Caroline Fayard

Caroline Fayard
Personal details
Born Cathryn Caroline Fayard
1978 (age 37–38)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Dartmouth College
University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor
Religion Roman Catholicism

Cathryn Caroline Fayard (/feɪ·jard/), also known as Caroline Fayard (born 1978), is a New Orleans lawyer who is a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in the November 8, 2016 primary election for the seat being vacated by the two-term Republican Senator, David Vitter.

Earlier, Fayard attracted statewide attention as a candidate for lieutenant governor in the 2010 election. In the runoff election on November 2, 2010, Fayard lost to Dardenne with 43% of the vote (540,649 votes) after only a three and a half month campaign.

Her father, Calvin Cifford Fayard, Jr. (born 1944), is a plaintiff's lawyer with an office in Denham Springs in Livingston Parish. The family is wealthy and has financially supported national and local political figures.[1][2] Fayard's mother is the former Cynthia Felder, who is divorced from Fayard's father. Mrs. Fayard resides in Springfield, Louisiana. The family is eponymous of Fayard Hall on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. On November 2, 2010, Fayard lost the election to Jay Dardenne, who in January 2016 became the commissioner of administration under newly-elected Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.

Background

Fayard grew up in Denham Springs. She was the valedictorian of the Class of 1996 in nearby Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge. She participated in Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. She received a baccalaureate degree from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire in 2000 and a juris doctor from the University of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor in 2005. She is licensed to practice law in Louisiana and New York State. She served as a congressional page and interned in the White House under President Bill Clinton and then worked for Goldman Sachs and Williams & Connolly before returning to Louisiana as a law clerk for Stanwood R. Duval Jr., a judge for the Federal Eastern District of Louisiana. She has served on the law faculty of Loyola University New Orleans and as of 2010 is in private practice. She has been actively involved in Louisiana Appleseed,[3] Federal Bar Association, Junior League of New Orleans, and Delta Delta Delta.[4]

In a September 2010 interview with Action News 17's Ken Benitez, Fayard claimed to have begun in politics with the elements of the Democratic Party associated with Senators J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., and John Breaux and United States Representative Billy Tauzin, a Democrat-turned-Republican.[5]

In 2015, Fayard worked alongside her brother Trey Fayard to launch Glo Airlines, a regional airline based at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans (MSY) with daily flights Shreveport, Little Rock, Memphis and Dustin, FL. Glo Airlines has created 40 new jobs.

Fayard is Roman Catholic. She is a member of Saint Thomas Catholic Church in Springfield, Louisiana. In New Orleans, she attends Most Holy Name of Jesus Church adjacent to the campus of Loyola University.[6]

2010 political campaign

On October 2, in a field of eight candidates, Fayard (24 percent) ran ahead of Republican Sammy Kershaw (19 percent) for second place behind Dardenne (28 percent). Dardenne and Fayard then met in the November 2 general election. Fayard received 43% of the vote (540,000 votes) in the November 2nd runoff. With such a strong showing in her first statewide race, she was considered a rising star among Democratic politicians.[7] Kershaw and Saint Tammany Parish president Kevin Davis (an eliminated Republican candidate who drew 8 percent of the vote) endorsed fellow Republican Dardenne while Fayard gained the endorsement of eliminated candidate and fellow Democrat State Senator Butch Gautreaux (4 percent).[8]

Fayard's party on the evening of October 2 was attended by a number of Republicans intent on seeing the young and previously unknown Democrat.[9]

In the showdown against Dardenne, the Republican sought to associate Fayard with President Obama, same-sex marriage, and opposition to the death penalty. Fayard countered that Dardenne represented "the same old crowd" of Louisiana politicians.[10]

Dardenne and Fayard appeared on the October 15 Louisiana: The State We're In magazine televised by Louisiana Public Broadcasting and on an October 22 forum sponsored by the Baton Rouge League of Women Voters.[11]

On October 4, Southeastern Louisiana University political scientist Michael Kurt Corbello commented on Fayard's achieving 24 percent as a first-time candidate in a field of eight aspirants:

She has really got to be the surprise in all of this.... She has made this a real race.... This is going to be a very interesting, competitive race.[12]

Despite being outspent by the Louisiana Democratic Party while the Republican Party remained financially uncommitted,[13][14] Dardenne won the 2010 November 2 election and was sworn into office on November 22. The chief deputy secretary of state. Tom Schedler, succeeded Dardenne as secretary of state[15] and still holds the position.

Political future 2011-2015

On 2010 October 22, Fayard's name surfaced on talk-radio program Think Tank with Garland Robinette, as a potential competitor for then Governor Bobby Jindal in his presumed 2011 reelection campaign. The discussants cited Jindal's high approval ratings and already in-the-bank $7 million campaign fund as unapproachable assets for Democrats other than Fayard.[16] The speculation continued after the election, with Fayard remaining uncommitted.[17]

This article is about the political figure in Louisiana. For the publishing house in France, see Fayard. For Fayard Hall at Southeastern Louisiana University, see Southeastern Louisiana University#History.

Despite some initial suggestions that she might run for Louisiana Secretary of State in 2011, she ultimately declined to run.[18]

Slanderous claims were alleged against Fayard while she was considering a possible 2011 gubernatorial bid to unseat Bobby Jindal for governor of Louisiana. The Republican Party unsuccessfully attempted to get Fayard to switch parties, then launched a campaign against her claiming campaign funding improprieties. Fayard was never charged and attempts to do so were struck down twice by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Ultimately, she decided not to run for office. Fayard subsequently focussed on building a successful law practice helping Louisianans recover from the devastating effects of the BP oil spill. She also helped launch Glo Airlines with her brother, Trey Fayard.

Caroline Fayard was inducted into the New Leaders Council. She has been an outspoken advocate for youth and young adults to get active in politics.

Fayard has remained active in local organizations in southeastern Louisiana.

U.S. Senate 2016

In early February 2016, Fayard officially declared her candidacy for Senate, the first Democrat to announce for the position.[19]

In her Senate campaign, Fayard will face a handful of Republican candidates, including U.S. Representatives Charles Boustany of Lafayette and John C. Fleming of Minden. Democrat-turned-Republican, State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy, is making his third attempt at the office, having run the first time as a Democrat. Rob Maness of Madisonville, a favorite of the Tea Party movement, is running too, having been the third-place candidate in the 2014 Senate race. Independent Troy Hebert, a former state legislator, is in the race. Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, a Democrat and former state senator, is reportedly contemplating a Senate bid.

Fayard is pro-business, pro-life, pro-gun. She is a fiscal conservative who wants to improve the economic conditions of the middle class and is a strong defender of the US military and veterans, with a strong attachment to national security issues. Her campaign is headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA.

