Eric Frederick Skrmetta (born October 1, 1958) is an American politician who represents District 1 (largely surburban New Orleans, eastern Florida Parishes, and River Parishes) on the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC), an influential regulatory agency which was the political springboard for former governors Huey Long,

Jimmie Davis James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 – November 5, 2000) was an American politician, singer and songwriter of both sacred and popular songs. Davis was elected for two nonconsecutive terms from 1944 to 1948 and from 1960 to 1964 as the ...

, and John McKeithen. Commissioner Skrmetta was born 1958 October 1 in New Orleans. Skrmetta is a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

Education and background

After finishing

Brother Martin High School Brother Martin High School is a private, Catholic, all-male college preparatory school run by the United States Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was established by the brothers in 1869 as St. Aloysius Col ...

in New Orleans, Skrmetta attended Louisiana State University, where in 1981 he received his B.S. degree in industrial technology. In 1985 he was a ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' graduate (

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

) of

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

School of Law, passed the Louisiana Bar Exam, and entered the practice of law. In 1986 Skrmetta received his

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

admiralty law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

from Tulane University Law School. Since 1989 he has focused on legal mediation. A member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee for District 81, in 2003 he unsuccessfully sought to represent the coterminous District 81 in 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 ...

Election 2008

Skrmetta won the race for Public Service Commissioner in a 2008 November 4

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 ...

after two other candidates (Bruce Kincade and Ken Odinet Sr.) were eliminated in the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

. His runoff opponent was former Public Service Commissioner John F. Schwegmann, who had no party affiliation. Skrmetta had the support of then-incumbent District 1 commissioner

Jay Blossman A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

, who was barred by

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

from seeking reelection. Skrmetta assumed his commissionership office on 2009 January 1 for a term which ends on 2014 December 31. Skrmetta’s campaign demonstrated the political utility of open web sites such as Facebook.

Public Service Commissioner

On PSC Skrmetta has sought clarification of Louisiana’s ethics regulations, which have tightened since the state’s

populistic Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

past. In particular he has sought to displace meal reimbursements to commissioners from regulated utility companies with reimbursements by PSC itself.

Personal life

Eric Skrmetta and his wife Deborah Gibson Skrmetta (born 1961) have two children. The Skrmettas are involved in various religious and community organizations. They live in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and was (a ...

, where they attend Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.Skrmetta profile in the ''Times-Picayune''
2008 September 09 (accessed 2009 June 17).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrmetta, Eric 1958 births Living people American Roman Catholics Louisiana lawyers Louisiana Republicans Louisiana State University alumni Members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana People from New Orleans Southern University alumni Southern University Law Center alumni Tulane University alumni Tulane University Law School alumni 2020 United States presidential electors