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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Fritz Heinrich Windhorst |office= Louisiana State Senator<br> for Jefferson and Orleans parishes |term_start=1972 |term_end=1992 |preceded=W..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Fritz Heinrich Windhorst
|office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator<br> for Jefferson and Orleans parishes
|term_start=1972
|term_end=1992
|preceded=[[William J. Guste]]
|succeeded=Francis C. Heitmeier
|birth_date=January 31, 1935
|birth_place=
|death_date=
|death_place=
|residence=Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
|spouse= Not first wife:<br>
Barbara Turner Windhorst
|children=Stephen Joseph Windhorst
|parents=Richard E. and Jenny Mary Windhorst
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1985)
|occupation=[[Attorney]]
|religion= [Roman Catholic]]
|alma_mater=Redemptorist High School of New Orleans
|footnotes='''Notes''':<br>
* Windhorst voted as a [[conservative]] in both social and economic matters while he served from 1972 to 1992 as a state senator for [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish.
* After Windhorst's retirement, a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] won Windhorst’s state Senate seat, and the district became increasingly [[African American]].
* As Windhorst left the Senate, his son, Stephen Windhorst, began a nine-year legislative career in the Louisiana House of Representatives in a different district, and was elected judge in October 2000.
}}
'''Fritz Heinrich Windhorst''' (born January 31, 1935) is an [[attorney]] in Gretna in [[suburb]]an Jefferson Paris outside [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/fritz-windhorst-710773|title=Fritz Windhorst|publisher=lawyers.justia.com|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> who served from 1972 to 1992 as a state senator for Jefferson and Orleans parishes, originally District 8, and later District 7. Windhorst was a [[conservative]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] from 1972 to 1985, when he switched to [[Republican Party|Republican]] affiliation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=November 22, 2020}}</ref> His son, Stephen Joseph Windhorst], served as a Republican state representative from 1992 to 2000, when he resigned to accept a state court judgeship.
==Family background==
Windhorst was born to a [[Roman Catholic]] couple of [[Germany|German]] and [[Italy|Italian]] extraction, Richard E. Windhorst, Sr. (1913–1985), and the former Jenny Mary Motto (1916–2001), a native of Donaldsonville, in Ascension Parish]] near the capital city of [[Baton Rouge. She was the daughter of Carmello Motto and the former Angelina Latino. His brother is
Richard Windhorst, Jr., and his sister, Angela Windhorst Tripkovich (1938–1999) of the unincorporated city of Metairie in Jefferson Parish.<ref>Jenny Mary Motto Windhorst obituary, 'The 'New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' accessed October 16, 2009.</ref>
Windhorst graduated from the Roman Catholic Redemptorist High Schoo] in New Orleans. He is currently married to the former Barbara Turner (born c. 1941), and the two have been active in civic and community matters.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nola.com/society/index.ssf/2009/08/missions_possible_on_new_orlea.html|author=Jerry McLeod|title=New Orleans Party Picks|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|date=August 11, 2009|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
==Conservative senator==
Senator Windhorst worked to restrict access to [[abortion]] in his state. On June 27, 1990, near the end of his Senate tenure, the Louisiana State Legislature penned the strongest pro-life law in the nation, sponsored by Democratic Senator [[Mike Cross (Louisiana politician)|Mike Cross]] of Baker in East Baton Rouge Parish. Because it provided no exceptions for impregnations stemming from [[rape]] and [[incest]], the measure was vetoed by [[Governor]] [[Buddy Roemer]], a Democrat, who switched parties the following year. The state House overrode Roemer’s veto, but the publisher=''[[Los Angeles Times]]''|title=Abortion Bill Veto Override in Louisiana Fails |author=Garry Boulard |date=July 8, 1990 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref>
Windhorst said that the bill was an outgrowth of the failure of the [[United States Supreme Court]] to clarify regulations by the states on abortion: "We are here today because the U.S. Supreme Court did not have the courage or the resolve to be decisive."<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/27/us/louisiana-lawmakers-adopt-toughest-anti-abortion-law-in-us.html |publisher=''The New York Times'''|title=Louisiana Lawmakers Adopt Toughest Anti-Abortion Law in U.S | author=Roberto Suro |date=June 27, 1990 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> The Louisiana bill included an 1855 law that made abortion a [[felony]] punishable by imprisonment; the sole exception permitted was to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.<ref name=nyt/>
