Joseph Arthur Harrison, known as Joe Harrison (born February 15, 1952), is an American politician and financial planner who served as 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 ...

for the 51st district from 2008 to 2016. He formerly served on the board of the

American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...

(ALEC), a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

group of state legislators and private businesspersons.

Career

Harrison was elected to the

in 2007 and assumed office in January 2008. On November 2, Speaker

Chuck Kleckley Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * ...

of Lake Charles removed Harrison and a

colleague,

Cameron Henry J. Cameron Henry Jr. is an American politician serving as a member of the Louisiana State Senate from the 9th district. He assumed office on January 13, 2020. He previously represented the 82nd district of the Louisiana House of Representatives ...

Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foot ...

, from the House Appropriations Committee after the two had challenged Governor Jindal regarding state expenditures, including the use of one-time funds in the budget and the privatization of the Louisiana Office of Group Benefits in Baton Rouge, which had been established through the efforts of the late state budget director

Ralph Perlman Ralph R. Perlman (May 16, 1917 – May 24, 2013) was the state budget director in his adopted U.S. state of Louisiana, having served under four governors of both parties from 1967 until 1988. Thereafter, Perlman continued to hold other public ...

. Harrison was particularly critical of Speaker Kleckley for his failure to defend lawmakers in conflict with the governor. Cameron was formerly vice chairman of the committee. Harrison lost his

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

on November 21, 2015. In the October 24 primary, he obtained 3,070 votes (36.7 percent). The leading candidate,

Beryl Amedee Beryl Adams Amedée is an American politician and businesswoman serving as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 51st district. Elected in November 2015, she assumed office on January 11, 2016. Early life Amedée was bor ...

, another Republican, finished with 3,391 votes (40.6 percent). The remaining 1,899 votes (22.7 percent) went to the Democrat Howard J. Castay, Jr. In the second election, Amedee prevailed, 4,101 votes (52 percent) to 3,783 (48 percent).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Joe (Louisiana politician) 1952 births Living people Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Nicholls State University alumni People from Napoleonville, Louisiana Businesspeople from Louisiana