Eric Frederick Skrmetta (born October 1, 1958) is an American politician who represents District 1 (largely surburban

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 ...

, eastern

Florida Parishes The Florida Parishes, on the east side of the Mississippi River—an area also known as the Northshore or Northlake region—are eight parishes in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The Florida Parishes were part of what ...

, and River Parishes) on the

Louisiana Public Service Commission The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The Commission is established by Article IV, Section 21 of the 1921 Constitution of the State of ...

(PSC), an influential regulatory agency which was the political springboard for former

governors 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 ...

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "The Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination i ...

Jimmie Davis James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 – November 5, 2000) was an American singer, songwriter, and Democratic Party politician. After achieving fame for releasing both sacred and popular songs, Davis served as governor of Louisiana from ...

, and

John McKeithen John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 – June 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of Louisiana from 1964 to 1972. Early life McKeithen was born in Grayson, Louisiana on May 28, 1918. His father was a ...

. Skrmetta is a member of the Republican Party.

Education and background

After finishing

Brother Martin High School Brother Martin High School is a private, Catholic, all-boys college preparatory school run by the United States Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orlea ...

in New Orleans, Skrmetta attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, where he was a member of

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

fraternity, and in 1981, he received his B.S. degree in

industrial technology Industrial technology is the use of engineering and manufacturing technology to make production faster, simpler, and more efficient. The industrial technology field employs creative and technically proficient individuals who can help a company ac ...

. In 1985 he was a ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' graduate (

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

) of

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

School of Law, passed the Louisiana

Bar Exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

, and entered the practice of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. In 1986 Skrmetta received his

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

admiralty law Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and conflict of laws, private international law governing the relations ...

from

Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...

. Since 1989 he has focused on legal mediation. A member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee for District 81, in 2003 he unsuccessfully sought to represent the coterminous District 81 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 ...

Election 2008

Skrmetta won the race for Public Service Commissioner in a 2008 November 4 runoff after two other candidates (Bruce Kincade and Ken Odinet Sr.) were eliminated in the

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

. His runoff opponent was former Public Service Commissioner John F. Schwegmann, who had no party affiliation. Skrmetta had the support of then-incumbent District 1 commissioner

Jay Blossman Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

, who was barred by

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 ...

from seeking reelection. Skrmetta assumed his commissionership office on 2009 January 1 for a term which ends on 2014 December 31. Skrmetta’s campaign demonstrated the political utility of open web sites such as

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Public Service Commissioner

On PSC Skrmetta has sought clarification of Louisiana’s

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

regulations, which have tightened since the state’s populistic past. In particular he has sought to displace meal reimbursements to commissioners from regulated utility companies with reimbursements by PSC itself.

Personal life

Eric Skrmetta and his wife Deborah Gibson Skrmetta (born 1961) have two children. The Skrmettas are involved in various religious and community organizations. They live in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is ...

, where they attend Saint

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

Catholic Church.Skrmetta profile in the ''Times-Picayune''
2008 September 09 (accessed 2009 June 17).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrmetta, Eric 1958 births Living people American Roman Catholics Louisiana Republicans Louisiana State University alumni Members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Lawyers from New Orleans Southern University alumni Southern University Law Center alumni Tulane University alumni Tulane University Law School alumni 2020 United States presidential electors