John A. Alario, Jr. is an American politician from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

who represented the 8th district in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

from 2008 until 2020. Currently a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Alario previously represented District 83 in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 rep ...

as a Democrat between 1971 and 2007. Alario was term-limited from the Senate in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, and chose not to seek another office. Alario was the

President of the Louisiana State Senate The President of the Louisiana State Senate is the highest-ranking member of the Louisiana State Senate. The president convenes the session and calls members to order, and can designate another state senator as the presiding officer. The Louisian ...

, serving in that role between 2012 and 2020; he is also a former two-term Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He is the first politician in Louisiana history to hold both roles for two terms each, as well as the longest-serving legislator in state history.

Early career

A graduate of West Jefferson High School and

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

, Alario worked as a teacher and accountant prior to entering politics. He has been the owner of John A. Alario, Jr. Tax Income Service since 1972.

Electoral history

Louisiana House of Representatives

Alario was first elected as a Democrat to the

in 1971, representing the 83rd district in suburban

Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian f ...

Speaker of the House

In 1984, Alario was chosen to be Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives under

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972� ...

. He lost that title under Governor

Buddy Roemer Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III (October 4, 1943 – May 17, 2021) was an American politician, investor, and banker who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives f ...

in 1988, but won it back in 1992 to serve another 4-year term.

Louisiana State Senate

Alario was elected in

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to the 6th district in the

, defeating Democratic opponent John Roberts 63-37%. In 2010, Alario switched to the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

due to the national direction of the Democratic Party and the increasingly-Republican politics of Louisiana. Alario was re-elected unopposed in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. He was term-limited in

. Though there was speculation that he would run for his former House of Representatives seat, Alario declined and chose to retire from politics.

Senate President

Alario was chosen as

under Governor

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives ...

in 2011, and served a second term under Governor

John Bel Edwards John Bel Edwards (born September 16, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 56th governor of Louisiana since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Democratic leader of the Louisiana House of ...

. He is the second Republican Senate President since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

Personal life

Alario's wife, Alba "Ree" Williamson Alario, died in 2006. The couple had four children – Jan Marie, John, Christopher, and Kevin – and seven grandchildren.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alario, John 1943 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Living people Louisiana Democrats Louisiana Republicans Louisiana state senators Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives People from Westwego, Louisiana Southeastern Louisiana University alumni Speakers of the Louisiana House of Representatives