Nancy Ruth Landry, also known as Nancy L. Matthews (born June 10, 1962), is an American politician who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for the 31st district from 2008 to 2019.

Early life and education

Landry was born in Japan while her father was serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in psychology 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 1985 and a Juris Doctor from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1990.

Career

Landry was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in November 2007 and assumed office in January 2008. On May 19, 2015, Landry, a former

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, was one of four Republicans on the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee who voted to table on a 10–2 vote the proposed Marriage and Conscience Act, authored by Republican Representative Mike Johnson of Bossier Parish. Considered a moderate Republican, Landry was the chair of the House Education Committee in 2017. In that capacity, she supported legislation by State Representative Barbara Norton of Shreveport to ban corporal punishment in all Louisiana public schools, but the measure was defeated by a vote of 61–34. Landry won reelection in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015. She received 10,005 votes (84.7 percent) to

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 ...

Evan H. Wright's 1,890 ballots (15.3 percent). Landry resigned from the House seven months prior to the expiration of her third term to become the chief of staff in the office of Secretary of State

Kyle Ardoin Robert Kyle Ardoin (born July 31, 1967) is an American politician from the state of Louisiana. A Republican, he has served as Secretary of State of Louisiana since May 9, 2018. Ardoin took the post when former Secretary of State Tom Schedler res ...

. She was succeeded by Jonathan Goudeau. She was elected as

Louisiana Secretary of State The secretary of state of Louisiana (french: Secrétaire d'État de la Louisiane) is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Louisiana and serves as the head of the Louisiana Department of State. The position was created ...

in the November 18, 2023 election.

External links

Nancy Landry Campaign

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landry, Nancy 1962 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Living people Louisiana Independents Louisiana lawyers Louisiana Republicans Louisiana State University Law Center alumni Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Political chiefs of staff Politicians from Lafayette, Louisiana Women state legislators in Louisiana Women in Louisiana politics