Background
Rita Mae LeBlanc is the daughter of Russell LeBlanc and Renee Benson, the daughter of Tom Benson and his first wife Shirley.
Rita Mae LeBlanc is the daughter of Russell LeBlanc and Renee Benson, the daughter of Tom Benson and his first wife Shirley.
Born in Houma, Louisiana when her family lived in nearby Cut Office, she was raised on a ranch near Johnson City, Texas, where she attended Lyndon B. Johnson High School before receiving a bachelor of science degree in agribusiness at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University in 2001.
She was Vice Chairman of the Board of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. She has a brother, Ryan LeBlanc. LeBlanc began interning for the Saints and in various league offices while still in high school, and went to work for the Saints after college.
In 2003, she took over management of the New Orleans VooDoo, the Arena Football League team also owned by Benson, and was named the indoor league"s top executive.
(The VooDoo ceased operations in 2008) In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she began to take on a more public role and greater responsibilities in the management of the Saints. She chairs the NFL Employee Benefits Committee, and was previously identified as Tom Benson"s intended successor as principal owner of the team
LeBlanc is on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service. In 2012, Tom Benson suspended LeBlanc from her jobs on account of her "sense of entitlement."
lieutenant was announced on January 21st, 2015, by current Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson that Rita Benson Leblanc was no longer in consideration for future ownership of either franchise.
She then sued him for control of his companies, claiming he is "incompetent." Tom Benson calls the lawsuit meritless and false.