Melinda Burge Schwegmann (born October 25, 1946) is an American politician. She was the first woman to serve as

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana The lieutenant governor of Louisiana (french: Lieutenant-Gouverneur de la Louisiane) is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current lieutenant governor is Billy Nungesser, a Republican Party (United States), Republican. The lieuten ...

and was in office from 1992 to 1996. While in office, she was a proponent of the arts and culture in the state. She ran unsuccessfully in the 1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election. She was, along with her opponent

Mary Landrieu Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasure ...

, the first woman to have a serious chance of winning the office. She finished in 6th place out of the 15 running in that year's

jungle primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

. In 1997, she celebrated her 51st birthday by winning a seat in 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 ...

. She filled the unexpired term of Garey Forster. She served until 2003, when she switched her political party from a

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 ...

to become 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 ...

and ran again for Lt. Governor. She lost, coming in third place. She is married to John F. Schwegmann. Through marriage, Schwegmann became a member of the family of grocery retailers that owned

Schwegmann Brothers Giant Supermarkets Schwegmann Brothers Giant Supermarkets, commonly known as Schwegmann or colloquially Schwegmann's, is a defunct grocery store chain that served the New Orleans metropolitan area, New Orleans, Louisiana, metropolitan area until 1997. The chain deve ...

References

Works cited

* Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Women in Louisiana politics Women state constitutional officers of Louisiana Living people 1946 births Louisiana Democrats Louisiana Republicans {{Louisiana-politician-stub