{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Chet Derveloy Traylor
|office=[Associate Justice (Place 4) of the [[Louisiana ]] Supreme Court
|term_start=January 1, 1997
|term_end=May 31, 2009
|preceded=Joe Bleich
|succeeded=[[Marcus R. Clark]]
|office2=5th Judicial District Court [[Judge]]
|term_start2=1985
|succeeded2=E. Rudolph McIntyre, Jr.
| birth_date=October 12, 1945
| birth_place=Columbia, Caldwell Parish, [[Louisiana]]
|occupation=[[Attorney]]; retired [[judge]]
|residence=[[New Orleans]], Louisiana
|spouse=(1) Mary Blake Adams
(2) Peggy Marie McDowell Ellington (died 2009)
|children=Therese T. Nagem<br>Nagem
Leigh T. Liles<br>
Anna T. Holloway<br>|religion=[[United Methodist]]Two stepsons from second marriage:<br>Noble Ellington, III, and Ryan Ellington<br>'''Parents''':<br>Charles Andrew, I, and Bernice Bogan Traylor<br>'''Brother''':<br>Judge Charles Traylor, II<br>
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|alma_mater=Caldwell Parish High School<br>School
University of Louisiana at [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]]<br>
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law}}
'''Chet Derveloy Traylor''' (born October 12, 1945) is a retired associate justice of the [[Louisiana]] Supreme Court, who resides in [[New Orleans]]. On August 28, 2010, he polled fewer than 10 percent of the ballots cast in a [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[primary]] against then sitting [[U.S. Senator]] [[David Vitter]].
==Background==
Traylor was born in Columbia in Caldwell Parish , one of five children of Charles Andrew Traylor, I, and the former Bernice Bogan. He graduated in 1963 from Caldwell Parish High School. One of his classmates was future Louisiana Secretary of State Walter Fox McKeithen (1946-2005), son of former [[Governor]] [[John J. McKeithen]]. Traylor served for two years in the [[United States Army]] as a military police investigator. He entered as a private and was discharged as a sergeant.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=214297|title=Chet Traylor|publisher=OurCampaigns.com|accessdate=September 19, 2019}}</ref> In 1969, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in [[government]] from the University of Louisiana at [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], then known as Northeast Louisiana University. While at NLU, he was a Louisiana state trooper (Troop F). In 1974, he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate degree from the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.<ref name=bio/>
From 1975 to 1982, he was an assistant district attorney in Winnsboro in Franklin Parish. He is a former investigator for the Louisiana Department of Justice Organized Crime and Racketeering Unit and a former legal advisor to the Louisiana State Police Narcotics, Detectives and Intelligence units.<ref name=bio/>
==Judicial career==
In 1985, Traylor was elected to the 5th Judicial District Court, which encompasses Franklin, Richland, and West Carroll parishes. He remained a district judge until January 1, 1997, after his election in 1996 to the Place 4 seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court.<ref name=bio/>
===Louisiana Supreme Court===
In 2008, Traylor wrote a unanimous court opinion that upheld the constitutionality of two state laws giving homeowners until the fall of 2007 to file lawsuits or claims against their [[insurance]] companies over damage from [[Hurricane Katrina|Hurricanes Katrina]] and Rita. The court noted that the extension was for one year and was limited to those two storms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pianet.com/IssuesOfFocus/HotIssues/naturaldisaster/8-30-06-7.htm|title=National Association of Professional Insurance Agents|publisher=pianet.com|accessdate=July 10, 2010; no longer on-line.}}</ref>
==2010 U.S. Senate campaign==
After the death of his wife Peggy, Traylor relocated from Winnsboro to Monroe to pursue opportunities in the private practice of law. On the last day of qualifying, Traylor announced his challenge to Senator Vitter, who subsequently defeated [[U.S. Representative]] [[Charlie Melancon]] of Napoleonville in thegeneral election held on November 2, 2010. Meanwhile, state Representative Ernest Wooton, a registered Republican from 2005–2010 and a resident of Belle Chase, re-registered to run as an [[Independent]] for the Senate in the general election but received little support. A former [[sheriff]], Wooton pledged to conduct a low-budget campaign from a motor home.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/20100715192926/http://www.thenewsstar.com:80/article/20100710/NEWS01/7100335/Monroe-s-Traylor-to-challenge-Vitter
|title=Monroe's Traylor to challenge Vitter|publisher=''[[Monroe News- Star]]''|date= July 10, 2010}}</ref>
Lev Magruder Dawson (born 1938) of Delhi in Richland Parish, a sweet potato farmer, served as Traylor's Senate campaign manager, a role that he had also filled in the 1996 Supreme Court race. Dawson said that political differences between Traylor and Vitter are comparatively minor but that Traylor opposed an attempt to cap [[British Petroleum]]'s liability related to the 2010 oil spill in the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Dawson said that Melancon "can bring out more of Vitter's problems. There may be other scandals they are saving for the general election. We fear that if Vitter is nominated, we may end up with a Democratic senator." The weaknesses to which Dawson refers is the 2007 revelation that Vitter was a client of the so-called "D.C. Madam." Coincidentally, Vitter lost his gubernatorial bid in 2015 to Democrat [[John Bel Edwards]], who claimed that his "honor code" character is superior to that of Vitter's character.
