Mike Francis
Member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
from the 4th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byCharles DeWitt
Chair of the Louisiana Republican Party
In office
October 1994 – March 2000
Preceded byDud Lastrapes
Succeeded byChuck McMains
Personal details
Born
Michael Gordon Francis

1946 (age 77–78)
Jena, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Children2

Michael Gordon Francis (born in 1946, Louisiana) is an American politician and businessman from Crowley, Louisiana. He is currently a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from the 4th district. Prior to his election to the Public Service Commission, he was the Chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana from 1994 until 2000.

Early life

Francis was born in Jena, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. He attended local public schools[1] and Jena High School, graduating from the latter in 1964. In the 1960s he began working as a truck driver and drilling fluid engineer.[2] He then moved to Crowley and founded his own drilling fluid company, Francis Drilling Fluids, in 1977.[1][2] He married Sheila Stevens and had two sons with her.[1]

Political career

Party offices

Francis identifies as a fiscal and social conservative.[1] He was elected to the State Central Committee of the Louisiana Republican Party in November 1992 and was shortly thereafter made its finance chairman. He was elected chairman of the state party in October 1994.[3] From 1995 onward, he grew involved in a leadership dispute between the party's Christian conservative wing—which he led—and the moderate wing led by Louisiana Governor Mike Foster.[4] That year the State Central Committee voted to abolish the state's Republican presidential primary and replace it with caucuses to be held a week before the 1996 Iowa caucuses, which had long been the earliest-held caucuses in election cycles in the country. Francis supported the move, arguing it would improve the image of the state Republican Party and boost the influence of the South in national Republican politics. Iowa Republicans suspected that the change was designed to improve the prospects of Phil Gramm, Francis' preferred candidate.[5] Most of the major Republican candidates skipped the caucuses, which were won by Pat Buchanan.[6] Challenged by Republicans upset with the caucuses, he narrowly won a 1996 central committee run-off vote to retain his chairmanship.[7] In 1997 the Louisiana State Legislature unanimously passed a bill adding six seats to the central committee. Fearful that the new seats would be filled by moderates and thus undo the majority the Christian conservatives had on the committee, Francis called on Republican State Senate leader John J. Hainkel Jr. to resign and sued the governor to have the bill reversed.[8]

In 1999 Francis became involved in another dispute between the party's wings after he supported another proposal to schedule an early presidential caucus before the 2000 Iowa caucuses.[9] He passed the motion to schedule the early caucuses after ignoring quorum calls and the objections of moderates. He dismissed the state Republican executive director and deputy executive director two days later and changed the locks on the Republican headquarters building.[9][10] In response, the State Council of the Republican Party—which was responsible for the party's finances—removed his check-writing, hiring, and firing privileges.[11] Governor Foster asked the central committee to reconsider its caucuses scheduling and return to the use of a primary election, but Francis refused, saying "Our honor is at stake."[12] Iowa Republicans convinced most major presidential candidates to declare their abstention from the caucuses. In December, Foster's allies overruled Francis in a meeting of the central committee and canceled the caucuses.[4][13] Francis' preferred candidate, Gary Bauer, lost the subsequent primary.[4] Francis decided to not seek the central committee chairmanship in 2000 but still sought a seat on the committee.[14] He was defeated in the March committee elections as was his preferred successor to the chair.[15]

Elections and public office

In 1996 Francis launched a candidacy in a special election to win the vacant state senate seat for the 25th district.[16] He campaigned on "smaller government" and lowering taxes, placing second in the first election to State Representative Gerald Theunissen, a Democrat.[17] A run-off election was held in September which he lost.[18] He lost a special election to become the Louisiana Secretary of State to fellow Republican Jay Dardenne in September 2006.[19][1]

In the November 2016 elections, Francis won a seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission for the 4th district, garnering 175,074 votes (54 percent) and defeating two other candidates.[20] The district includes Acadia, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Evangeline, Grant, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Rapides, St. Landry, Vermilion and Vernon parishes in whole, as well as parts of Catahoula, Iberia and Sabine parishes.[1] He was sworn in on January 3, 2017[21] for a term lasting until December 31, 2022.[1] He was elected by the commission to serve as its chairman for the 2019 term.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Commissioner - District 4". Louisiana Public Service Commission. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Michael G Francis". Jena High School Alumni. JHS Alumni Association. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Republicans to cast ballot for State Central Committee". The Crowley Post-Signal. November 3, 1996. p. 11.
  4. 1 2 3 Maisel 2002, pp. 115–116.
  5. ↑ Zganjar, Leslie (December 11, 1995). "Louisiana fighting to be primary leader". The Argus-Press. Associated Press. p. 10.
  6. ↑ Steed & Moreland 2002, p. 80.
  7. ↑ Lenox, Charles (November 21, 1996). "Mike Francis survives strong challenge to state GOP position". The Daily Advertiser. p. 3D.
  8. ↑ Lamis 1999, p. 302.
  9. 1 2 "La. GOP Is Fightin' 'N Feudin'". CBS News. Associated Press. June 16, 1999. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  10. ↑ Steed & Moreland 2002, pp. 80–81.
  11. ↑ Steed & Moreland 2002, p. 81.
  12. ↑ Maisel 2002, p. 115.
  13. ↑ "Louisiana GOP Scraps Caucus". The Washington Post (final ed.). Associated Press. December 12, 1999. p. A19. ProQuest 408546558
  14. ↑ "Republican PAC wants new state party machine". The Daily Review. Associated Press. January 14, 2000. p. 6.
  15. ↑ Coates, Guy (March 26, 2000). "GOP meets without rancor". Daily World. Associated Press. p. 2A.
  16. ↑ "Mike Francis begins common sense campaign". The Gueydan Journal. Vol. 14, no. 22. August 15, 1996. p. 1.
  17. ↑ Doucet, Janet C. (August 27, 1996). "Candidates discuss senate race issues". The Crowley Post-Signal. p. 1.
  18. ↑ "State Senate seat awarded". The Daily Review. Associated Press. September 23, 1996. p. 4.
  19. ↑ "Louisiana Secretary of State : Official Election Results : Results for Election Date: 9/30/2006". Louisiana Department of State. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Francis elected to Public Service Com". The Rayne Acadian-Tribune. November 10, 2016. p. 1.
  21. ↑ Dennis, Howell (January 6, 2017). "Francis takes oath as Public Service commissioner; his district includes Vermillion". Abbeville Meridional. Vol. 161, no. 5. pp. 1–2.
  22. ↑ "Louisiana Public Service Commission elects Mike Francis as Chairman". Abbeville Meridional. Vol. 163, no. 24. February 3, 2019. p. 2A.

Works cited

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