Christopher J. Leopold (born April 22, 1968), is a businessman from Belle Chasse, Louisiana, who is a former Republican 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 rep ...

for District 105, primarily

Plaquemines Parish Plaquemines Parish (; French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 23,515 at the 2020 census, the paris ...

. His district was numerically the last of the state House districts.

Background

A native of southeastern Louisiana, Leopold graduated in 1986 from St. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie in

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 f ...

. In 1990, he earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. He later attended the Institute of Politics at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit founder, Saint Igna ...

. Since 1989, he has been self-employed in commercial real estate development. He also operates an off-shore linen service and engages in specialty advertising sales. Leopold is a member of the

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...

United Way of America United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013. ...

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

, and the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

men's organization, the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

. He and his wife, the former Joanna Cappiello, have three children.

Political career

Leopold was elected in 1996, 2000, and 2004 to the Republican State Central Committee. In 2011, he was elected to the state House to fill the seat vacated by the term-limited

Ernest Wooton Ernest Durham Wooton (October 28, 1941 – May 29, 2020) was an American politician. Wooton was born in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. He lived with his wife and family in Belle Chasse, Louisiana and went to Port Sulfur High School. Wooton ...

, an

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 * Independe ...

and a former St. Bernard Parish

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

. In the general election held on November 19, Leopold defeated fellow Republican, Harold L. "Rocky" Asevedo, a licensed professional counselor and family therapist from Belle Chasse. Leopold polled 4,786 (53.4 percent) votes to Asevedo's 4,183 (46.6 percent). In addition to Plaquemines Parish, the district includes a few precincts from Orleans and Jefferson parishes. Leopold opposes both the establishment of

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

in Louisiana and privatization of the state employees insurance program. He favors changes in federal reimbursement rules to take into account the lack of population in the coastal

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

s, which have been eroding away in Louisiana for many years and impact the oil, natural gas, and fishing industries. To reduce the state prison population, Leopold supports worker training for inmates and a partnership with industry to provide jobs for prisoners upon their release. Leopold won reelection to the House in the October 24, 2015, primary election. With 6,841 votes (60.2 percent), he defeated the Democrat, Alexis Catherine Billiot, who polled 4,522 votes (39.8 percent). In July 2017, Leopold lost a secret ballot, 29 to 26, for the vice chairmanship of the House Republican Caucus. He was defeated by the more

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 in ...

Tony Bacala of

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (french: Paroisse de l'Ascension, es, Parroquia de Ascensión) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created ...

. The position became available when John Schroder, a conservative from Covington, resigned from the House to pursue successfully a

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 ...

on October 14 for

state treasurer In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...

. Leopold lost his reelection bid in the

2019 Louisiana elections A general election was held in the U.S. state of Louisiana on October 12, 2019 with a runoff on November 16, 2019 for races in which no candidate was able to secure an absolute majority. Louisiana is the only state that has a jungle primary syste ...

to Mack Cormier.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold, Chris 1968 births Living people Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives People from Belle Chasse, Louisiana Businesspeople from Louisiana American real estate businesspeople Southeastern Louisiana University alumni 21st-century American politicians Catholics from Louisiana