Rep. J.Pope, J. Rogers(R)
District# 71, Denham Springs

• District # 71: House District 1
• Party: Republican
• Caucus Membership: Capital Region Legislative Delegation
  Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation
  Louisiana Rural Caucus
• Occupation: Retired - Superintendent of Schools, Livingston Parish
• Education: University of Southeastern Louisiana, Masters + 30, Education
• Spouse: Patricia
• Year Elected: 2007
• Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2020
• 2007 Election
  J. Rogers Pope led a field of five candidates, including two political newcomers and Livingston Mayor D. Derral Jones, in the primary election with 35 percent of the vote. John Ware, the executive director of the Livingston Parish Economic Development Council, made the runoff with Pope. The runoff came down to 222 votes for these two GOP candidates, both with experience in lobbying the legislature. Pope replaces Dale Erdey who was elected unopposed to the State Senate District 13 seat, for which Heulette “Clo” Fontenot chose not to run for re-election.
  
  

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• Economic: Located completely within Livingston parish, District 71 includes the communities of Denham Springs, Livingston and Walker. In recent years, this district has been one of the fastest-growing in the state, especially after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Many residents have moved from East Baton Rouge parish to Livingston parish for the less expensive real estate and the excellent public school system. Most residents commute to Baton Rouge for work in the industrial plants and state government offices. Some residents have found well-paid jobs at the federal government’s $150 million high-tech research facility, which is located near the town of Livingston.
• Denham Springs is the economic center of the district, and in 2008, Bass Pro Shop, the $1.4 billion retailer from Springfield, Mo., will add to its success, as it will open a 150,000 square foot facility. The per-capita income in Denham Springs continues to increase giving this country city a more suburban feel.
• Social: Most residents are white- and blue-collar workers with middle to high incomes. They are fundamentalist/Protestant and conservative in their lifestyles.
• Political: White residents account for over 90 percent of this extremely conservative district’s registered voters. Livingston parish residents are extremely independent and often refer to the parish as “the free-state.” Social issues such as gaming, abortion and school prayer always get the conservative vote.

• J. Rogers Pope led a field of five candidates, including two political newcomers and Livingston Mayor D. Derral Jones, in the primary election with 35 percent of the vote. John Ware, the executive director of the Livingston Parish Economic Development Council, made the runoff with Pope. The runoff came down to 222 votes for these two GOP candidates, both with experience in lobbying the legislature. Pope replaces Dale Erdey, who was elected unopposed to the State Senate District 13 seat, which Heulette “Clo” Fontenot chose not to run for re-election.
• Although Pope has a variety of legislative interests, he has recently been hammering away at retirement laws. Among other accomplishment, he is responsible for establishing the current employer contribution rates of the statewide retirement systems and for changes in the process that tracks service credits for certain furloughed members of the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana.
• After 14 years as the superintendent of Livingston parish schools and prior service as a teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal, Pope retired in 2001. He earned many honors and awards during his education career including the 2000 State Superintendent of the Year and the 1998 Educator of the Year. Pope has since served as the executive director of the Louisiana Association of School Executives.
• Look for Pope to use his long career in education as the basis for many of his legislative actions and decisions. For example, Pope wants teacher pay in Louisiana to be increased to the national average. Pope believes that devoting a large portion of the state’s billion-dollar surplus to infrastructure improvements could solve much of his district’s and the state’s problems. A supporter of Blueprint Louisiana, Pope feels that full income disclosure by legislators is important, but he is worried that it may discourage good people from running for office. Pope wants to keep tax credits for businesses and industry, but wants them tightened.