Windhorst also voted with economic conservatives in the Senate. In a special session in 1988, he joined his colleagues in giving newly elected Governor Roemer the power to slash as much as 20 percent from department budgets, abolish or suspend certain programs, and to close institutions if necessary to keep the state financially solvent. Windhorst said that the powers transferred to Roemer were necessary: "It is either this or a much greater evil. If we don't like what he does, we can undo it during the regular session."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/27/us/louisiana-governor-given-broad-power-to-curb-the-budget.html |publisher=''The New York Times''| title=Louisiana Governor Given Broad Power To Curb the Budget |date=March 27, 1988|accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref>
==Other political matters==
Windhorst’s later Senate tenure corresponded with the administration of New Orleans [[Mayor]] Sidney Barthelemy, the second [[African-American]] to head the municipal government in New Orleans. Windhorst described the Democrat Barthelemy, originally elected with considerable white support, accordingly: “Sidney doesn’t whine or complain when things go badly…He doesn’t threaten people who cross him. Just having him as mayor has sharply reduced the anti-New Orleans feelings in the legislature.”<ref>{{cite web|url= http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07112005-133748/unrestricted/Perkins_thesis.pdf|author=L.K. Perkins|title=Failing the Race: An Historical Assessment of New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelmy|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]]|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
Windhorst was a delegate to the 1988 [[Republican National Convention]] which met in New Orleans to nominate the [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] and [[Dan Quayle|J. Danforth Quayle]] ticket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/wilsons-winford.html|title=Political Graveyard: Fritz H. Windhorst|accessdate=November 22, 2020}}</ref>
When Windhorst retired in 1991, two-term Democratic State Representative Francis C. Heitmeier was elected to the position with 55 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] against five opponents. The lone Republican candidate hoping to succeed Windhorst finished with fewer than 17 percent of the ballots.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref> Because African-American influence in the Westbank increased throughout the 1990s, Heitmeier won with 58 percent of the vote in the 1995 primary and faced no opponents in 1999 and 2003. Heitmeier was term-limited in 2007.
Windhorst is Roman Catholic and a member of the West Bank Rotary International.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rotarywestbank.org/pdf/2006/041106.pdf|title=The West Bank Rotator: Service Before Self|publisher=rotarywestbank.org|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windhorst, Fritz}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category: Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
|name=Fritz Heinrich Windhorst
|office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator<br> for Jefferson and Orleans parishes
|term_start=1972
|term_end=1992
|preceded=[[William J. Guste]]
|succeeded=Francis C. Heitmeier
|birth_date=January 31, 1935
|birth_place=
|death_date=
|death_place=
|residence=Gretna, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
|spouse= Not first wife:<br>
Barbara Turner Windhorst
|children=Stephen Joseph Windhorst
|parents=Richard E. and Jenny Mary Windhorst
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1985)
|occupation=[[Attorney]]
|religion= [Roman Catholic]]
|alma_mater=Redemptorist High School of New Orleans
|footnotes='''Notes''':<br>
* Windhorst voted as a [[conservative]] in both social and economic matters while he served from 1972 to 1992 as a state senator for [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish.
* After Windhorst's retirement, a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] won Windhorst’s state Senate seat, and the district became increasingly [[African American]].
* As Windhorst left the Senate, his son, Stephen Windhorst, began a nine-year legislative career in the Louisiana House of Representatives in a different district, and was elected judge in October 2000.
}}
'''Fritz Heinrich Windhorst''' (born January 31, 1935) is an [[attorney]] in Gretna in [[suburb]]an Jefferson Paris outside [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/fritz-windhorst-710773|title=Fritz Windhorst|publisher=lawyers.justia.com|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref> who served from 1972 to 1992 as a state senator for Jefferson and Orleans parishes, originally District 8, and later District 7. Windhorst was a [[conservative]] [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] from 1972 to 1985, when he switched to [[Republican Party|Republican]] affiliation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=November 22, 2020}}</ref> His son, Stephen Joseph Windhorst], served as a Republican state representative from 1992 to 2000, when he resigned to accept a state court judgeship.
