sheriff.
Foti won the attorney general's office when the incumbent Democrat,
Richard Ieyoub of
Lake Charles, ran unsuccessfully for
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in the 2003 primary. Foti defeated the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate,
Suzanne Haik Terrell
Suzanne Haik Terrell (born July 8, 1954) is the first and only Republican woman elected to statewide office in Louisiana. A practicing attorney, Terrell was the state's final commissioner of elections, a position which she held from 2000 to 2004. ...
, also of New Orleans, 689,179 votes (54 percent) to 597,917 (46 percent).
Foti failed in his bid to win reelection as attorney general, having finished last in the three-way
nonpartisan blanket primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...
held on October 20, 2007. The leading candidates were the Republican lawyer,
Royal Alexander of
Shreveport, and the Democratic
District Attorney,
James D. "Buddy" Caldwell, Jr., of
Tallulah. Caldwell won the
general election and was sworn in to replace Foti on January 14, 2008. Caldwell later switched to the Republican Party in 2011, to secure his second term.
On February 1, 2014, Foti ran again for the Orleans Parish sheriff's position; he finished second in a four-candidate field. He polled 23,676 votes (28.6 percent). Foti's fellow Democrat and successor as sheriff,
Marlin N. Gusman, with 40,557 votes (48.9 percent), nearly won the position outright in the nonpartisan blanket primary. Foti and Gusman entered a
runoff election on March 15, in which Gusman handily prevailed, 40,068 (66.7 percent) to Foti's 19,996 (33.3 percent).
Early life and education
Foti was born in 1937 in New Orleans. He attended public schools, graduating from
Warren Easton High School
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...
in the city. He earned a Bachelor's degree at the
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...
. After military service and working, Foti returned to university, earning a
J.D.,
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is a private law school in New Orleans, Louisiana affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola's law school opened in 1914 and is now located on the Broadway Campus of the university in the hi ...
in 1965.
Personal
From 1955 to 1958, Foti served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
.
A long-time advocate for the
elderly, during his time as criminal sheriff, Foti organized
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
meals for New Orleans senior citizens who were alone or could not afford a holiday meal. He also started a back-to-work program for seniors over the age of fifty-five. As attorney general, Foti investigated and prosecuted abuse of the elderly in Louisiana's health-care facilities.
After vacating the attorney general's office, Foti joined the New Orleans law firm Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, where he engages in the practice of securities and consumer fraud law.
Criticism
In the wake of
Hurricane Katrina, Foti as State AG prosecuted private citizens on behalf of the numerous elderly New Orleans residents who died in flooding, power failures, and resulting disaster. Foti reportedly claimed that some medical staff, who worked at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans during the storm, had
murdered several patients.
[
]
In July 2007, Dr. Pou sued Foti, accusing him of playing politics with her life and the dead from Katrina.
After the police conducted a lengthy investigation, a grand jury in July 2007 declined to indict Pou.
The charges have since been expunged. In 2009, the legislature passed a bill to pay Dr. Pou's legal fees, which was signed by Governor
Bobby Jindal.
[
]
Several lawmakers have apologized for the accusations against Pou.
[ The failed prosecution of Dr. Pou was an issue during Foti's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2007.][
]
In a related story, the owners of a nursing home near Poydras
Poydras is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,886 at the 2000 census and 2,536 in 2020. It is part of the New Orleans– Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...
filed a civil suit against federal, state and local officials, including the Army Corps of Engineers, Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
Kathleen Marie Blanco (née Babineaux; December 15, 1942 – August 18, 2019) was an American politician who served as the 54th Governor of Louisiana from January 2004 to January 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first and, ...
, Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., and numerous other authorities and agencies for failing to evacuate nursing home residents during the hurricane.
Electoral history
Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 1990
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, February 3, 1990
Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 1994
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, February 5, 1994
Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 1998
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, February 7, 1998
Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 2002
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, February 2, 2002
Attorney General of Louisiana, 2003
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 4, 2003
Attorney General of Louisiana, 2007
Threshold > 50%
First Ballot, October 20, 2007
References
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foti, Charles
Living people
1937 births
Louisiana Attorneys General
Louisiana Democrats
Warren Easton High School alumni
University of New Orleans alumni
Loyola University New Orleans alumni
Politicians from New Orleans
Louisiana sheriffs
United States Army soldiers
Lawyers from New Orleans