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Sherri Smith Buffington (view source)
Revision as of 16:00, January 27, 2021
, 16:00, January 27, 2021Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Sherri Smith Cheek Buffington | image=Sherri Smith Buffington of LA.jpg | office=Louisiana State Senator<br> for District 38 (Caddo and DeSot..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Sherri Smith Cheek Buffington
| image=Sherri Smith Buffington of LA.jpg
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator<br> for District 38 (Caddo and DeSoto parishes)
| term_star=January 2004
| term_end=January 11, 2016
| preceded=[[Ron Bean]]
| succeeded=[[John Milkovich]]
| birth_date= August 9, 1966
| spouse=(1) Jon Loyd Cheek (divorced)<br>
(2) William Joseph "Joe" Buffington (married 2012-2021, his death)
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| occupation=[[Business]]woman
| religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
| alma_mater=Southwood High School<br>
Centenary College of Louisiana<br>
Louisiana State University in Shreveport}}
'''Sherri Smith Buffington''', formerly '''Sherri Smith Cheek''' (born August 9, 1966),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/sherri-cheek/sweetcowgirl1976?fname=sherri&lname=buffington&|title=Sherri Cheek (Buffington)|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> is a [[business]]woman and [[lobbyist]] from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] former state senator for District 38 in Caddo and DeSoto parishes in the northwestern portion of her state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> Buffington is the first female Republican ever to have been elected to the Louisiana Senate.<ref name=cheek>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923235402/http://www.sherricheekforsenate.com/|title=Sherri Cheek for Senate|publisher=sherricheekforsenate.com|accessdate=September 23, 2011
}}</ref>
Buffington was term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on October 24, 2015. Cloyce Crincrick Clark, III, who vowed "New Conservative Leadership" in contrast to Buffington's [[Moderate Republican]] status,<ref>{{cite web|author=Cloyce Clark|url=http://www.cloyceclark.com|title=Cloyce Clark: New Conservative Leadership|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref> sought to fill her seat, as did Republican then state Representative]] [[Richard Burford]] of Stonewall in DeSoto Parish and two [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], [[John Milkovich]], a Shreveport [[attorney]] who resides in Keithville in south Caddo Parish, and Jemayel Warren of Grand Cane in DeSoto Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/candidates-qualified-in-statewide-elections/|title=Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections|publisher=KEEL (AM)|accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref> In the runoff election on November 21, 2015, Milkovich defeated Burford.
==Background==
Prior to her election in 2003, Buffington had been since 1992 the legislative aide to her predecessor in office, fellow Moderate Republican [[Ron Bean].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316160933/http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Cheek/biography.asp|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek - District 38|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=March 16, 2012}}</ref> She graduated from Southwood High School in Shreveport and attended Centenary College and Louisiana State University in Shreveport, a four-year campus established in 1967. Buffington worked in her family's rental business and was active in the Summer Grove [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in south Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403042821/http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?chamber=S&id=141476&lvl=L|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek|publisher=congress.org|accessdate=April 3, 2012}}</ref>
==Succeeding Ron Bean==
In the primary held on October 4, 2003, Buffington, backed by the outgoing Senator Bean, led a four-candidate race with 10,458 votes (35.3 percent). In second place was the Democrat Forrest Davis, who polled 9,403 votes (31.7 percent). Two other Republicans finished behind, Doug Shurling, with 5,387 votes (18.1 percent) and Ted Roberts, 4,410 (14.9 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.</ref> In that 68 percent of primary voters had chosen a Republican candidate, Davis withdrew from the November 15 [[general election]], and Buffington won by default.
