la_sen_BREAUX
SEN. JOHN BREAUX
Age: 54 Born: March 1, 1944 in Crowley, Louisiana Education: Louisiana State University, J.D. (1967); University of Southwester Louisiana, B.A. (1964) Military: None Family: Married - Lois; 4 children Hometown: Lafayette, Louisiana Religion: Catholic Career: U.S. Senator (1986-present); U.S. House of Representatives (1972-87); Staff, Rep. Edwin Edwards (1968-72); practicing attorney (1967-68) |
· Louisiana's Cajun politics shaped John Breaux's political career. After graduating from law school and practicing for one year, Breaux went to work for Rep. Edwin Edwards (D-LA) as a Legislative Assistant. When Edwards was elected Governor in 1972, his protégé Breaux ran for his seat and won.
· Aside from his initial election to the Senate 1986 by 53%, Breaux has been re-elected to his House and Senate seats carrying at least 79% of the vote or winning the seat outright in the open primary.
· Breaux established himself early on as a moderate, looking to build coalitions with members across the aisle. He's known to strike deals on the tennis court, as well as at the office. As leaders in the Democratic Leadership Council, he and then-Governor Bill Clinton led the movement to make their party more centrist.
· Despite their personal friendship, Breaux has been critical of Clinton - accusing him of moving too far to the left. He opposed his health care plan and the BTU tax proposal that eventually failed.
· Breaux's bi-partisan coalition-building experience has been very helpful in the Republican-led Congress; he co-sponsored the Breaux-Chafee alternative budget with fewer medicare cuts than the Republican Plan. The plan failed by only seven votes.
· A Cajun - he is a populist on economics yet conservative on social issues. He ha used his Commerce and Science cmte. seats to ensure wetland preservation. Breaux is the ranking Democrat on the Special Committee on Aging and Subcommittee on Social Security.
· His independent streak was proven with his vote in favor of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. And his rating with the American Conservative Union and liberal Americans for Democratic Action confirm this, giving him seventeen points and fifty-five points out of one-hundred, respectively.