John Alario

John Alario
Louisiana State Representative from District 83 (Jefferson Parish)
In office 1972–2008
Preceded by	Ar-large membership
Succeeded by	Robert E. Billiot
Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives
In office 1984–1988
Preceded by	John Hainkel
Succeeded by	Jimmy Dimos
In office 1992–1996
Preceded by	Jimmy Dimos
Succeeded by	Hunt Downer
Louisiana State Senator from District 8 (Jefferson Parish)
Incumbent
Assumed office 2008
Preceded by	Chris Ullo
President of the Louisiana Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office 2012
Preceded by	Joel Chaisson
Personal details
Born	John A. Alario, Jr. (1943-09-15) September 15, 1943
Political party	Democratic-turned-Republican
Spouse(s)	Alba Williamson Alario
Children	John W. "Johnny" Alario Christopher Brian Alario Kevin George Alario
Residence	Westwego, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, USA
Alma mater	West Jefferson High School (Louisiana) Southeastern Louisiana University
Occupation	Businessman
Religion	Roman Catholic

John A. Alario, Jr. (born September 15, 1943), is an American businessman from Westwego in Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs, who is the dean of the Louisiana State Legislature, having served consecutively in the law-making body since 1972. He was the District 83 member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2008. During this period, he served two four-year stints as Speaker of the House—from 1984 to 1988 and 1992 to 1996, the third and fourth terms of his close ally, former Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. Term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket primary on October 20, 2007, Alario, then a Democrat, was instead elected to his first term in District 8 in the Louisiana State Senate.

Background

Alario is the son of John Alario, Sr. (1924–1985). Alario graduated in 1961 from West Jefferson High School in Harvey in Jefferson Parish. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965 from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish. He was subsequently named an "Outstanding Alumnus" of both institutions. Alario attended the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Massachusetts. He was a schoolteacher from 1965 to 1966 and an accountant from 1966 to 1972, at which time he launched an income tax service in Westwego. He is a member of the professional organization, the National Society of Public Accountants. Alario was the chairman of the Louisiana Exposition Authority, which arranged the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans. In 1973, freshman Representative Alario was elected as a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, whose members included a future governor, Buddy Roemer, and a subsequent Louisiana secretary of state and insurance commissioner, James H. "Jim" Brown. From 1968 to 1972, Alario served on the Jefferson Parish Democratic Executive Committee. He was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, which nominated the George S. McGovern and R. Sargent Shriver ticket, which fared particularly weak in Louisiana.

Alario is Roman Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus men's organization. He is married to the former Alba "Ree" Williamson. The couple has three sons, John W. "Johnny" Alario (born c. 1966), Christopher Brian Alario (born c. 1972), and Kevin George Alario (b. 1976).

House Speaker

As the House Speaker, Alario was described by a colleague, Ron Gomez of Lafayette, as "a master of adding just the right degree of levity to defuse almost any potentially explosive situation." In 1986, Alario removed Representative Kevin P. Reilly, Sr., of Baton Rouge from the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee after thirteen years of service when Reilly, an unsuccessful candidate for state treasurer the following year, criticized Governor Edwards.

With the election of Buddy Roemer as governor, Alario was replaced as Speaker by Jimmy N. Dimos of Monroe. Ron Gomez explained that Alario and Senate President Sammy Nunez of Chalmette nevertheless attempted to maintain their leadership posts. He explained: "Alario immediately had the backing of organized labor, the black caucus, many member from the New Orleans and Jefferson Parish delegations and a healthy number of other House members whom he had helped and to whom he had ingratiated himself over the years." However, in Louisiana, the governor is rarely prevented from selecting his own legislative leaders, regardless of party or factional considerations. Nunez, meanwhile, was succeeded by Allen Bares of Lafayette.

As a House member, Alario was chairman at different times of the Appropriations and Ways and Means committees. He last faced opposition for his House seat in the 1995 primary, when he secured 70.5 percent of the ballots over a fellow Democrat and two Republican candidates. He ran without opposition in the House races of 1987, 1991, 1999, and 2003.

Election to the State Senate

Alario won the state Senate seat in 2007 over the Republican candidate, businessman John K. Roberts, 16,939 (63.4 percent) to 9,783 (36.6 percent). Though Roberts had the support of state GOP chairman Roger F. Villere, Jr., of Jefferson Parish, voters heavily supported Alario. A Louisiana Republican Party flyer charged Alario with corruption:

If you care at all about ending corruption in our state then we need your help! The Republican Party is launching a massive effort to remove one of the most corrupt politicians our state has ever seen. . . John Alario. For more than thirty years, he has controlled the mechanics of our state government with a liberal, iron-fist. And now term limits have forced him out of the House and he running for a State Senate seat.

In 2009, Senator Alario voted to permit restaurants to sell alcoholic beverages and assess cover charges for live entertainment. He supported the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry 53 percent of the time.

State Senate presidency

On October 25, 2011, Governor Bobby Jindal tapped Alario, whom the Republican Party had virgorouly opposed in the 2007 senatorial campaign, as his choice for the presidency of the State Senate, effective January 2012. If approved by his thirty-eight colleagues, Alario will replace the term-limited Senate president Joel Chaisson, a Democrat from Destrehan in St. Charles Parish. Alario would also become only the second person in Louisiana and United States history to have been the presiding officer of both the state House and the state Senate of their legislature since the death in 2005 of Republican Senator John Hainkel of New Orleans. Four state Senate seats will not be determined until the November 19, 2011, general election. Jindal claimed to have commitments from twenty of the thirty-nine senators to support Alario.

Ultimately, only one of the thirty-nine senators, freshman Republican Barrow Peacock of Shreveport, voted against the Alario selection. Jindal had supported Peacock's Republican rival, term-limited State Representative Jane H. Smith of Bossier City, in the general election for the District 37 seat held on November 19, 2011.

Honors

In 1998, Alario received the "Golden Ambassador" award from his alma mater, Southeastern Louisiana University. He was nominated for the honor by then State Representative Henry "Tank" Powell, a Ponchatoula Republican who is also an alumnus of the institution. At the time, Powell said that the then Democrat Alario "cares about people more than he does about politics. We [then] represent different parties, yet John is willing to work together if it benefits Louisiana. I respect him and so does every member of the legislature. He is a statesman."

Alario is a past winner of the "Hale Boggs Outstanding and Dedicated Service to Community Award", named for the late Democratic House Majority Whip from New Orleans, Hale Boggs. Alario received the Chamber of Commerce "Business Champion Award". He was named a "Special Olympics Champion" in 2008. He has been honored by the Association for Retarded Citizens, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, and the Louisiana State Troopers Association. He has also been honored by the Jefferson Parish Marine Fisheries Association for his support of the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry. Even the conservative interest group, the Louisiana Family Forum, gave him its 2009 "Family Advocate Award". Alario voted with the Family Forum 78 percent of the time in the 2009 legislative session.

Alario was inducted in 2003 into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.

The John A. Alario, Sr., Event Center in Westwego is named in honor of Alario's father because Louisiana does not permit public facilities to be named for living people. Similarly, the office complex Alario Hall at the Capitol is named for Alario, Sr. The structure is part of the Bayou Segnette Sports Complex, located near Bayou Segnette State Park. The New Orleans Hornets practice there.

References

Louisiana Senate
Preceded by Chris Ullo	Louisiana State Senator from District 8 (Jefferson Parish) John A. Alario, Jr. 2008–	Succeeded by Incumbent
Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by At-large membership	Louisiana State Representative from District 83 (Jefferson Parish) John A. Alario, Jr. 1972–2008	Succeeded by Robert E. Billiot
Political offices
Preceded by John Hainkel	Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives John A. Alario, Jr. 1984–1988	Succeeded by Jimmy Dimos
Preceded by Jimmy Dimos	Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives John A. Alario, Jr. 1992–1996	Succeeded by Hunt Downer
Preceded by Joel Chaisson	President of the Louisiana State Senate John A. Alario, Jr. 2012–	Succeeded by Incumbent