In 2007, Buffington won reelection by defeating [[Alan Seabaugh]], the more [[conservative]] Republican attorney, and subsequent state representative for District 5. She won the primary, 16,665 (53 percent) to Seabaugh's 14,725 (47 percent). De Soto Parish provided most of Buffington's margin of victory. Had the race been restricted to the majority of the precincts in Caddo Parish, Buffington would have won by only 277 votes.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> Seabaugh told ''The Shreveport Times'' that he had "met Sherri and she seems nice. But she just doesn't represent me. It begins and ends with her voting record. She runs as a Republican and votes like a Democrat."<ref name=prime>{{cite web|url=http://www.lanewslink.com/archives.php?id=2319|author=John Andrew Prime|title=Incumbent Senator Sherri Smith Cheek Faces Attorney Alan Seabaugh|publisher=''The Shreveport Times|date=October 7, 2007|accessdate=August 31, 2011}}</ref>
Buffington served on these Senate committees: (1) Environmental Quality, (2) Finance, (3) Health and Welfare (vice chairman), and (4) Labor and Industrial Relations. She is also the vice chairman of the Select Women's and Children's Committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/cheek/assignments.asp|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek -- District 38|publisher=senate.legis.state.la.us|accessdate=August 31, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315153050/http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Cheek/assignments.asp|archivedate=March 15, 2012}}</ref>
In 2010, Buffington received a 61 percent rating from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, lower than most Republican legislators. In 2009, the Louisiana Federation of Independent Business rated her 70 percent. The conservative Louisiana Family Forum rated her 13 percent in 2004, 33 percent in 2006, and 57 percent in 2007. After Buffington defeating Seabaugh, her Family Forum rating moved upward to 78 percent in 2008 and 90 percent in 2010. In 2009, she was ranked 100 percent by the Louisiana [[Right to Life]] Federation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=35537|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> In 2011, Buffington voted against amending the Smoke-free Air Act to bar smoking in restaurants and bars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=35537|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref>
==Reelection in 2011==
Buffington won her third Senate term in the primary election held on October 22, 2011, having defeated fellow Republican Troy Neal Terrell (born August 1972), 10,570 votes (57.2 percent) to 7,912 (42.8 percent,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10222011/10222011_Legislative.html|title=Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 2011|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|accessdate=October 22, 2011}}</ref> who was backed by the [[Tea party movement]]. A native of Starkville, Mississippi, he was the co-pastor of The Church, a nondenominational congregation in Mansfield.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bossierpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4481:the-race-is-on-officially&catid=7:other-opinion&Itemid=144|title=The race is on officially|date=September 8, 2011|publisher=''The Bossier Press''|accessdate=September 9, 2011}}</ref> Terrell was narrowly defeated in 2014 for his District B city alderman position in Mansfield.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, May 3, 2014.</ref> Terrell's father, Troy H. Terrell (born May 1941), is the current mayor of Converse in Sabine Parish; a Republican, he was reelected in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/electedofficials|title=Elected officials: Sabine Parish |publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State |accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref>
Buffington is only the second woman to hold the District 38 seat. The Democrat [[Virginia Shehee]] of Shreveport served in the slot from 1976 to 1980. She is a daughter of former District 11 Caddo Parish Commissioner Jim Smith, also of Keithville.
