Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge is the capital city of Louisiana and home of Louisiana State University.

The city is the headquarters of the statewide Chamber of Commerce organization known as the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

Notable people

• Jody Amedee, former state senator
• J. Al Amiss, sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, 1972 to 1983
• Buddy Amoroso, former member of the Metro Council
• Smiley Anders, former columnist for The Baton Rouge Advocate
• Robert E. Anderson, Southern Baptist clergyman from Shreveport and Baton Rouge
• Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana secretary of state since 2018
• Harrison Bagwell, Baton Rouge attorney and Republican Party pioneer
• Jesse Bankston, Democratic Party activist
• Regina Barrow, state senator and former state representative
• Kirt Bennett, founder of Young Leaders Academy of Baton Rouge, established to support the education of African-American boys
• Connie Bernard, member of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board
• Thomas Duckett Boyd, former LSU president
• Jack Breaux, first Republican mayor in Louisiana since Reconstruction: Zachary in East Baton Rouge Parish from 1966 to 1980
• James H. "Jim" Brown, former state senator, Louisiana secretary of state and insurance commissioner
• Ossie Brown, East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney, 1972-1984
• Bryan Bush, district attorney, 1985-1990
• Theo Cangelosi, attorney; gubernatorial confidant
• Stephen Frank Carter, former state representative for District 68
• Jack Christian, East Baton Rouge mayor-president, 1957-1964
• Dan Claitor, attorney and departing state senator from District 16
• Thomas Clausen, former state superintendent of education
• Guy Coates, Associated Press correspondent in Baton Rouge
• Tom Colten, former mayor of Minden, appointee to the state Department of Transportation and Development, based in Baton Rouge
• Beth Courtney, president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting
• John Easterly Coxe, state education superintendent, 1940 to 1948
• Carl Crane, District 70 state representative, 1982 to 2008
• Ed Cullen, newspaper and radio journalist who specializes in human interest essays
• Charles Cusimano, I, longest serving member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, 1974-2006
• William Daniel, former state representative
• J. D. DeBlieux, former state senator known for civil rights activism
• Joe Delpit, former state representative, owner of The Chicken Shack
• John Desmond, architect
• Kenneth L. Dixon, youngest war correspondent in World War II; worked at The Baton Rouge Advocate from 1967 to 1971
• Margaret Dixon, influential woman journalist of 20th century; former managing editor of The Baton Rouge Advocate
• Bill Dodd, state representative from Allen Parish (1940-1948); lived in Baton Rouge while lieutenant governor (1948-1952), and state education superintendent (1964-1972)1972
• Woodrow Wilson Dumas, Mayor-President, 1965 to 1980
• Mike Dunne, environmental journalist
• Jack M. Dyer, attorney and one-term state representative, 1960 to 1964
• Rick Edmonds, state representative
• Edwin Edwards, four-term governor born in Marksville but resided in Crowley and then Baton Rouge
• John Bel Edwards, governor of Louisiana
• C. B. "Lum" Ellis, educator
• Tom Erwin, radio and television broadcaster, primarily in Alexandria and Shreveport, died in Baton Rouge
• Chris Faser, Jr., businessman and former state representative in both Mississippi and Louisiana
• Mike Futrell, former state representative
• Gaston Gerald, state senator from Greenwell Springs in East Baton Rouge Parish; expelled from Senate for corruption in 1981
• E. Clark Gaudin, first Republican to represent East Baton Rouge Parish in the state legislature in the 20th century
• Hunter Greene, family court judge and former state representative
• Jack P. F. Gremillion, state attorney general, 1956 to 1972
• James Gremillion, secretary of state from 1940 to 1944
• Francis Grevemberg, superintendent of state police, 1952-1955 who conducted raids against organized crime
• Dudley Guglielmo, state insurance commissioner, 1964-1972
• John Michael Guidry, appeal court judge
• T. H. Harris, state education superintendent from 1908 to 1940
• Rufus D. Hayes, state's first insurance commissioner
• E. L. "Bubba" Henry, attorney and former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives
• Dalton W. Honoré, former state representative
• Barry Ivey, District 65 state representative since 2013
• Shelby M. Jackson, Concordia Parish native, lived in Baton Rouge as state education superintendent, 1948 to 1964
• Bobby Jindal, governor, 2008-2016
• Donald Kennard, state representative from 1988 to 2008; LSU athletic department official
• Claude Kirkpatrick, businessman, hospital administrator, state representative for Jefferson Davis Parish (1952-1960)
• Eddie Lambert, attorney and state senator for Ascension Parish
• Nancy Landry, incoming secretary of state
• Elmer Litchfield, sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, 1983 to 2006
• Maurice Mapes, lobbyist and consultant
• Eugene McGehee, former state representative and judge
• Tom Ed McHugh, former Baton Rouge mayor-president*Chuck McMains, attorney-businessman and former state representative for East Baton Rouge Parish
• Scott McKnight, state representative for District 68
• Troy H. Middleton, United States Army officer in both world wars, reaching rank of lieutenant general; president of LSU, 1951-1962
• Liz Murrill, incoming state attorney general
• Sydney B. Nelson, former state senator for Bossier and Caddo parishes, since relocated to Baton Rouge
• J. Kelly Nix, state education superintendent, 1976 to 1984; Baton Rouge businessman and former professor
• Darrell Ourso, former state representative
• Edward Grady Partin, business agent of Teamsters union; his immunized testimony sent Jimmy Hoffa to prison
• Paul Pastorek, state education superintendent, 2007-2011
• G. Allen Penniman, Jr., businessman known for Pak-a-Sak convenience store chain
• Cecil Picard, former state education superintendent who served in both houses of the legislature for Vermilion Parish
• Bernie Pinsonat, political pollster
• Erich Ponti, businessman who was a Republican state representative from 2008 to 2015
• John Rarick, U.S. Representative for the Baton Rouge-based 6th congressional district, 1967-1973
• Kevin Reilly, executive with Lamar Advertising Company, state representative from 1972 to 1988
• Dan Richey, political consultant, former member of both house of the legislature
• Eddie Rispone, 2019 Republican candidate for governor
• Chas Roemer, former member and president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Buddy Roemer, former governor
• Jared Y. Sanders, Jr., former U.S. representative, state representative, and state senator
• Ellis Sandoz, professor, political scientist, author
• Alfred Shapiro, former Baton Rouge lawyer and legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union
• Bobby Simpson, former Baton Rouge mayor-president and mayor of Baker
• James Monroe Smith, 1930s LSU president caught up in Louisiana Hayride scandal
• Timmy Teepell, Republican political consultant; once called the "alter ego" of Governor Bobby Jindal
• Charles E. Thompson, former educator
• Sandra Thompson, former director of the Atchafalaya Basin project
• Dale Thorn, journalist, academic, press secretary in first to terms of Governor Edwin Edwards
• R. B. Walden, attorney who directed the desegregation of the Louisiana Department of Hospitals
• Harry D. Wilson, commissioner of agriculture and forestry from 1916 until his death in 1948; lived in Tangipahoa Parish
• Alfred C. Williams, attorney and former state representative
• Aubrey Young, state alcohol counselor and political activist
• A. Z. Young, first black to head a Louisiana state government agency

Further reading

• Martin, Mark E. and Andrew D. Lytle. Andrew D. Lytle's Baton Rouge: Photographs, 1863-1910 (The Hill Collection: Holdings of the LSU Libraries) (2008) excerpt and text search