Sam Theriot

Background

His mother was the former Helen Roberts.

Education

He subsequently returned to college and in 1986 completed teacher certification and a master"s degree in educational administration.

Career

He represented District 47 in the House from 1979 until 1996. Theriot is one of three children of Roy R. Theriot, the mayor of Abbeville from 1956 to 1960, who then became the Louisiana state comptroller, a position that he filled until his death in 1973. He has two siblings, Barbara Ellen Horaist (born 1949) and Roy Theriot, Junior.

(born 1952).

Theriot graduates in 1972 from Abbeville High School and in 1976 received a bachelor"s degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He taught school for several years in Vermilion Parish. He served briefly on the Abbeville City Council in 1978.

In 1998, the Louisiana Fair/Festival Association inducted him into its hall of fame.

He also received high rankings as a legislator from the teacher lobbying organizations. In 1991, Representative Theriot co-sponsored with State Senator Allen Bares of Lafayette a measure which would have outlawed most abortions in Louisiana, including impregnations through incest.

The legislature approved the bill, but it was vetoed by Governor Buddy Roemer on the grounds that it went beyond the scope of the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Such feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women, subsequently headed by the Louisiana native Kim Gandy, successfully targeted Bares and a pro-life House member, Democrat Carl Newton Gunter, Junior., of Rapides Parish, for defeat.

Theriot, however, survived the 1991 election without opposition In the 1987 primary he had defeated fellow Democrat Warren J. Simon by a two-to-one margin.

In 1995, Theriot did not seek reelection to the House in the nonpartisan blanket primary. Instead he ran successfully for Vermilion Parish clerk of court. In the 1999 primary, Theriot trailed with 23.8 percent of the ballots cast and decided not to contest the general election with Todd Dore, this time the leading candidate in the field, who finished with 43 percent of the vote.

Theriot"s former wife, Cynthia "Cindy" Theriot, a Democrat, also ran for clerk and polled 13.4 percent, more than half of his vote total.

Like Theriot, Dore served only one term as clerk, for he was narrowly unseated in the 2003 election.

Membership

A Roman Catholic, Theriot is a member of the men"s organization, the Knights of Columbus.

Connections

opponent:

Vermilion High

teacher:

Todd A. Dore