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District Office
Legislative Assistant : Julie Sandridge
Email Cortez Patrick Page
Phone: (337)993-7430
Fax: (337)993-7432
Address: 1720 Kaliste Saloom Road
Suite D-4
Lafayette, LA 70508
Map
Capitol House Switch Band: (225) 342-6945
Capitol House Fax: (225)342-8336
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- District #: House District 1
- Party: Republican
- Caucus Membership: Acadiana Delegation, Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation, Louisiana Rural Caucus
- Occupation: Co-owner and operator of La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery & Stoma's Furniture
- Education: B.A. degrees in Education and General Studies from University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- Spouse: Angela
- Year Elected: 2007
- Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2020
- 2007 Election
Cortez enjoyed early support from area state legislators Sen. Mike Michot and Rep. Joel Robideaux, which resulted in the withdrawal of incumbent Rep. Ernie Alexander from the race. Soon, however, the race became less about Cortez’s qualifications and more about the fitness of his opponent, Patrick LeBlanc, to hold office. Cortez defeated Leblanc by 10 percentage points.
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Registered Voters by Parish: Lafayette 100.0%
Municipalities/Communities Represented: Broussard, Lafayette, Youngsville
Economic and Social: District 43 encompasses some of the more-affluent and fastest-growing areas of Lafayette Parish. The planned community of River Ranch, with its upscale shops and multimillion dollar homes is here, as are the rapidly expanding bedroom communities of Youngsville and Broussard, south of the city. The people who live in this district are the proverbial “movers and shakers,” who are active both civically and politically. Some are out-of-state transfers who work in upper management of the area’s oil and gas companies, while others are lifelong residents of Lafayette.
Political: The district is staunchly Republican and even the Democrats here tend to be conservatives. As a result, philosophy often means more than political affiliation, but in general, Republicans do quite well here. In the 2003 governor’s race for example, Bobby Jindal took nearly 64 percent of the vote here, a feat he repeated in 2007. In the 2004 U.S. Senate race, Republican David Vitter took nearly every precinct here, often at a margin of 2 to 1 over his nearest opponent.
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- Page Cortez never held political office before his foray into the House District 43 race, yet he enjoyed support from some of Lafayette Parish’s political heavyweights. He and state Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette, were fraternity brothers at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). He also gained the support of state Rep. Joel Robideaux, a Lafayette Independent. It was the early support from Michot and Robideaux’s Leadership for Louisiana political action committee that forced incumbent Rep. Ernie Alexander, who appeared to be a shoo-in for a third term, to abandon his re-election bid. Subsequently, Alexander endorsed Cortez’s opponent, Lafayette businessman Patrick LeBlanc.
- During his campaign, Cortez, co-owner and operators of La-Z-Boy Furniture, said he supported “absolute transparency” when it came to financial disclosure by legislators and state officials. Also, he supported state health care funds that “followed the patient” rather than going to hospitals. On education, Cortez advocated bringing teacher salaries up to the national average and supported tax credits for parents who send their children to private schools.
- As a member of the budget-drafting Appropriations Committee, he’ll play a central role in how the state approaches its forecasted shortfalls. He’s also drawn to transportation and education issues and is looking into allowing private driving schools to provide classroom instruction to persons 90 days before their fifteenth birthday.
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