Jean-Paul Philip Coussan, known as JP Coussan (born August 31, 1978), is an American lawyer, small business owner and

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from

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 (1757� ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, who has since 2024 represented

District 23 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

in the

Louisiana Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

. He previously represented District 45 in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2016 to 2024.

Background

Coussan's paternal grandfather, G. Louis Coussan, was a professor at the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

and the dean of the college of education there. His grandmother, Mary B. Coussan, taught for the

Lafayette Parish School Board The Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) or Lafayette Parish School Board (LPSB) is a school district based in Lafayette, Louisiana. The district serves all of Lafayette Parish. Board Members As of October 2022, the school board consists of 9 ...

. His father, Dr. George Coussan, a

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

ed the ULL Ragin' Cajuns, when the team played in the

Grantland Rice Bowl The Grantland Rice Bowl was an annual college football bowl game from 1964 through 1977, in the NCAA's College Division, for smaller universities and colleges, and later Division II. The game was named for Grantland Rice, an early 20th century A ...

in Baton Rouge in 1970. His mother, the former Jo Ellen Becnel, is a real estate broker for Van Eaton & Romero in Lafayette. Coussan and his wife, Jennifer Joy, have three children, and attend Our Lady of Fatima

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Lafayette. Coussan graduated from the Catholic-affiliated St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette and then

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 ...

and 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 ...

, both in Baton Rouge.

Career

A partner at the Lafayette real estate law firm, Andrus Boudreaux Complete Title, Coussan also co-founded Cougar Constructione. He was formerly affiliated with Ottinger Hebert, LLC, at which his clients came mainly from

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

. He previously served on the commission overseeing the Lafayette

Cajundome The Cajundome is a 13,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in Lafayette, Louisiana on the South Campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's basketball programs in addition t ...

. His other affiliations include the Chamber of Commerce, the Acadian Homebuilders Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1949, is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer in the world. The LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's l ...

, and the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

. Coussan won his seat in a runoff election held on November 21, 2015, over fellow Republican Andre' Comeaux. The two had emerged as the top two candidates from the October 24 primary election in which a third contender, Republican Jan Swift, was eliminated from further consideration. In his freshman term, Coussan has proved to be a competent negotiator in the Legislature, often working behind the scenes to affect change. He was part of the "Gang of Eight" as described by political columnis
Jeremy Alford
who led the charge in 2016 to elect Taylor Barras as the first independent Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, bucking the tradition of supporting the governor's chosen leader. Later that same year, Coussan was among the "Gang of No" who voted repeatedly against proposed tax increases and other tax measures pushed by then newly installed Democratic

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 ...

John Bel Edwards John Bel Edwards (born September 16, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 56th governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Democratic leader of the Louisiana House of ...

, working instead on compromise legislation to put a temporary sales tax increase in place set to expire in 2018, providing time to craft long-term fiscal reform to the state budget. As a result of these and other voted during a series of special legislative sessions in his first year in office, Coussan was ranked the 12th most conservative member of the legislature by the American Conservative Union in 2016, whic
ranked legislators
who vote "most consistently with the ideals articulated in the U.S. Constitution: limited transparent government, individual rights, personal responsibility, and lasting cultural values." He was named a "Business Champion" at th
Chamber SWLA
s annual LegisGator Awards in 2016 and 2017. The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry gave him honorable mentions in 2016 and 2017 on it
annual legislative scorecard
along with legislators who worked to advance "a platform of positive, pro-growth measures to improve Louisiana's economic climate." Also in both of his two years serving in the House, Coussan maintained a 100% voting record with the NFIB who named him a Guardian of Small Business. He was also named a Family Advocate by the Louisiana Family Forum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coussan, Jean-Paul 1978 births Living people Louisiana lawyers Businesspeople from Louisiana Cajun people Louisiana State University alumni Louisiana State University Law Center alumni Republican Party Louisiana state senators Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Politicians from Lafayette, Louisiana 21st-century American legislators Catholics from Louisiana 21st-century Louisiana politicians