==Family background==
Windhorst was born to a [[Roman Catholic]] couple of [[Germany|German]] and [[Italy|Italian]] extraction, Richard E. Windhorst, Sr. (1913–1985), and the former Jenny Mary Motto (1916–2001), a native of Donaldsonville, in Ascension Parish]] near the capital city of [[Baton Rouge. She was the daughter of Carmello Motto and the former Angelina Latino. His brother is
Richard Windhorst, Jr., and his sister, Angela Windhorst Tripkovich (1938–1999) of the unincorporated city of Metairie in Jefferson Parish.<ref>Jenny Mary Motto Windhorst obituary, 'The 'New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' accessed October 16, 2009.</ref>
Windhorst graduated from the Roman Catholic Redemptorist High Schoo] in New Orleans. He is currently married to the former Barbara Turner (born c. 1941), and the two have been active in civic and community matters.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nola.com/society/index.ssf/2009/08/missions_possible_on_new_orlea.html|author=Jerry McLeod|title=New Orleans Party Picks|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|date=August 11, 2009|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
==Conservative senator==
Senator Windhorst worked to restrict access to [[abortion]] in his state. On June 27, 1990, near the end of his Senate tenure, the Louisiana State Legislature penned the strongest pro-life law in the nation, sponsored by Democratic Senator [[Mike Cross (Louisiana politician)|Mike Cross]] of Baker in East Baton Rouge Parish. Because it provided no exceptions for impregnations stemming from [[rape]] and [[incest]], the measure was vetoed by [[Governor]] [[Buddy Roemer]], a Democrat, who switched parties the following year. The state House overrode Roemer’s veto, but the publisher=''[[Los Angeles Times]]''|title=Abortion Bill Veto Override in Louisiana Fails |author=Garry Boulard |date=July 8, 1990 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref>
Windhorst said that the bill was an outgrowth of the failure of the [[United States Supreme Court]] to clarify regulations by the states on abortion: "We are here today because the U.S. Supreme Court did not have the courage or the resolve to be decisive."<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/27/us/louisiana-lawmakers-adopt-toughest-anti-abortion-law-in-us.html |publisher=''The New York Times'''|title=Louisiana Lawmakers Adopt Toughest Anti-Abortion Law in U.S | author=Roberto Suro |date=June 27, 1990 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> The Louisiana bill included an 1855 law that made abortion a [[felony]] punishable by imprisonment; the sole exception permitted was to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency.<ref name=nyt/>
Windhorst also voted with economic conservatives in the Senate. In a special session in 1988, he joined his colleagues in giving newly elected Governor Roemer the power to slash as much as 20 percent from department budgets, abolish or suspend certain programs, and to close institutions if necessary to keep the state financially solvent. Windhorst said that the powers transferred to Roemer were necessary: "It is either this or a much greater evil. If we don't like what he does, we can undo it during the regular session."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/27/us/louisiana-governor-given-broad-power-to-curb-the-budget.html |publisher=''The New York Times''| title=Louisiana Governor Given Broad Power To Curb the Budget |date=March 27, 1988|accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref>
==Other political matters==
Windhorst’s later Senate tenure corresponded with the administration of New Orleans [[Mayor]] Sidney Barthelemy, the second [[African-American]] to head the municipal government in New Orleans. Windhorst described the Democrat Barthelemy, originally elected with considerable white support, accordingly: “Sidney doesn’t whine or complain when things go badly…He doesn’t threaten people who cross him. Just having him as mayor has sharply reduced the anti-New Orleans feelings in the legislature.”<ref>{{cite web|url= http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07112005-133748/unrestricted/Perkins_thesis.pdf|author=L.K. Perkins|title=Failing the Race: An Historical Assessment of New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelmy|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]]|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
Windhorst was a delegate to the 1988 [[Republican National Convention]] which met in New Orleans to nominate the [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] and [[Dan Quayle|J. Danforth Quayle]] ticket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/wilsons-winford.html|title=Political Graveyard: Fritz H. Windhorst|accessdate=November 22, 2020}}</ref>
When Windhorst retired in 1991, two-term Democratic State Representative Francis C. Heitmeier was elected to the position with 55 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] against five opponents. The lone Republican candidate hoping to succeed Windhorst finished with fewer than 17 percent of the ballots.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref> Because African-American influence in the Westbank increased throughout the 1990s, Heitmeier won with 58 percent of the vote in the 1995 primary and faced no opponents in 1999 and 2003. Heitmeier was term-limited in 2007.
Windhorst is Roman Catholic and a member of the West Bank Rotary International.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rotarywestbank.org/pdf/2006/041106.pdf|title=The West Bank Rotator: Service Before Self|publisher=rotarywestbank.org|accessdate=October 16, 2009}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windhorst, Fritz}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category: Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]