Cynthia W. Willard-Lewis (born 1952) is an American politician in

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 ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, she served briefly in the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

and for longer periods in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) 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 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

and on the

New Orleans City Council The New Orleans City Council is the legislative branch of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1954 through a home rule charter, it replaced the city’s previous commission form of government created under the 1912 C ...

. She was elected from Senate District 2 in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

held on October 2, 2010, to replace Ann Duplessis, who resigned to take a position in the administration of

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Mitch Landrieu Mitchell Joseph Landrieu ( ; born August 16, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 2004 t ...

. Displaced by

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

, Willard-Lewis ran in the

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 ...

held on October 22, 2011, for the District 3 seat in the state Senate. She was instead defeated by another Democrat, the incumbent senator,

Jean-Paul Morrell Jean-Paul "JP" Morrell (born 1978) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician and Public defender (United States), public defender in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has served as an at-large member of the New Orleans City ...

, who polled 11,280 votes (53.3 percent) to Willard-Lewis' 9,911 votes (46.8 percent). Willard-Lewis also represented District 100 in the Louisiana House from 1993 to 2000, when she was elected to the New Orleans City Council. She left the council in 2010 under

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

. She was succeeded in the House by

Pat Swilling Patrick Travis Swilling (born October 25, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. He had ...

, a former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

linebacker. In 2006, Willard-Lewis, together with then Mayor

Ray Nagin Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. N ...

supported the opponents of a landfill project led by then-future

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 ...

Republican

Joseph Cao Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao ( ; ; born March 13, 1967) is a Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese-American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United ...

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. The district is currently represented by Democrat Troy Carter. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+17 ...

. In 2009, Willard-Lewis was back in the news for telling fellow Councilwoman

Stacy Head Stacy Aline Singleton Head (born June 30, 1969) is an American lawyer and former president of the New Orleans City Council. Early life and career Stacy Head was born in 1969 as the daughter of the former Katherine Hamberlin and Ernest Lynn Single ...

to "sit down with your prop" when Head was displaying a poster critical of the

Orleans Parish Orleans Parish (; ) is a parish of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 1870, the parish has been coextensive with the city of New Orleans, and the parish and city are largely governed as a single consolidated city. History On April 10, 180 ...

garbage-collection fees—a discussion which preceded the New Orleans e-mail controversy. In 2007, when Oliver Thomas was eliminated from an at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council because of conviction for

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

, Willard-Lewis attempted to win the at-large seat but was defeated by then-former Councilwoman

Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson (January 17, 1936 – June 26, 2024) was an American politician who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002 and on the New Orleans City Council from 1990 to 1994, 2002 to 2006, and 2007 to 2 ...

in a special election which received national attention because the result changed the racial majority of the council. Willard-Lewis is the daughter of Dr. Elliot Willard and his wife, Jane. She graduated from

historically black Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

, where she was a member of

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achi ...

sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

. She is a former first runner-up in the Black Miss America Pageant. Willard-Lewis participates in a number of community organizations, including the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. She attends Saint Raymond's Roman Catholic Church. By profession she is a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

consultant for Lakeland Hospital. She has two children.City Council bio for Willard-Lewis.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard-Lewis, Cynthia 1952 births Living people African-American state legislators in Louisiana Activists for African-American civil rights Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Democratic Party Louisiana state senators New Orleans City Council members Women in Louisiana politics Businesspeople from Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana alumni American Roman Catholics African-American Catholics Women city councillors in Louisiana African-American city council members in Louisiana 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature