Sen.Ben Nevers

Senate Member

Sen. Ben Nevers (D)
District# 12,

Contact Information

District Office
Legislative Assistant : Lesley Lewis
Email Ben Nevers
Phone: (985) 732-6863
1-800-881-2749
Fax: --
Address: 724 Avenue F
Bogalusa, LA 70427
Map
Capitol House Switch Band: (225) 342-2040
Capitol House Fax: (225)342-0628

Profile

- District #12: House District 0
- Party: Democrat
- Caucus Membership: --
- Occupation: Business Owner, Nevers Electrical
- Education: Bogalusa High School; Louisiana Technical College
- Spouse: Barbara Ann
- Year Elected: 2004
- Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2016
- 2007 Election
  Nevers landed a second full term in the state’s upper chamber with no opposition from the district. Following a tight race to retain his former House seat in 1999 and in the wake of the bitterly-fought contest in 2003 that brought him to the Senate, Nevers welcomed the change of pace. Back in the 2003 race, there were seven candidates and Nevers emerged as the top vote-getter in the runoff against Republican Richard Tanner, a retired teacher from St. Tammany Parish. Tanner conceded the race to Nevers and dropped out, however, explaining they already agreed on all the key issues.

District Profile

Registered Voters by Parish:St. Helena 5.9%, St. Tammany 30.9%, Tangipahoa 31.3%, Washington 32.0%
Municipalities/Communities Represented:Abita Springs, Amite City, Angie,
Bogalusa, Covington, Folsom, Franklinton, Greensburg, Independence, Kentwood, Montpelier, Natalbany, Pearl River, Roseland, Sun, Tangipahoa,
Varnado
- Louisiana Map
- District Map
- Metro Map
Economic: Washington Parish, as a whole, is the anchor of District 12, which also picks up portions of St. Helena, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes. Agriculture is big business here – and a way of life, as evidenced by the cultural admiration for Washington watermelons. Timber, though, is the cash crop. Hurricane Katrina inflicted significant damage to the district’s fabled pines and recovery was initially slow. Temple-Inland Corporation, a century-old sawmill, is one of the largest employers in the district. The Washington Correctional Institute, meat-packaging plants and a tech-support call center are also key employers. The district likewise hosts prime dairy farming and a strong horse-breeding industry.

Social: This district is overwhelmingly rural and dominated by small towns. Bogalusa, with roughly 13,300 residents, is the epicenter. In recent years, it has suffered from an out-migration trend fueled largely by white residents opting for the outlying areas of Abita Springs, Covington and Hammond. As such, the population has become an amalgam of working class and urban poor.

Political: District 12 is a predominately-white district. Although voter registration heavily favors Democrats and the region was once a Democratic stronghold, election statistics today reveal an area leaning heavily towards the GOP. Gov. Bobby Jindal handily carried the district, as did former Republican Gov. Mike Foster and David Duke. The previous state senator, Jerry Thomas, won his seat in a 1999 special election after switching to the Republican Party.

Biography

- Ben Nevers first won the District 12 seat in 2003 after Thomas decided not to seek re-election. Prior to that, Nevers also succeeded Thomas in the House, serving five years.
- Nevers is a conservative Democrat who entered the 2007 election cycle on the heels of filing an anti-abortion bill that gained national media exposure. The legislation, which was endorsed by then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco, established a strict ban that permits abortions only in cases where a woman's life is threatened by a pregnancy. While the bill helped Nevers define a trademark policy issue, it also assisted in broadening his political base among conservative and religious factions.
- Education is another cornerstone issue. Nevers entered public office as a member of the Bogalusa City School Board and is also married to a teacher. As head of the Senate Education Committee and the most recent chairman of the Postsecondary Education Review Commission, Nevers will continue his role as a floor leader on education issues.
- Nevers will also likely continue to think outside of the box and follow-up on recent resolutions that called for a statewide uniform grading scale in all public high schools and more transferable credits for technical and community college students. He is a close ally of LAE and strong advocate for higher education. He has worked on reforms for sabbatical and sick-leave policies and once authored a bill to force BESE to create a Bible-study course for secondary schools.
- Nevers formerly owned a marine and outdoor store and often gets involved in related matters, like sponsoring a bill to alter state laws covering the registration of boats, motors and trailers. Today, he owns an electrical-contracting business and is a reliable vote for LABI, although he does make an effort to balance that commitment with the needs of labor interests.