Michael Echols

Michael Charles Echols
Louisiana State Representative for District 14 (Morehouse and Ouachita parishes)
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 13, 2020
Preceded by	Jay Morris
District 1 member of the Monroe City Council
In office July 2016 – December 23, 2019
Preceded by	Jay Marx
Succeeded by	Douglas Harvey
Born	February 11, 1977 Bastrop, Morehouse Parish Louisiana, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Christie Echols
Alma mater	University of Louisiana at Monroe
Occupation	Businessman

Michael Charles Echols (born February 11, 1977) is a businessman from Monroe, Louisiana, who is a state representative for District 14, which encompasses his native Bastrop in Morehouse Parish as well as Ouachita Parish in the northeastern portion of his state. He has been elected secretary of the Republican delegation by his colleagues.

Background

Echols is the director of Business Development for Vantage Health Plan and Affinity Health Group. He obtained a bachelor's degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. As a city council member, Echols has worked on transportation, quality of life, sound budgeting, and keeping the CenturyLink headquarters in Monroe.

Political life

Monroe City Council

Echols left the Monroe City Council upon his election as state representative. He unseated the Democrat-turned-Independent Jay Marx and held the District 1 seat from July 2016 until December 23, 2019, his last council meeting before being sworn in as representative on January 13, 2020. After the spring qualifying period ends, Echols said that he will recommend an interim successor for his seat to the full city council.In his last council meeting, Echols honored two children and two adults who in a medical emergency in November sounded the alarm.

On July 11, 2020, Monroe's Democratic mayor, Jamie Mayo, an African-American, lost his bid for a sixth term in the nonpartisan blanket primary. Mayo noted that he and Echols had worked together on a few municipal issues and acknowledged that he was looking forward to a spirited campaign "with you and your mentee," a reference to Friday Ellis, a Monroe businessman and real estate investor who with Echols' strong endorsement scored 52 percent of the vote in the mayoral election. Ellis is an Independent and a former Republican; no Republican entered the Monroe mayor's race. In a 2024 rematch, Ellis easily defeated Mayo.

State Representative

n 2011, Echols ran in the primary for the state House but was eliminated from the runoff competition by virtue of his third-place showing that year. He polled 2,471 votes (20.7 percent). Jay Morris led the three-candidate field in the primary with 5,078 votes (42.6 percent). Little trailed with 4,384 ballots (36.7 percent). Morris then defeated Little in the runoff contest to claim the seat.

In 2019, Echols was unopposed in the House primary to choose Morris' successor. Morris had been expected to seek a third House term but instead after Echols challenged him filed as a state senator for District 35. Morris unseated the incumbent James R. Fannin, a former Democrat, who switched parties while in the legislature.

On Wednesdays at 8 a.m., Echols hosts an hour-long radio talk show Echols@Eight Talk 540 AM in Monroe. A conservative, Echols interviews many officeholders, mostly Republicans, during the broadcasts.

In October 2021, Echols confirmed that he is drafting legislation to permit former governors to be interred or re-interred on the grounds of the state Capitol. The widow of former four-term Governor Edwin Edwards has requested that he be re-interred near Huey Pierce Long, Jr., the only Louisiana governor buried at the Capitol.