==Associations==
Traylor is a founding board member of the Winnsboro Economic Development Foundation. He was formerly a board member of the Winnsboro Lions International and of the Franklin Parish Mental Health Association. He was the first president of Winnsboro Ducks Unlimited. He is a life member of the [[National Rifle Association]] and holds affiliation with the Rocky Mountain Conservation Fund. He is a member of the [[United Methodist]] denomination. He is an honorary member of the prestigious Order of the Coif.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.lsu.edu/index.cfm?geaux=newsandpublications.newsstories&pid=89227C16-1372-69E5-F7B88287A3F4131D&EF114F50-1372-69E5-F7A58C48228BF9F2|title=LSU Law Center: Far More than a Common Law School|publisher=law.lsu.edu|accessdate=July 10, 2010; no longer on-line.}}</ref>
==Personal life==
From his first marriage, Traylor has three married daughters. His second wife was , Peggy Marie McDowell (1942–2009), who was previously married to state Represenative Representative and later state Senator [[Noble Ellington]], of Winnsboro, a [[cotton]] broker]. Peggy had two sons, Noble Ellington, III, and Ryan Ellington, both of Winnsboro. She died in 2009 and is interred at Columbia Hills Hill Cemetery in Columbia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mulhearnfuneralhome.com/printobit.aspx?MemberId=62308&MName=Peggy%20%20Traylor|title=Obituary of Peggy Marie Traylor|publisher=mulhearnfuneralhome.com|accessdate=July 10, 2010; no longer on-line.}}</ref>Traylor's older brother, Charles Traylor, II (1933-2020) was an assistant district attorney for the Louisiana 4th Judicial District and from 1974 to 1997 the city judge of West Monroe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thenewsstar/obituary.aspx?n=charles-andrew-traylor-ii&pid=196615361|title=Obituary of Judge Charles Andrew Traylor, II|publisher=''The Monroe News Star''|date=August 9, 2020}}</ref>
===Controversies===
Peggy Traylor died intestate and her sons, Ryan and Noble Ellington, III, filed suit in June 2010 in Fifth Judicial District Court stating that their stepfather has blocked their attempts to collect information on their mother's estate and to take possession of some of her property.<ref>["Traylor's morality challenged in Peggy Traylor estate dispute," ''The Monroe News Star,'' accessed June 28, 2015; no longer on-line.</ref> In August 2010, the Ellington brothers filed a complaint against Traylor with the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, alleging that Chet Traylor failed to appear at a federal court proceeding after he had been subpoenaed to provide a deposition regarding their mother's estate. The brothers claim that Traylor knew that the information that he provided about a scheduling conflict with the court was false and asks the disciplinary board to disbar him.<ref name=complaint>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/20150701115441/http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/2010072020100821/NEWS01/72003088210312/TraylorComplaint-sfiled-moralityagainst-challenged Peggy Traylor estate dispute]|title=Complaint filed against Traylor: Senate candidate accused of lying to avoid deposition |publisher=''The Monroe News Star''|accessdate=August 21, thenewsstar.com; accessed June 28, 2015.2010}}</ref>
In August 2010, the Ellington brothers filed a complaint against Traylor with the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, alleging that Chet Traylor failed to appear at a federal court proceeding after he had been subpoenaed to provide a deposition regarding their mother's estate. The brothers claim that Traylor knew that the information that he provided about a scheduling conflict with the court was false and asks the disciplinary board to disbar him.<ref name=complaint>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/20150701115441/http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20100821/NEWS01/8210312/Complaint-filed-against-Traylor|title=Complaint filed against Traylor: Senate candidate accused of lying to avoid deposition |publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|accessdate=August 21, 2010}}</ref>
Noble Ellington said that Traylor was "significantly involved" in his divorce from Peggy, who later married Traylor. Chet Traylor was allegedly involved in a romantic relationship with Denise Lively, the estranged wife of his stepson, Ryan Ellington. Lively and Ryan Ellington remain legally married, but both he and Traylor said the Lively-Traylor relationship began while Lively and Ryan Ellington were separated. Traylor began his relationship with Lively a few months after Peggy's death.<ref name="salon">[http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/07/20/chet_traylor_stepsons_wife Controversy over Chet Traylor's stepson's wife], Salon.com, July 20, 2010; accessed June 28, 2015; no longer on-line.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traylor, Chet D.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]