Mike Walsworth
Michael Arthur "Mike" Walsworth (born March 27, 1956) is a term-limited Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, who represents District 15 (Ouachita Parish). He was elected to the Louisiana State Senate in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. His Senate District 33 includes Ouachita, Claiborne, Morehouse, Union, and West Carroll parishes. He defeated the Democratic State Representative Charles McDonald of the Fairbanks community in northern Ouachita Parish to succeed the term-limited Republican Senator Robert J. Barham of Oak Ridge in Morehouse Parish. Walsworth polled 17,292 (52 percent) to McDonald's 16,058 (48 percent). McDonald's House seat, to which he was term-limited, was narrowly won in the November 17 general election by a Republican, Sam Little, a retired farmer from Bastrop, the seat of Morehouse Parish.
Walsworth was first elected to the state House in the 1995 primary, when he unseated the Democrat Charles R. Anding. He assumed the seat in 1996.
Walsworth was born to the late Leo Walsworth and the former Lila "Tootsie" Kitchens (1921-2007) in West Monroe adjacent to Monroe in Ouachita Parish. His maternal grandparents, Marshall and Emily Kitchens, operate a grocery store in Monroe. Walsworth graduated from West Monroe High School in 1974. Thereafter, he procured a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeastern Louisiana University). He is a real estate developer. He previously worked in management of Coca-Cola. He was a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee from 1984-1996. He is affiliated with the Greater Ouachita Lions Club, the American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Civitan Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and the American Heart Association. He is also involved in the United Way, the National Rifle Association, and the ULM Alumni Association. Walsworth is the song leader at a local Church of Christ. He is the father of one daughter, Lindsay Michelle Walsworth, a ULM student.
"Looking at the generation, not the next election" is a motto of the Walsworth campaign. In the legislature, Walsworth has worked to establish the Ouachita Port Commission and the Ouachita Expressway Commission. He authored The New law which prohibits video voyeurism. He worked on the Ethics Reform Bill to prohibit lawmakers from doing business with the state. He also worked to pass tort reform in his first legislative session. He has pushed for funding of rural schools, which abound in Senate District 15.
In his initial election to the House, Walsworth defeated Charles Anding, 7,745 (55 percent) to 6,403 (45 percent). In 1999, with 9,060 (67 percent), he defeated the Democrat Royce Calhoun, with 4,441 (33 percent) to win his second term in the House. He was unopposed in 2003.
References
http://www.enlou.com/officeholders/housedistrict15.htm
http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10239937
http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10219537
http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms3&rqsdta=102007