Rep. Tucker, Jim (R)
District# 86, Terrytown

• District # 86: House District 1
• Party: Republican
• Caucus Membership:
• Occupation: Investment Banker/Real Estate Developer
• Education: O. P. Walker High School; B.S., University of New Orleans
• Spouse: Marisol
• Year Elected: 2001
• Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2012
• 2007 Election
  With the amount of political capital Tucker has built up in the House, it wasn’t surprising that he walked into re-election in 2007 without opposition. As chairman of the GOP Caucus in the lower chamber, Tucker is positioned to be a highly-visible player in the legislative process over the next term. Additionally, Tucker is expected to fill a top leadership role in the Jindal administration from the floor.
  

• Louisiana Map
• District Map
• Metro Map
• Economic: District 86 is split between portions of Orleans and Jefferson parishes, including part of Algiers and Terrytown. It is one of the most recently developed areas in the metropolitan New Orleans region. Many residents of this district work as white-collar executives at the oil-service companies located along the Intracoastal Canal, while others commute to downtown New Orleans for work every day. The spectacular English Turn golf club and residential development, which is the site of an annual PGA golf tournament, is also located here. The district, situated further inland than other New Orleans districts, was largely spared significant damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
• Social: District 86 has attracted many recent arrivals to the city. Residents here enjoy a very high standard of living, and many have built palatial homes in the country club-style subdivisions that have sprung up.
• Political: Conservative, business-oriented, affluent and generally well-educated, the district has a relatively-high Republican registration. Interestingly, though, it is one of the many areas where the percentage of both Democrats and Republicans has declined, and the number of independents is on the way up. Residents here differ from those in surrounding districts in that they are much less interested in the in-fighting of local governments. The district can be tough to represent, given its split nature, but it votes solidly Republican – Bobby Jindal carried roughly 60 percent in the district in both 2003 and 2007.

• Jim Tucker, a staunch Republican, has a varied background, ranging from real estate and banking to basic financial advising. Not surprisingly, Tucker utilized his unique skill set to carve out a niche on the House Insurance Committee.
• As House speaker, Tucker has his finger on the pulse of the legislative process. In previous years, he has taken a front and center position on education issues and steered the Lower Chamber away from most tax proposals. On the horizon, Tucker is interested in the issue of converting state retirement plans for new hires from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, among other topics.
• Tucker’s record and strong leadership abilities led Gov. Jindal to announce his support for Tucker as Speaker of the House, arguably the most powerful position in the Legislature. A conservative cornerstone of the lower chamber, Tucker has taken and led strong stands against most taxes and efforts to expand gambling. This libertarian philosophy also carries over into consumer rights. He once passed legislation prohibiting companies from soliciting business on consumers’ cell phones. He is unarguably pro-business, consistently holding among the top legislative scores awarded annually by LABI.
• A sensitive issue for Tucker, however, has been Louisiana’s public school system, particularly in New Orleans. He commonly shares with members his personal story of having to send his two children to private school rather than rely on the Crescent City’s public schools. Stemming from this is a need on Tucker’s part to have accountability in government. He has consistently voted in favor of budgetary accountability and involves himself with every ethics-reform measure that crosses the floor.