Charles Boustany
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Charles William Boustany Jr. (; born February 21, 1956) is an American politician, physician, and former congressman from Lafayette,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, who served as the
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
from
Louisiana's 3rd congressional district Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a United States congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers the southwestern and south central portion of the state, ranging from the Texas border to the Atchafalaya Rive ...
from 2005 to 2017 (numbered as the 7th district from 2005 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. Boustany stepped down from the U.S. House in January 2017; he was a candidate for the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
in 2016 in a bid to succeed the retiring Republican David Vitter. Boustany did not advance beyond the primary election, finishing third in the jungle primary behind Republican John Neely Kennedy and Democrat
Foster Campbell Foster Lonnie Campbell Jr. (born January 6, 1947) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He served in the Louis ...
. He was succeeded in the House of Representatives by
Clay Higgins Glen Clay Higgins (born August 24, 1961) is an American politician and reserve law enforcement officer from the state of Louisiana. A Republican, Higgins is the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. The district, which ...
, a Republican who is a Lafayette law enforcement officer residing outside the district in St. Landry Parish. Since leaving Congress, he has worked as a lobbyist. He endorsed
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
in the
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.


Early life, education, and medical career

Boustany was born in
Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...
, the son of Madlyn M. (née Ackal) and Charles W. Boustany Sr. (1930–2009); his paternal grandparents, Alfred Frem Boustany and Florida (née Saloom), were
immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
s from
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. His maternal grandparents were also Lebanese. In 2006, he was one of four Middle Eastern American members of Congress. The senior Boustany, a Democrat, served for sixteen years as
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
of
Lafayette Parish Lafayette Parish () is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 241,753, up from 221,578 at the 2010 United States census. The parish seat and largest city is Lafayett ...
. Congressman Boustany has nine siblings: James, Jon, Ron, Stella (Dr. Stella B. Noel), Therese (Mrs. Reggie), Kathryn (Mrs. Scurlock), Madlyn (Mrs. Juneau), Adele (Mrs. Weber), and Cheryn (Mrs. Eppley). He is a cousin of Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. Boustany attended the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...
, at which he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He earned his medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans in 1978. He is a retired cardiovascular surgeon who completed his residency in Rochester,
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before returning to Louisiana to take a job at Charity Hospital, New Orleans. During Boustany's medical career, he was the defendant in at least three malpractice suits. In a 2000 case, Geraldine Arceneaux, was awarded $1.2 Million in damages from a state compensation fund. Prior to filing the lawsuit, filed a complaint with the state's Medical Review Panel, which found his conduct to be "below the acceptable standard of care." In 1992, Melanie Malagarie filed a malpractice suit which resulted in an award of $600,000 in damages. In 1995, Delila Hays filed a medical malpractice suit which resulted in an unspecified settlement.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections


2004

In 2004, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Chris John of Louisiana's 7th congressional district decided to retire in order to run for the U.S. Senate. John had held the district for eight years without serious difficulty, even though it had been trending increasingly Republican at the national level. Boustany jumped into the race with another Republican, the late David Thibodaux of Lafayette, Democratic state senator Willie Mount of Lake Charles and Democratic state representative Don Cravins Jr. of Opelousas. In the open primary election, Boustany ranked first with 39 percent, with Mount garnering 25 percent for second place. Under Louisiana's
nonpartisan blanket primary A nonpartisan primary, top-two primary, or jungle primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of political party. This distinguishes them from partisan primaries, w ...
system, in the event no candidate wins a "50 percent plus one vote" total, a runoff is conducted between the two top candidates, regardless of party.
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Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
campaigned on behalf of Boustany. In the December 4 run-off election, Boustany defeated Mount 55–45 percent. He was only the second Republican to represent the district, the first having been Jimmy Hayes, who switched from Democratic affiliation in 1995.


2006

Boustany won re-election to a second term with 71 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Mike Stagg.


2008

Boustany won re-election to a third term defeating Democrat Don Cravins, Jr. and Constitution Party candidate Peter Vidrine.


2010

Boustany won re-election to a fourth term unopposed.


