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Rick Gallot

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Richard J. Gallot, Jr.
10th President of Grambling State University
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 1, 2016
Preceded byWillie Larkin
Member of the Louisiana Senate
from the 29th district
In office
January 9, 2012 – January 2016
Preceded byJoe McPherson
Succeeded byJay Luneau
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from the 11th district
In office
2000–2012
Preceded byPinkie C. Wilkerson
Succeeded byPatrick Jefferson
Personal details
BornApril 1966
Ruston, Lincoln Parish
Louisianan, USA
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseChristy Cox Gallot
ChildrenFour children
Residence(s)Grambling, Louisiana
Alma materGrambling State University
Southern University Law Center
ProfessionAttorney

Richard Joseph Gallot, Jr., known as Rick Gallot (born April 1966),[1] is the current president of Grambling State University[2] and was a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 29, which encompasses the African-American portions of seven parishes. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011, Gallot received 12,992 votes (50.3 percent). Trailing was the Republican Tony "Bo" Vets, with 7,579 votes (29.3 percent) and Democrat Mary L. Wardsworth, with 5,271 votes (20.4 percent).[3]

Gallot, an African American born in Ruston, graduated from the historically black Grambling State University in Grambling and the Southern University Law Center of Baton Rouge. He is an inductee of the Southern Law Hall of Fame.[4] In 2012, he succeeded the term-limited white Democratic Senator Joe McPherson of Woodworth in southern Rapides Parish, who had represented a different configuration of the district.[3]

From 2000 to 2012, Gallot held the District 11 seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. That district was established after the 1990 U.S. census to guarantee a black voter majority. Gallot won the position after the popular incumbent Pinkie C. Wilkerson of Grambling in western Lincoln Parish was killed on August 1, 2000, in a six-vehicle accident on Interstate 20 in Bossier City. At the time of her death, Wilkerson, committed to the Gore/Lieberman ticket, had been scheduled two weeks thereafter as a delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.

In the 2007 primary, Gallot handily defeated the sister of Pinkie Wilkerson to win his third term in the legislative chamber.

Despite a generally liberal voting record, in 2014 Gallot was one of only two Democrats in the State Senate to vote against reforming Louisiana's payday lending laws, having sided with the payday lending industry against a grassroots campaign that supported reform.[5] He was rated 43 percent in 2014 by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. Gallot voted 100 percent with the Louisiana Right to Life Committee in 2009 and 2014 but 67 percent in 2013 and 45 percent in 2008.[6]

Gallot did not seek reelection in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015. Joshua Joy Dara, Sr. (born March 1959), a Republican[7] Baptist minister and lawyer from Pineville, and Alexandria attorney Jay Luneau, a Democrat, ran to succeed Gallot.[8] Luneau prevailed with 59 percent of the ballots cast.

In April 2016, Gallot began serving on the Board of Directors of Cleco Corporation, an electric utility company based in Pineville, Louisiana. [9]

Gallot was selected as president of Grambling State University and to begin his tenure, donated $20,000 to the institution noting, "I wouldn't ask anyone to do what I wouldn't do myself."[10]

Gallot is a member of the Gamma Psi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

References

  1. ^ "Richard Gallot, April 1966". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  2. ^ "Grambling State University - Gallot Named Grambling State University President | News". www.gram.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  3. ^ a b "Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 2011". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  4. ^ "Richard Gallot, Jr. Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  5. ^ "Votes on SB 84". legis.la.gov. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  6. ^ "Richard Gallot, Jr.'s Ratings and Endorsements". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  7. ^ "Joshua Dara, March 1959". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  8. ^ Richard P. Sharkey (September 9, 2015). "Qualifying Update". The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved September 10, 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Cleco Board and Executive officers - Cleco". www.cleco.com. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  10. ^ "Rick Gallot named new Grambling president". Retrieved 2016-07-27.
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