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==Biography==

==Biography==

Guidry graduated in 1979 from the historically black  McKinley Senior High School, in 1983 from [[Louisiana State University],] and in 1987 from from the historically black Southern University Law Center, all institutions in Baton Rouge.<ref name=bio/> He is a faculty member at both Southern University and the Southern Law Center.<ref name=judicialsociety/> Guidry is a member of the [[NAACP]], the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, and the group 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge. From 1980 to 1984, Guidry was a legislative assistant and from 1984 to 1987, he was the assistant clerk of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was an assistant attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish from 1988 to 1991 and maintained a private practice from 1987 to 1997.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/4490/john-michael-guidry#.VaaEvPlViko|title=John Michael Guidry's Biography|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=October 5, 2020}}</ref>  

Guidry graduated in 1979 from the historically black  McKinley Senior High School, in 1983 from [[Louisiana State University]], and in 1987 from from the historically black Southern University Law Center, all institutions in Baton Rouge.<ref name=bio/> He is a faculty member at both Southern University and the Southern Law Center.<ref name=judicialsociety/> Guidry is a member of the [[NAACP]], the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, and the group 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge. From 1980 to 1984, Guidry was a legislative assistant and from 1984 to 1987, he was the assistant clerk of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was an assistant attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish from 1988 to 1991 and maintained a private practice from 1987 to 1997.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/4490/john-michael-guidry#.VaaEvPlViko|title=John Michael Guidry's Biography|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=October 5, 2020}}</ref>  

Guidry was elected to the District 67 seat in the state House in 1991 with 56.4 percent of the vote in a three-candidate field.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>

Guidry was elected to the District 67 seat in the state House in 1991 with 56.4 percent of the vote in a three-candidate field.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>

Fields declined to seek a third term in Congress in 1996, a victim of [[redistricting]]. He instead returned to the state Senate, when Guidry won a special election to the circuit court on October 18, 1997, to succeed fellow Democrat J. Louis Watkins, Jr., of Houma in Terrebonne Parish, who died in office. Guidry received 5,413 vote (62.6 percent) over two other Democrats, Curtis A. Calloway and Donna Wright Lee, in an election which attracted fewer than 9,000 voters to the polls.<ref>{Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 18, 1997.</ref>

Fields declined to seek a third term in Congress in 1996, a victim of [[redistricting]]. He instead returned to the state Senate, when Guidry won a special election to the circuit court on October 18, 1997, to succeed fellow Democrat J. Louis Watkins, Jr., of Houma in Terrebonne Parish, who died in office. Guidry received 5,413 vote (62.6 percent) over two other Democrats, Curtis A. Calloway and Donna Wright Lee, in an election which attracted fewer than 9,000 voters to the polls.<ref>{Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 18, 1997.</ref>

Guidry ran unsuccessfully in 2012 for the Place 5 seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court though he led an eight-candidate field in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] with 93,110 votes (27.5 percent). The Republican [[Jefferson D. Hughes, III]], of Walker in Livingston Parish, also a circuit court judge, trailed with 71,911 (21.2 percent). Four other Republicans held 35 percent of the vote; another Democrat, 14.8 percent, and an [[Independent voter|Independent]], less than 1 percent.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 2012.</ref> In the lower-turnout runoff contest on December 8, 2012, Hughes defeated Guidry, 52,939 votes (52.8 percent) to 47,259 (47.2 percent), to claim the ten-year term on the Supreme Court to succeed the retiring [[Catherine D. Kimball]], the chief justice in her last years on the tribunal.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, December 8, 2012.</ref>

Guidry ran unsuccessfully in 2012 for the Place 5 seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court though he led an eight-candidate field in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] with 93,110 votes (27.5 percent). The Republican Jefferson Davis Hughes, III, of Walker in Livingston Parish, also a circuit court judge, trailed with 71,911 (21.2 percent). Four other Republicans held 35 percent of the vote; another Democrat, 14.8 percent, and an [[Independent voter|Independent]], less than 1 percent.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 2012.</ref> In the lower-turnout runoff contest on December 8, 2012, Hughes defeated Guidry, 52,939 votes (52.8 percent) to 47,259 (47.2 percent), to claim the ten-year term on the Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Catherine D. Kimball, the chief justice in her last years on the tribunal.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, December 8, 2012.</ref>

In 2014, Judge Guidry was named the new president of the Louisiana Judicial Society board of governors.<ref name=judicialsociety>{{cite web|url=http://ladatanews.com/news/2014/may/20judge-john-michael-guidry-receives-new-position/|title=Judge John Michael Guidry receives new position|date=May 20, 2014|publisher=ladatanews.com|accessdate=July 15, 2015}}</ref>

In 2014, Judge Guidry was named the new president of the Louisiana Judicial Society board of governors.<ref name=judicialsociety>{{cite web|url=http://ladatanews.com/news/2014/may/20judge-john-michael-guidry-receives-new-position/|title=Judge John Michael Guidry receives new position|date=May 20, 2014|publisher=ladatanews.com|accessdate=July 15, 2015}}</ref>