James Morgan Field, known as Jimmy Field (born April 16, 1940), is a part-time attorney in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a
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 ...
former member of the
Louisiana Public Service Commission
The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year te ...
. The five-member public regulatory agency oversees utilities, trucking, and telecommunications companies. Field was elected to the PSC in 1996 to succeed the
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
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, ...
of
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
, who became
lieutenant governor and subsequently
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 ...
from 2004 to 2008.
Background
A native of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, Field moved to Baton Rouge as a young child and graduated thereafter from
University High School. In 1963, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
. In 1966, he procured his legal credentials from the
Louisiana State University Law Center
The Paul M. Hebert Law Center, often styled "LSU Law", is a public law school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is part of the Louisiana State University System and located on the main campus of Louisiana State University.
Because Louisiana is a c ...
.
In the early 1960s, he was a quarterback and outfielder for
LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...
football and baseball teams. Field was admitted to the bar in 1966 and specialized in real estate, public utility, commercial, and labor/employment law. He served as a
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
player representative from 1983 to 2007.
PSC service
Field was elected to the four years remaining in Blanco's term in 1996 and elected to two six-year terms of his own in 2000 and 2006.
[ His District 2 represents nearly one million inhabitants in portions of East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston St. Martin, and West Baton Rouge parishes as well as all of East Feliciana, ]Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, PenÃnsula Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
, Lafourche
Lafourche Parish (french: Paroisse de la Fourche) is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Thibodaux. The parish was formed in 1807. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, whi ...
, St. Mary, Terrebonne
Terrebonne, meaning ''good earth'' in French, is a name of several places in North America:
;Canada
*Terrebonne, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal
** Terrebonne station, a commuter railway station in Terrebonne, Quebec
**Terrebonne City Council, the go ...
, and West Feliciana parishes.[ One of his assistants was Donald Trahan, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2004 to 2008 for ]Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
and Vermilion
Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It i ...
parishes.
Field won the 1996 special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
to replace Blanco on the PSC with 52 percent of 344,919 votes cast. He won his first full term in 2000 with 68 percent of the 139,149 votes cast.[
Field did not seek reelection in 2012 because of stated family obligations. As a commissioner, Field worked to procure $2 billion in refunds and rate reductions to consumers: "I am especially proud that Louisiana's residential electric rates are currently among the lowest in the nation."][ PSC chairman ]Foster Campbell
Foster Lonnie Campbell Jr. (born January 6, 1947) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He served in the Louis ...
, a Democrat from Bossier City
Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...
, said that Field "always had the consumers in mind. But he wanted to be fair to the big companies."[
Five candidates, including three Republicans, sought the seat that Field vacated. The runaway winner in the race was former Lieutenant Governor ]Scott Angelle
Scott Anthony Angelle (born November 20, 1961) is an American politician who is the former director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in Washington, D.C. From 2013 to 2017, he was the District 2 member of the Louisiana Publi ...
of Breaux Bridge
Breaux Bridge (;Jack A. Reynolds. "Breaux Bridge" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 77. french: Pont-Breaux; frc, Pont-(de)-Breaux ) is a small city in St. Martin Parish, Loui ...
, who finished with 213,485 votes (57.2 percent) and carried all thirteen parishes in District 2. The Democrat Forest Wright finished second in the balloting with 76,336 votes (20.5 percent), and Republican State Representative Erich Ponti
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''EirÃkr'' (or ''ErÃkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
of Baton Rouge, trailed in third place with 43,287 ballots (11.6 percent). Two other contenders, a Republican and a No Party contender, shared the remaining 11 percent of the vote.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Jimmy
1940 births
Living people
Members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Republicans
Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Louisiana State University Laboratory School alumni
Louisiana State University alumni
Louisiana State University Law Center alumni
Louisiana lawyers
LSU Tigers football players
LSU Tigers baseball players