Buffington is divorced from Jon Loyd Cheek (born December 9, 1964) of Knoxville, [[Tennessee]], and formerly of Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/jon-cheek/e120648409716|title=John Cheek|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> Her second husband, William Joseph "Joe" Buffington (1961-2021), was a [[Certified Public Accountant]] and the finance director for the Bossier Parish Police Jury and, earlier, the city of [[Bossier City]]. The Buffingtons resided until his death in Keithville.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=joe-buffington&pid=197580000|title=Joe Buffington obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref>
In 2016, as her Senate term ended, Buffington registered as a lobbyist for Willis-Knighton Health Systems, Prados and Associates, and the Louisiana Medicaid Physician IPA.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/multimedia/photos/collection_245082c2-0326-11e9-aca8-47890a211435.html#21|title=Revolving Door: 25 well-known lawmakers who became lobbyists, state workers, political |author=Andrea Gallo|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=December 19, 2018}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffington, Sherri Smith}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]
| name=Sherri Smith Cheek Buffington
| image=Sherri Smith Buffington of LA.jpg
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator<br> for District 38 (Caddo and DeSoto parishes)
| term_star=January 2004
| term_end=January 11, 2016
| preceded=[[Ron Bean]]
| succeeded=[[John Milkovich]]
| birth_date= August 9, 1966
| spouse=(1) Jon Loyd Cheek (divorced)<br>
(2) William Joseph "Joe" Buffington (married 2012-2021, his death)
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| occupation=[[Business]]woman
| religion=[[Southern Baptist]]
| alma_mater=Southwood High School<br>
Centenary College of Louisiana<br>
Louisiana State University in Shreveport}}
'''Sherri Smith Buffington''', formerly '''Sherri Smith Cheek''' (born August 9, 1966),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/sherri-cheek/sweetcowgirl1976?fname=sherri&lname=buffington&|title=Sherri Cheek (Buffington)|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> is a [[business]]woman and [[lobbyist]] from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] former state senator for District 38 in Caddo and DeSoto parishes in the northwestern portion of her state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2024|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> Buffington is the first female Republican ever to have been elected to the Louisiana Senate.<ref name=cheek>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923235402/http://www.sherricheekforsenate.com/|title=Sherri Cheek for Senate|publisher=sherricheekforsenate.com|accessdate=September 23, 2011
}}</ref>
Buffington was term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on October 24, 2015. Cloyce Crincrick Clark, III, who vowed "New Conservative Leadership" in contrast to Buffington's [[Moderate Republican]] status,<ref>{{cite web|author=Cloyce Clark|url=http://www.cloyceclark.com|title=Cloyce Clark: New Conservative Leadership|accessdate=July 25, 2015}}</ref> sought to fill her seat, as did Republican then state Representative]] [[Richard Burford]] of Stonewall in DeSoto Parish and two [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], [[John Milkovich]], a Shreveport [[attorney]] who resides in Keithville in south Caddo Parish, and Jemayel Warren of Grand Cane in DeSoto Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/candidates-qualified-in-statewide-elections/|title=Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections|publisher=KEEL (AM)|accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref> In the runoff election on November 21, 2015, Milkovich defeated Burford.
==Background==
Prior to her election in 2003, Buffington had been since 1992 the legislative aide to her predecessor in office, fellow Moderate Republican [[Ron Bean].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316160933/http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Cheek/biography.asp|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek - District 38|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=March 16, 2012}}</ref> She graduated from Southwood High School in Shreveport and attended Centenary College and Louisiana State University in Shreveport, a four-year campus established in 1967. Buffington worked in her family's rental business and was active in the Summer Grove [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in south Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403042821/http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?chamber=S&id=141476&lvl=L|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek|publisher=congress.org|accessdate=April 3, 2012}}</ref>
==Succeeding Ron Bean==
In the primary held on October 4, 2003, Buffington, backed by the outgoing Senator Bean, led a four-candidate race with 10,458 votes (35.3 percent). In second place was the Democrat Forrest Davis, who polled 9,403 votes (31.7 percent). Two other Republicans finished behind, Doug Shurling, with 5,387 votes (18.1 percent) and Ted Roberts, 4,410 (14.9 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.</ref> In that 68 percent of primary voters had chosen a Republican candidate, Davis withdrew from the November 15 [[general election]], and Buffington won by default.
