Mitch Theriot
| Mitchell Ray "Mitch" Theriot | |
 | |
| In office 1992 – 2000 | |
| Preceded by | Jessie P. Guidry |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Loulan J. Pitre, Jr. |
Judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, District 1, Division B
(Eight parishes: Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Mary, Terrebonne, and West Baton Rouge) | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Gaidry (retired) |
| Born | July 18, 1963 Reared in Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish |
| Political party | Democrat-turned-Republican (2007) |
| Spouse(s) | Veronica Gautreaux Theriot |
| Children | Stuart Theriot
Tyler Theriot |
| Residence | Raceland, Lafourche Parish |
| Alma mater | South Lafourche High School (Cut-Off) Nicholls State University (Thibodaux) |
| Occupation | Attorney and Judge |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Mitchell Ray Theriot, known as Mitch Theriot (born July 18, 1963), is an attorney and judge from Raceland, Louisiana,[1] who also served from 1992 to 2000[2] as a Democratic state representative for two terms for District 54 (Jefferson and Lafourche parishes). In 2007, he switched to Republican affiliation. and soon lost his bid to return to the state House.
Background
Theriot is the third of four sons of Livingston C. "Budd" Theriot (born 1936) and the former Barbara Peck (1937-2017) of Golden Meadow in Lafourche Parish.[3] Theriot is married to the former Veronica Gautreaux, a nurse for the Cardiovascular Institute of the South. The couple has three children, Stuart, Tyler, and Emilee Theriot. He resides in Raceland in Lafourche Parish.[4]
In 1981, Theriot graduated from South Lafourche High School in Cut-Off. In 1985, he graduated with a degree in business administration from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, also in Lafourche Parish. In 1988, he received his Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. He is also a former professor of business law at Nicholls State. In 2008, newly-elected Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Theriot to serve as the chairman of the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeal. This three-member panel hears various tax appeals. As of 2012, he had issued more than two hundred judgments regarding individual income tax, sales tax, corporate income tax, and franchise tax.[5]
Political career
Theriot was elected to the legislature in 1991 to succeed Jessie P. Guidry, a Democrat. He won again in 1995. In the 1999 nonpartisan blanket primary for the legislature, Theriot was unseated after two terms in office by the Republican (later Independent) Loulan J. Pitre, Jr., an attorney who was born in 1961 in Cut-Off in Lafourche Parish. Pitre polled, 7,187 votes (51.5 percent) to 6,768 (48.5 percent).[6] In 2003, Pitre again defeated Theriot by nearly the same total as he had in 1999, 7,618 (votes 52 percent) to 7,035 (48 percent).[7] When Pitre declined to seek a third term in 2007, Theriot ran to reclaim the seat after an eight-year absence, but after his party switch, he lost to the Democrat Jerry "Truck" Gisclair of Larose in Lafourche Parish, a businessman and radio station broadcaster.
In 2007, Pitre declined to seek a third term and Gisclair in a runoff defeated newly-minted Republican Theriot. In the preceding primary on October 20, 2007, Theriot led with 4,797 votes (37 percent) to Gisclair 's 4,396 (33.8 percent). The balance was held by a second Democrat, John Melancon, Jr., with 3,821 votes (29.4 percent). In the general election in November 2007, Gisclair defeated Theriot by 121 votes, 4,128 (50.7 percent) to 4,007 (49.3 percent, in still another narrow race in the highly competitive district.
In 2012, Theriot was elected to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, District 1, Division B for a term of ten years though he had trailed in the nonpartisan blanket primary. The judgeship covers eight parishes. Still a Republican, Theriot polled 33.7 percent of the vote in the primary. He then defeated Democrat William Dupont in the runoff election on December 8, 2012. In that contest Theriot polled 25,793 votes (53 percent) to Dupont's 22,783 (47 percent).[8][9]
References
- ↑ Mitchell Theriot. Mylife.com. Retrieved on April 5, 2020.
- ↑ Historical Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024. Louisiana House of Representatives. Retrieved on April 4, 2020.
- ↑ Barbara Peck Theriot. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on April 4, 2020.
- ↑ Devoted Family Man. Mitchtheriotforjudge.com. Retrieved on April 4, 2020.
- ↑ Experienced Law Professional. Mitchtheriotforjudge.com. Retrieved on April 4, 2020.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 23, 1999.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.
- ↑ Mitch Theriot. Ballotpedia. Retrieved on April 4, 2020.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, December 8, 2012.