Francis C. Heitmeier (born August 2, 1950) is Louisiana politician who served 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 ...

, representing Orleans, Jefferson, and Plaquemines

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

, from 1991 to 2007. Raised in the

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

neighborhood of New Orleans, Heitmeier received his undergraduate degree from

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nichol ...

in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He served on the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee from 1978 to 1984 and 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 ...

from 1984 to 1992. Heitmeier won election to the state senate in 1991 by a large margin, and was reelected in a contested election in 1995, thereafter running unopposed in 1999 and 2003. Ineligible to run in 2007 due to

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 ...

, he instead ran 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 ...

for

Louisiana Secretary of State The secretary of state of Louisiana () is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Louisiana and serves as the head of the Louisiana Department of State. The position was created by Article 4, Section 7 of the Louisiana Con ...

in 2006, the office having been vacated by the death of incumbent W. Fox McKeithen. Heitmeier finished the first round of voting in second place, but withdrew from the runoff, complaining of lack of funds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heitmeier, Francis C. 1950 births Living people Louisiana state senators Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Louisiana Democrats Politicians from New Orleans Nicholls State University alumni Businesspeople from Louisiana American lobbyists Catholics from Louisiana 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature