Jesse Guidry

Background

Guidry was the son of Thomas D. Guidry, Senior (1895-1965), and the former Therese Angelle (1893-1963).

Career

Not to be confused with Dick Guidry, another Louisiana state representative

Coincidentally, eight years later, Guidry himself succeeded Angelle as LDWF secretary in the single term of Republican Governor David C. Treen. Guidry"s House tenure had also spilled over into the first year of the Treen administration. While he was LDWF secretary, Guidry was sued by Voison"s Oyster House, Incorporated., of Houma in Terrebonne Parish on grounds that Guidry had denied the company oyster leases.

The trial court ordered summary judgment on grounds that Guidry was exempt from suit in federal court under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution (1791), which requires that suits filed against states be heard in state courts.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans affirmed the Eleventh Amendment in 1986 and ordered dismissal of Voison"s suit, not on the merits, but on the lack of proper jurisdiction. When Edwards returned to the governorship in 1984 after having unseated Treen, Angelle succeeded Guidry for a third term as the LDWF secretary.

Like Guidry, Angelle had ties to Cecilia. In 1988, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters in the capital city of Baton Rouge was named in Guidry"s honor.

Achievements

• Guidry won a special election in 1973 to succeed Representative J. Burton Angelle, who became the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in the first two Edwards administrations.