Karen St. Germain

Karen Gaudet St. Germain
Louisiana State Representative for District 60
In office January 2004 – January 2016
Preceded by	Emma Jean Devillier
Succeeded by	Chad M. Brown
Born	July 16, 1955 Place of birth missing
Political party	Democrat
Spouse(s)	Kenneth Jude St. Germain
Children	Three sons
Residence	Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, Louisiana
Alma mater	Louisiana State University

Karen Gaudet St. Germain (born July 16, 1955), is a Democrat former state representative from Plaquemine, Louisiana, who iserved in District 60 in Iberville and Assumption parishes in the southern portion of her state. She held the seat from 2004 until she was term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015.

Background

Born Karen Gaudet, to Gibson and Alize Breaux Gaudet, she attended Assumption High School in Napoleonvillle, then attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and studied as a paralegal. She was formerly employed by the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association. She is a former resident of Victorville and San Bernardino, California, and Richmond, Virginia, dates unavailable.

She and her husband, Kenneth Jude St. Germain (born June 3, 1957), have three sons.

Political career

In the legislative runoff election on November 15, 2003, St. Germain unseated her fellow Democrat Emma Jean Devillier (born December 1962), also of Plaquemine, 9,325 votes (52 percent) to 8,605 (48 percent). She was unopposed for her second term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007. On October 22, 2011, she scored her third and final term by handily defeating a Republican challenger, Jason Morris, 14,783 (86.1 percent) to 2,393 (13.9 percent).

Representative St. Germain was a member of the Louisiana Rural Caucus, the Acadiana delegation, and the Democratic Caucus. She is chaed two committees: (1) Transportation, Highways, and Public Works and (2) Atchafalaya Basin Program Oversight. She also sat on other committees: (1) Executive, 2) Joint Legislative on Capital Outlay, and (3) Homeland Security.

St. Germain's legislative ratings ranged from 49 to 84 percent from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. She is ranked 92 percent by the Louisiana Association of Educators. In 2005, she was ranked 75 percent by the Louisiana Hospital Association for her votes on health care issues. In 2006 and 2007, St. Germain was rated 55 percent by the Humane Society. In 2013 and 2014, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum scored her 78 and 43 percent, respectively. She has been rated from 89 to 100 percent by Louisiana Right to Life and voted for the 2014 requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the measure passed the House, 88-5.

In 2014, St. Germain voted to extend the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. She supported the prohibition of the transportation of dogs in the bed of a pick-up truck on interstate highways. She voted to repeal anti-sodomy laws, but the measure failed, 27-67, in the House. In 2013, St. Germain voted to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana; two years earlier, she had opposed drug testing for welfare recipients. She opposed lifetime concealed carry gun permits but voted to allow the taking of weapons into restaurants. She opposed making information about permit holders a matter of public record. In 2012, she voted to prohibit the use of telephones while driving. She opposed the reduction of the number of hours that polling locations remain open. Louisiana has traditionally had 14-hour polling days. In 2011, she voted for a permanent tax on cigarettes and for the congressional redistricting bill in which the state lost another seat in the United States House of Representatives.