In 2007, Buffington won reelection by defeating [[Alan Seabaugh]], the more [[conservative]] Republican attorney, and subsequent state representative for District 5. She won the primary, 16,665 (53 percent) to Seabaugh's 14,725 (47 percent). De Soto Parish provided most of Buffington's margin of victory. Had the race been restricted to the majority of the precincts in Caddo Parish, Buffington would have won by only 277 votes.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> Seabaugh told ''The Shreveport Times'' that he had "met Sherri and she seems nice. But she just doesn't represent me. It begins and ends with her voting record. She runs as a Republican and votes like a Democrat."<ref name=prime>{{cite web|url=http://www.lanewslink.com/archives.php?id=2319|author=John Andrew Prime|title=Incumbent Senator Sherri Smith Cheek Faces Attorney Alan Seabaugh|publisher=''The Shreveport Times|date=October 7, 2007|accessdate=August 31, 2011}}</ref>
Buffington served on these Senate committees: (1) Environmental Quality, (2) Finance, (3) Health and Welfare (vice chairman), and (4) Labor and Industrial Relations. She is also the vice chairman of the Select Women's and Children's Committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/cheek/assignments.asp|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek -- District 38|publisher=senate.legis.state.la.us|accessdate=August 31, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315153050/http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Cheek/assignments.asp|archivedate=March 15, 2012}}</ref>
In 2010, Buffington received a 61 percent rating from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, lower than most Republican legislators. In 2009, the Louisiana Federation of Independent Business rated her 70 percent. The conservative Louisiana Family Forum rated her 13 percent in 2004, 33 percent in 2006, and 57 percent in 2007. After Buffington defeating Seabaugh, her Family Forum rating moved upward to 78 percent in 2008 and 90 percent in 2010. In 2009, she was ranked 100 percent by the Louisiana [[Right to Life]] Federation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=35537|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> In 2011, Buffington voted against amending the Smoke-free Air Act to bar smoking in restaurants and bars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=35537|title=Senator Sherri Smith Cheek|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref>
==Reelection in 2011==
Buffington won her third Senate term in the primary election held on October 22, 2011, having defeated fellow Republican Troy Neal Terrell (born August 1972), 10,570 votes (57.2 percent) to 7,912 (42.8 percent,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10222011/10222011_Legislative.html|title=Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 2011|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|accessdate=October 22, 2011}}</ref> who was backed by the [[Tea party movement]]. A native of Starkville, Mississippi, he was the co-pastor of The Church, a nondenominational congregation in Mansfield.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bossierpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4481:the-race-is-on-officially&catid=7:other-opinion&Itemid=144|title=The race is on officially|date=September 8, 2011|publisher=''The Bossier Press''|accessdate=September 9, 2011}}</ref> Terrell was narrowly defeated in 2014 for his District B city alderman position in Mansfield.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, May 3, 2014.</ref> Terrell's father, Troy H. Terrell (born May 1941), is the current mayor of Converse in Sabine Parish; a Republican, he was reelected in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/electedofficials|title=Elected officials: Sabine Parish |publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State |accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref>
Buffington is only the second woman to hold the District 38 seat. The Democrat [[Virginia Shehee]] of Shreveport served in the slot from 1976 to 1980. She is a daughter of former District 11 Caddo Parish Commissioner Jim Smith, also of Keithville.
Buffington is divorced from Jon Loyd Cheek (born December 9, 1964) of Knoxville, [[Tennessee]], and formerly of Shreveport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/jon-cheek/e120648409716|title=John Cheek|publisher=Mylife.com|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref> Her second husband, William Joseph "Joe" Buffington (1961-2021), was a [[Certified Public Accountant]] and the finance director for the Bossier Parish Police Jury and, earlier, the city of [[Bossier City]]. The Buffingtons resided until his death in Keithville.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=joe-buffington&pid=197580000|title=Joe Buffington obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=January 27, 2021}}</ref>
In 2016, as her Senate term ended, Buffington registered as a lobbyist for Willis-Knighton Health Systems, Prados and Associates, and the Louisiana Medicaid Physician IPA.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/multimedia/photos/collection_245082c2-0326-11e9-aca8-47890a211435.html#21|title=Revolving Door: 25 well-known lawmakers who became lobbyists, state workers, political |author=Andrea Gallo|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=December 19, 2018}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffington, Sherri Smith}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]