Roger F. Villere, Jr.

Roger Francis Villere, Jr. (born August 16, 1949), pronounced Villairee, is a businessman from Metairie in Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans who on March 26, 2004, was elected state chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party by the 144-member GOP State Central Committee. He succeeded Pat Brister of St. Tammany Parish, the first woman to have been the state GOP chairman, having served from 2000-2004.

Family and business background

A native of New Orleans, Villere is one of seven children born to Roger Villere, Sr. (1911-1996), and the former Ursula Wattigny (born November 30, 1918), a graduate of the defunct St. Mary's Dominican College in New Orleans and a schoolteacher. Mrs. Villere was recognized on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday by Senator David Vitter. The Roman Catholic family moved to Metairie in 1955, when Roger was six years of age.

Roger Villere graduated in 1967 from Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie. After working briefly as a night clerk for the Illinois Central Railroad, the newly-married Villere launched his Villere's Florist, a family-owned and operated firm at 1107 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite B, which in 2009 employed fifty persons. Villere is married to the former Donna Gunckel (born ca. 1951), daughter of Joseph P. Gunckel of Franklinton in Washington Parish, and the former Marie Joyce Webre (1926-2002). Their three sons, Roger, III (born 1970), Mark Charles Villere (born 1973), and Jacques Philip Villere (born 1980), all work in the family business.

State legislative race, 1989

In 1988, Republican State Representative Charles Cusimano resigned his seat to become a state court judge, and a special election was called early in 1989 to find a successor. At thirty-nine, Villere entered the race in District 89. His opponents included two fellow Republicans, John Spier Treen, a brother of former Governor David C. Treen, and David Duke, a former associate of the Ku Klux Klan. Treen and Duke went into a runoff, from which Duke emerged victorious and served for three years in the state legislature. Duke used attention from his new position as a base from which to launch unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1990, governor in 1991, and President in 1992. Villere did not again seek office but thereafter concentrated his political activity within the GOP organization.

Political analyst Stephen Mark Sabludowsky (born 1950) of Metairie notes certain ironies in that 1989 special legislative race:

"Duke won that legislative seat, became a political nightmare for Governor Buddy Roemer and Republican chairman William "Billy" Nungesser. Of course, Duke ran for a number of offices, doing well against two powerful Louisiana institutions in J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., and Edwin Edwards. Duke's fortunes soured as he attempted to run for President, later spent time in jail, then peddled his racism and Nazism and 'loony tunes' philosophies in the likes of Russia, Iran, and elsewhere.

"Meanwhile, the young Roger Villere worked his way up the ladder of the Louisiana Republican Party, ultimately earning the position of chairman."

Political spotlight

Villere is no stranger to political controversy. He has withstood his critics, some in his own party, with a take-no-prisoners approach as chairman. When he asked Democratic State Representative and Speaker Pro Tem Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans to submit certain public information AbOUT herself to him, at least two Republican lawmakers, Joseph Harrison of Houma and Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse, defended Peterson and urged Villere to apologize or to step down from the chairmanship. Villere's open records request came after she had criticized Villere's ally, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal. Villere neither apologized nor resigned.

In 1996, Villere joined then state chairman Mike Francis, a Crowley businessman, in supporting U.S. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas for the Republican presidential nomination, but Gramm withdrew from the contest even prior to the New Hampshire presidential primary. In 2002, before he had become state chairman, Villere endorsed Tony Perkins, a state representative from Baker in East Baton Rouge Parish and the most conservative of the leading candidates for the U.S. Senate. However, the incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu was reelected in a general election against Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell, whom Villere and Perkins then supported. Perkins later became president of the Family Research Council.

Another Republican figure, former legislative auditor Dan Kyle, served as party vice chairman early in Villere's tenure.

Promoting party unity

Villere often called for Republican unity, citing Ronald W. Reagan's Eleventh Commandment, which discourages Republicans from speaking against fellow party members in other factions. He urged Paul Sawyer, a primary opponent to Woody Jenkins, a former state representative from Baton Rouge who in 2008 sought a vacant seat in the United States House of Representatives, to withdraw a particular advertisement attempting to link Jenkins to past support of David Duke.

In the fall of 2008, Villere threatened to "discipline" Louisiana Republicans who endorsed Senator Landrieu for a third term, rather than the party choice, State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, who switched from Democratic affiliation in 2007. Among those supporting Landrieu was former Governor Treen. Treen died less than a year after that race. Despite his apostasy regarding Landrieu-Kennedy, Treen was eulogized by Senator Vitter, a former Treen intraparty rival, as the "father of the Republican Party in Louisiana." Others backing Landrieu were the sheriffs in Jefferson and St Tammany parishes. In addition, U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander attended a Landrieu fund-raiser at the home of former Louisiana State Senator Randy Ewing, a Democrat from Jackson Parish who served as the former State Senate President and who in 2003 ran unsuccessfully for governor.

Upon Treen's death in 2009, Villere, like Senator Vitter, issued a gracious statement of condolences, having called the former governor "a courageous man who loved our country and our state. He fought the political establishment in the 1970s and 1970s when it was very difficult to elect a Republican in our state, and his career in political office was marked with integrity and fiscal discipline. It is important for younger voters to understand that Louisiana's commitment to high ethical standards and the existence of a viable two-party system in our state are relatively new developments. . . . Dave Treen laid the foundation to change all that, and for that, millions of Louisiana citizens owe him a profound debt of gratitude.”

2009 events

In January 2009, Villere joined the Oklahoma state chairman, Gary Jones, in endorsing Ken Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state, for national party chairman. The position went instead to Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland.

After U.S. President Barack H. Obama called for a national health care plan, Villere replied by calling the president an "able orator [who is attempting] to convince Americans that more government and more spending is the only way to move our nation forward. Despite the President’s plans, the Democrat plans advancing in Congress increase the role of government in decisions best made by their patients and their doctors, increase taxes, and increase our national debt. The President admitted that there needs to be some significant details to be ironed out, and just as it has always been, the devil will be in those details." Instead, Villere called on the White House to consider the Republican alternative health proposals advanced by Louisiana U.S. Representative Charles Boustany, Jr., a retired physician from Lafayette. Boustany has said that "working in a bipartisan way, we can truly lower the cost of health care while improving quality for the American people".

Stephen Sabludowsky considers Villere a particularly effective state chairman, noting that the GOP has become a "potent force in shaping the state. While Villere could not win an election in District 81 two decades ago, now, he has become one of the most influential individuals in Louisiana, helping to set policies and pass legislation. . . . When Roger Villere and the Louisiana Republican Party speak, the Louisiana Republican legislators and conservatives listen and vote almost in lockstep. . . . Rarely do the Louisiana Republican legislators veer from the words and warnings of Roger Villere. . . . Governor Bobby Jindal rarely speaks out publicly giving a stern warning or rebuke. In a sense, Jindal is often playing the 'good cop' and Villere the 'bad cop'. . . . the formula appears to be working quite well.”