===Joining the Democrats in choosing the House Speaker===
Though is voting record has been conservatives on many issues, Bishop joined twenty-three dissident [[Moderate Republican]]s to elect Republican [[Clay Schexnayder]] of Ascension Parish as House Speaker. Schexnayder defeated the more conservative Republican challenger, [[Sherman Mack]] of Livingston Parish, 60-45. Schexnayder's victory was sealed with the support of all thirty-five House Democrats, many of whom are members of the Black Caucus, two Independent legislator, and the twenty-three dissident votes, including his own. Statewide [[radio]] commentator [[Moon Griffon]], based in Bishop's Lafayette, is a long-time critic of the representative. Griffon labeled the twenty-three dissenters as the [[Louisiana Republican Fraud Squad|Fraud Squad]].<ref>''[[Moon Griffon|The Moon Griffon Show]],'' January 23, 2020.</ref>
Bishop will be term-limited in 2024 and unable to seek a fourth House term in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] in the fall of 2023.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Stuart}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]