2012

After Louisiana lost a district in redistricting, most of Boustany's territory became the 3rd District. He faced freshman fellow Republican and 3rd District incumbent
Jeff Landry Jeffrey Martin Landry ( ; born December 23, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 57th governor of Louisiana since 2024. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th attorney general of Louisiana from 201 ...
of
New Iberia New Iberia (; ) is the largest city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette, and forms part of ...
. Although the district retained Landry's district number, it was geographically and demographically more Boustany's district. Indeed, the new 3rd contained almost two-thirds of Boustany's former territory, while Landry retained only the western third of his former district. Landry led Boustany in third-quarter 2011 fundraising, $251,000 to $218,000. According to
Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
, Boustany led in cash-on-hand lead, $1.1 million – $402,000. In addition to Boustany and Landry, a third Republican, state Representative Chris Leopold of Plaquemines Parish, announced via
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his candidacy for the seat, but he never filed the paperwork. The Boustany-Landry race attracted most of the political attention in Louisiana in 2012, as it was seen as pitting an establishment Republican against a candidate identifying with the Tea Party. Though most politicians shunned involvement in the heated race, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Michael G. Strain endorsed Boustany, whom he described as particularly helpful to the agricultural sector while serving as a U.S. representative. Landry, meanwhile, carried the backing of most of the Republican parish executive committees in the district. Landry also was endorsed by Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee. In the November 6 election, technically a nonpartisan blanket primary for Congress, Boustany led Landry by 45,596 votes. In a five-candidate field, Boustany received 139,123 votes (45 percent); Landry received 93,527 votes (30 percent). Democrat Ron Richard procured the critical 67,070 votes (22 percent). The remaining 7,908 votes (2 percent) and 3,765 ballots (1 percent) were cast, respectively, for Republican Bryan Barrilleaux and the Libertarian Jim Stark. Because no candidate received a majority, Boustany and Landry met in a runoff contest held on December 8. Boustany won the runoff election against Landry with 58,820 votes (61 percent). He had large margins in seven of the ten parishes in the district, particularly in
Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...
, Calcasieu, and Lafayette but lost the three parishes that Landry represents, St. Martin,
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, and
St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
.


Tenure

Boustany presented the Republican response to President Barack H. Obama's joint address to Congress on Wednesday September 9, 2009. He was the sponsor of H.R. 1173, the Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011. The bill would repeal title VIII of the
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which established a voluntary long-term care insurance program. It passed the house 267–159 on February 1, 2012 but was never passed by the Senate. In 2013, Boustany was a sponsor of the
United States farm bill In the United States, the farm bill is a comprehensive omnibus bill that is the primary Agricultural policy in the United States, agricultural and food policy instrument of the federal government. United States Congress, Congress typically passe ...
, which was rejected 234–195 in votes, with sixty-two Republicans voting against.


Committee assignments

* Committee on Ways and Means ** Subcommittee on Oversight (Chair) ** Subcommittee on Human Resources ** Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures


2016 U.S. Senate campaign

Boustany ran for the open U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Republican David Vitter, and on election day he received 15.4 percent of the vote at third place, not enough to advance to the run-off.


Personal life

Boustany's wife Bridget Edwards is a daughter of the late Acadia Parish assistant district attorney Nolan Edwards (1930–1983) of Crowley and Eleanor Merrill of Longboat Key, Florida. Nolan Edwards was shot to death in his law office by a disgruntled client. Bridget Boustany is hence a paternal niece of Democratic former
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Edwin Washington Edwards. The Boustanys have two children, Erik and Ashley. His cousin, Jerry Ramsey, and her husband Bo were among those wounded in the 2015 Lafayette shooting, in which two people were killed and nine others injured. In 1995, Boustany filed a lawsuit in Louisiana's 15th Judicial District against two men in Britain for defrauding him in a $50,000 investment and in the $18,500 purchase of a
title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
after they failed to deliver a purchased British Lordship. He is an
Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...
.


''Murder in the Bayou'' controversy

"Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?", a book investigating the 2005-2008 murders of eight sex workers in Jefferson Davis Parish, was released in September 2016. Using anonymous sources, author Ethan Brown alleged that Boustany patronized three of the eight victims at a motel owned by a Boustany field staffer, Martin Guillory. ''Murder in the Bayou'' was released while Boustany was running for U.S. Senate, and the story attracted widespread attention and drew comment from other candidates in the race. His wife claimed that the allegations were designed to damage his senate run, while Boustany himself criticized frontrunner John N. Kennedy for "fanning" the story. Boustany sued Brown and the publisher of ''Murder in the Bayou,''
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, for defamation in October 2016. He dropped the lawsuit that December, after Kennedy was elected Senator.


See also

* Physicians in the United States Congress *
List of Arab and Middle-Eastern Americans in the United States Congress This article is a list of all Arab Americans and Middle Eastern Americans who have ever served in the United States Congress. This list includes persons of North Africans in the United States, North African or Somalis in the United States, Horn o ...


References


External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Boustany, Charles 1956 births 20th-century American physicians American Episcopalians American politicians of Lebanese descent American surgeons Living people Louisiana State University alumni Middle Eastern Christians Politicians from Lafayette, Louisiana Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni Candidates in the 2016 United States Senate elections 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives