Julia Letlow
Julie Letlow | |
---|---|
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 5th district | |
Assuming office TBD | |
Succeeding | Luke Letlow (elect) |
Personal details | |
Born | Julia Janelle Barnhill March 16, 1981 Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Education | University of Louisiana at Monroe (BA, MA) University of South Florida (PhD) |
Julia Barnhill Letlow (née Barnhill; born March 16, 1981) is an American politician and academic administrator. She is the representative-elect of Louisiana's 5th congressional district.[1]
Early life and education
Barnhill was born on March 16, 1981 in Monroe, Louisiana, she graduated from Ouachita Christian High School.[2] She earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in speech communications from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in communications from the University of South Florida in 2012. Her doctoral advisor was Jane Jorgenson. Barnhill's dissertation in 2011 was titled, Giving Meaning to Grief: the Role of Rituals and Stories in Coping with Sudden Family Loss.[3] She dedicated it to her deceased brother, Jeremy.[3]
Career
She worked as a director of education and patient safety for Tulane University School of Medicine.[4] In 2018, she was named director of external affairs and strategic communications for the University of Louisiana at Monroe.[5] In 2020, she was a finalist for the presidency of ULM.[6]
Letlow's husband, Luke Letlow, was elected to the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 5th congressional district in the 2020 elections, but died of complications from COVID-19 infection in December 2020, prior to taking office.[7] Julia decided to run in the special election for the vacant seat in January 2021.[8] During her campaign, Letlow secured a number of high-profile endorsements, including one from former President Donald Trump.[9] By the end of February, Letlow had raised $683,000, the highest amount of money raised by any candidate in the race.[10]
Personal life
She met Luke Letlow in high school and they married in 2013.[11] They had two children.[12]
References
- ^ Seitz-Wald, Alex (March 20, 2021). "Republican Julia Letlow wins special congressional election in Louisiana, NBC News projects". NBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- ^ Bridges, Tyler (March 15, 2021). "Julia Letlow, picking up torch from her late husband, is favored to win congressional race". The Advocate. Georges Media. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
- ^ a b Barnhill, Julia Janelle (2011). Giving Meaning to Grief: the Role of Rituals and Stories in Coping with Sudden Family Loss (Ph.D. thesis). University of South Florida. OCLC 778367257.
- ^ "Engagements - Luke Letlow and Julia Barnhill". Newspapers.com. April 3, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Letlow named director of external affairs and strategic communications at ULM". Thenewsstar.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Seven candidates in the running for ULM president". Thenewsstar.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Luke Letlow's family talks about the congressman-elect's COVID death". Thenewsstar.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Julia Letlow, widow of U.S. Rep-elect Luke Letlow, to run for Congress". Thenewsstar.com. December 30, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ Jacobs, Emily (March 11, 2021). "Trump endorses widow of Rep.-elect Luke Letlow for Louisiana House seat". New York Post. News Corp. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
- ^ Pathe,, Simone (March 19, 2021). "Running to replace husband who died from Covid-19, Julia Letlow hopes to bring her own experience to Congress". CNN. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Family obituary for Louisiana Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, who died from COVID complications". The News-Star. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
- ^ Sentell, Will. "Luke Letlow's widow, Julia, files for his U.S. House seat after his death from coronavirus". The Advocate. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
External links
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Julia Letlow at IMDb
- 1981 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American politicians
- 21st-century American women politicians
- Louisiana Republicans
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
- Politicians from Monroe, Louisiana
- University of Louisiana at Monroe alumni
- University of South Florida alumni
- Women in Louisiana politics
- American academic administrators
- Women academic administrators