Clay Schexnayder
Clay John Schexnayder (born 1969) is a businessman from Ascension Parish in south Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. His District 81 encompasses that section of Livingston Parish south of Interstate 12, the southeastern portion of Ascension Parish, and precincts on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes between Gramercy and Reserve, Louisiana.[1]
Background
Schexnayder is the son of Perry P. Schexnayder and the former Dorothy Ann Demars (1937-2009). His mother was a star basketball player when French Settlement High School, located in the village of French Settlement in Livingston Parish, won the state championships in 1954, 1955, and 1956.[2] His paternal grandfather, Harold "Pocahontas" Schexnayder, worked years earlier in the district as a game warden with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission.[1]
In 1989, Clay Schexnayder graduated from French Settlement High School. In 1991, he graduated from the Allen Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied basic automotive training and computerization and procured an "Automotive Service Excellence" certificate. He is also a former race car driver, having participated in competition on the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas circuit. A former employee of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Schenayder has since 1998 operated Car Craft Automotive in Sorrento in in Ascension Parish. He also has experience in law enforcement as a parttime Ascension Parish sheriff's deputy, with service in the mounted division. He provided patrol duty and managed traffic during local events and emergencies.[1]
Schexnayder and his wife, the former Phoebe Keller, have, as of 2012, four children, a daughter-in-law, and three grandsons, including twins who were born on July 4, 2011.[1]
Legislative election
House District 81 opened to competition when the strongly conservative Republican incumbent John LaBruzzo in Jefferson Parish was shifted through redistricting into District 94. In the general election held on November 19, 2011, the more moderate Schexnayder defeated the Democrat Kevin Hull, 5,549 (64 percent) to 3,116 (36 percent).[3] In the campaign, Schexnayder promised if elected to seek more jobs to the state, to strengthen the local and state educational systems, and to enhance infrastructure to manage long-term growth and traffic flow. Schexnayder carried the support of Governor Bobby Jindal and the outgoing Republican Representative Mert Smiley in District 89, who was instead narrowly elected as the Ascension Parish assessor.The TEA Party movement did not endorse Schexnayder; instead it called him a "tax-and-spend Republican."[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Schexnayder Announces Candidacy. clayschexnayder.com. Retrieved on September 2, 2012.
- ↑ Dorothy Ann Demars Schexnayder. Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, November 30, 2009. Retrieved on May 16, 2012.
- ↑ Louisiana general election returns, November 19, 2012. staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved on May 16, 2012.
- ↑ Tea Party of Louisiana, October 8, 2011. louisianaconservative.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2012.