Notes

  1. ↑ Maginnis, John (2010-10-13). "A historic race for lieutenant governor". New Orleans Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. B7. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
  2. ↑ Grace, Stephanie (2010-10-19). "Partisan divide comes late to Louisiana". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. B5. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  3. ↑ Louisiana Appleseed Board of Directors (accessed 2010-10-21).
  4. ↑ Fayard campaign site (accessed 2010 October 4). Other sources: Caroline Fayard's Facebook (accessed 2010 October 4), Fayard on Classmates (accessed 2010 October 4), Fayard on VoteSmart (accessed 2010 October 4).
  5. ↑ Fayard, Caroline; Benitez, Ken (2010-09-17). "Caroline Fayard (interview)". Hammond, Louisiana: Action News Channel 17 (Florida Parishes Television). Retrieved 2010-10-04. Originally a Democrat, Tauzin switched to the Republicans in 1995. He had been a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Ed (2010-10-18). "The candidates: Lieutenant governor". Times-Picayune (Metro Edition). p. A4.
  7. ↑ Deslatte, Melinda (2010-10-02). "Lieutenant governor's race heads to a runoff". Shreveport Times. Retrieved 2010-10-04. Election results are available via the Louisiana Secretary of State site.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Ed (2010-10-08). "Dardenne, Fayard garner ex-rivals' endorsements: Two left in race for lieutenant governor". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. A3. Retrieved 2010-10-08.;Anderson, Ed (2010-10-09). "Davis endorses his GOP ex-rival: Dardenne vying for lieutenant governor". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. A4. Retrieved 2010-10-09. Results of the primary election — in the cases of Kershaw, Gautreaux, and Davis — were localized. Kershaw's appeal was prevailingly in his home base of Acadiana and in rural areas where country music is popular. Gautreaux's vote was largely in a radius around Morgan City. Davis won a strong plurality, 47 percent, in his home of St. Tammany Parish. Landry, Rhonda. (2010 October). Northshore Conifer. pp. 1, 22 (not online).
  9. ↑ Tidmore, Christopher (2010-10-11). "Louisiana Lt. Governor's Race: Dardenne Vs. Fayard Is Gender, Party, Region Showdown". BayouBuzz News. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Ed; Moller, Jan (2010-10-20). "Dueling ads air in lieutenant governor race". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. A3. Retrieved 2010-10-20. See also Anderson, Ed (2010-10-18). "Race for state's No. 2 office heats up: Dardenne, Fayard start trading barbs". Times-Picayune (Metro Edition). pp. A1, A4.
  11. ↑ "Forums to feature race between Dardenne, Fayard". Times-Picayune (Metro Edition). 2010-10-10. p. A6. Retrieved 2010-10-10. The Louisiana Public Broadcasting forum, actually videotaped on October 8, was announced by Bob Neese; the League of Women Voters spokeswoman was Jean Armstrong.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Ed (2010-10-04). "Lieutenant governor race is down to two: Jay Dardenne and Caroline Fayard". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. A2. Retrieved 2010-10-04. A similar comment came from Rolfe H. McCollister, Jr., who, while endorsing Dardenne on the basis of partisan affinities, still attested that "Caroline Fayard has an impressive résumé and made a strong showing for someone in her first race by making the runoff." McCollister, Rolfe (2010-10-19). "Making choices on Nov. 2". Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. p. 6. Retrieved 2010-10-26. For a report on Fayard on the campaign trail see McCormick, Bret H. (2010-10-22). "Melancon, Fayard campaign in Alexandria". Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana). Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  13. ↑ Ultimately the Louisiana Democratic Party spent $770,000 on Fayard's campaign, including $260,000 donated to the party by members of the Fayard family.
  14. ↑ "Demos sank $770,000 into Fayard campaign: It accounted for 70 percent of spending". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). 2010-12-15. p. A2. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
  15. ↑ Anderson, Ed (2010-11-04). "Dardenne will explore tightening belt at new office: Positions could be merged, slashed". Times-Picayune (Saint Tammany Edition). p. A3. Retrieved 2010-11-06. Dardenne's elevation to lieutenant governor was delayed formally and officially to 2010 November 22 to obviate a statutory requirement to hold a special election to fill the position of secretary of state. Thus, on November 22, Schedler became secretary of state.
  16. ↑ 10 "Think Tank" with Garland Robinette. The statements about Fayard occurred at 11:00 AM CDT; the program originated from New Orleans WWL Radio 870 AM and its simulcast FM equivalent WWL Radio 105.3 FM.
  17. ↑ Moller, Jan (2010-12-19). "Dems look for entrant to face Jindal: Despite slip in polls, he's still formidable". Times-Picayune (Metro Edition). pp. A1, A16. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
  18. ↑ "Democrats' 'rock star,' Caroline Fayard, sits this one out". Times-Picayune. 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  19. ↑ Crisp, Elizabeth (February 4, 2016). "Democrat Caroline Fayard Launches U.S. Senate Bid". The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
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