Dudley Anthony Gautreaux, known as Butch Gautreaux (December 12, 1947 – February 22, 2020) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

from Morgan City, Louisiana. From 2000 to 2012, he represented Senate District 21. In 2012, the reconfigured district incorporated mostly Republican portions of Iberia, Lafourche,

St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, and Lafourche parishes. Gautreaux won his last election to the Senate in 2007, when he defeated the Republican Clayton D. Diaz, 25,348 (71 percent) to 10,372 (29 percent). At that time the district also included two precincts in

St. Martin Parish St. Martin Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Martin) is a parish (administrative division), parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, founded in 1811. Its parish seat is St. Martinville, Louisiana, St. Martinville, and the largest city is B ...

, since removed from the reconfiguration. From 1996 to 2000, Gautreaux was a member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

from District 51 but vacated the post after the single term to run for the Senate. In the 1995 general election, Gautreaux defeated the Democrat-turned-Republican Joe Harrison, 8,457 votes (69 percent) to 3,809 ballots (31 percent). Harrison was subsequently elected in 2007 to House District 51 and still holds the seat.

Background

Gautreaux attended

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

Thibodaux Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal city ...

, Louisiana. He served from 1967 to 1972 in the United States Navy. He is active in

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

, having been secretary of the Morgan City chapter. Gautreaux has served as vice president of marketing for Marsianin Industrial Contractors

LLC A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

in Morgan City and

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

for Arabie Trucking Services LLC in Thibodaux.

Race for lieutenant governor

Gautreaux sought the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

ship of Louisiana in a 2010 special election occasioned by the resignation of incumbent Mitch Landrieu when Landrieu became mayor of New Orleans. In a field of eight candidates Gautreaux, who had the official endorsement of the Louisiana AFL-CIO, polled 4 percent of the vote. He then endorsed fellow Democrat Caroline Fayard in the

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

against the frontrunner, the Republican Jay Dardenne, a former State Senate colleague of Gautreaux's. Dardenne won a full term as lieutenant governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. Gautreaux was term-limited in the state Senate and ineligible to run in the October 22 primary. His successor is Republican R. L. "Bret" Allain, II, who received 14,618 votes (51.4 percent) in the contest with another Republican, Darrin Guidry, who polled 13,846 votes (48.6 percent). No Democrat sought Gautreaux's seat in the revised district.

Personal life

Gautreaux and his wife, the former Marilyn Mire, were Roman Catholic. He died on February 22, 2020, in

Morgan City, Louisiana Morgan City is a small city in St. Mary and lower St. Martin parishes in the U.S. State of Louisiana. The population was 12,404 at the 2010 census. Known for being “right in the middle of everywhere”, Morgan City is located 68 miles (109&nb ...

at age 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gautreaux, Butch 1947 births 2020 deaths Cajun people Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Nicholls State University alumni United States Navy sailors Businesspeople from Louisiana Military personnel from Louisiana