Background
He attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge but dropped out after his father was killed in a farm accident.
He attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge but dropped out after his father was killed in a farm accident.
Originally from Cameron Parish, Hensgens graduated from Vermilion Catholic High School in Abbeville, the parish seat of Vermilion Parish. He thereafter received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Hensgens is also a former president of the Gueydan Chamber of Commerce. Hensgens is Roman Catholic. Hensgens is the proud grandfather of four granddaughters.
Number Democrat filed for the seat though the district had cast two thirds of its votes in 2003 for the successful Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Lafayette.
In his statement of candidacy, Hensgens said that Louisiana is "struggling to pay the bills for promises that should have never been made.. somewhere along the line our promise of a safety Netto has been transformed into a hammock and that is not sustainable.
Government, like you and me, needs to live within its means."
Hensgens defeated fellow Republican Linda A. Hardee (born January 20, 1948), an educator and a former mayor of Kaplan in Vermilion Parish, who carried the endorsement of the Louisiana Association of Educators. Hensgens narrowly prevailed, 3,477 (5235 percent) to 3,165 (4765 percent).
He narrowly lost his home parish.
His victory came from a 2-1 margin in the thirteen precincts in Cameron Parish. Hensgens, however, carried the backing of the Tea Party of Louisiana. Hensgens balanced the town budget in Gueydan by cutting spending, rather than raising taxes, and he reduced his own salary to give the police officers a raise.
Both candidates described themselves as "pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, family-oriented, and fiscally-responsible."
This was the first time in Louisiana history in which a state senator swore in a representative.
Prior to his election to the House, Hensgens, as a Democrat, served nearly four years as the mayor of Gueydan, a town near Abbeville. Acting Mayor David Dupuis succeeded Hengens and served until the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011.
Democratic Party, Republican Party.
Through his victory in a special election held on April 30, 2011, Hensgens became the 55th member of his party to serve in the 105-member Louisiana House.