Thomas Pressly
| Thomas Alexander Pressly, IV | |
Louisiana State Senator for District 38
(Caddo and De Soto parishes) | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Barry Milligan |
|---|---|
Louisiana State Representative for District 6
(Bossier and Caddo parishes) | |
| In office January 13, 2020 – January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Gaughan Carmody, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Michael Melerine |
| Born | April 4, 1986 Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret "Maggie" Nelson Pressly |
| Children | One son |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Thomas Alexander Pressly, IV (born April 4, 1986),[1] is a Shreveport attorney and Republican departing state representative for District 6 in Bossier and Caddo parishes and the incoming state senator for District 38. He was elected without opposition in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 12, 2019, to succeed the term-limited Republican Representative Thomas Gaughan Carmody, Jr., a Shreveport real estate broker.
Pressly attended A. C. Steere Elementary School and the First Baptist Church School and graduated from the public Clifton Ellis Byrd High School, all in Shreveport. He received his undergraduate degree in the honors program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. His legal credentials were earned at the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. In college he was an intern in the Office of Presidential Advance during the administration of then U.S. President George W. Bush. In 2013, Pressly was a law clerk for a federal judge in Shreveport.[2]
Pressly said that his priorities in the legislature include building on the success of Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City and completing the inner-city loop connection with Interstate 49, and the the advancement of transportation, health care, and job creation. Pressly vowed to:
bring strong, conservative leadership, a willingness to cut government waste, open transparency, and get government off our backs and working for our families. We can make northwest Louisiana a stronger place for all citizens to thrive. It takes common sense, a good work ethic and focus. I’m ready for the task at hand and look forward to taking my message to the voters.[3]
His father, Thomas Pressly, III, born in 1957, is a Shreveport physician, a rheumatologist. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Pressly, Jr., born in 1929, was also a physician. Pressly and his wife, the former Margaret "Maggie" Nelson, have one son.[2]
Switching to the state Senate
On October 14, 2023, Pressly easily captured the vacant state Senate District 38 seat vacated by Barry Milligan. His opponents were two fellow Republicans, Chase Jennings and John Milkovich, an attorney and former Democrat who held the seat prior to Milligan. Succeeding Pressly in the House is the Republican Michael Melerine, an outgoing member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.[4]
In 2024, Senator Pressly successfully passed a bill that makes Louisiana the first state in the nation to classify the abortion pills misoprostol and mifepristone as controlled dangerous substances. His original bill had secured unanimous support in the Senate to criminalize the practice of "coerced abortion by means of fraud" as a crime. His legislation was inspired after he learned that his sister, Catherine Pressly Herring, was served by her husband covert abortion-inducing pills in her drinks. As the bill went to the state House, Pressly amended the legislation at the request of Louisiana Right to Life to change the classification of the abortion pills. Under the new law that takes effect on October 1, 2024, misoprostol and mifepristone can still be used to treat conditions other than abortion, which is already illegal in Louisiana in most situations, but as controlled dangerous substances they would require doctor's prescription.[5]
References
- ↑ Thomas Pressly. mylife.com. Retrieved on December 28, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Thomas Pressly announces candidacy for State House District 6. The Bossier Press-Tribune (January 17, 2019). Retrieved on December 29, 2019.
- ↑ Pressly for Louisiana State Representative. thomaspressly.com. Retrieved on December 29, 2019.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 2024.
- ↑ Greg Hilburn (September 23, 2024). How a Shreveport senator was thrust into Harris-Trump campaign with Louisiana abortion law. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on September 24, 2024.