Dennis Cousin
Dennis Cousin (Democratic Party) is a member of the St. Tammany Parish School Board in Louisiana, representing District 14. He assumed office in 2015. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Cousin (Democratic Party) won re-election to the St. Tammany Parish School Board to represent District 14 in Louisiana outright in the primary on November 8, 2022, after the primary and general election were canceled.
Biography
Cousin was born in Slidell, La., and graduated from St. Tammany High School. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in administration from Southern University, as well as a master's plus 30 credits from the University of Southern Mississippi and Southeastern Louisiana University.[1]
He worked in the district as a teacher, coach and supervisor of student welfare for a total of more than 36 years. In 2003, he became the athletic and recreation director for Xavier University until his retirement.[2]
Cousin's is married and has three children. He is a member of St. Genevieve Church, and he serves on the church's finance committee, Knights of Columbus, fitness committee and as a Eucharistic minister.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, Louisiana, elections (2022)
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Dennis Cousin (D) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
2018
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Dennis Cousin (D) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
2014
Two seats on the St. Tammany Parish Board of Education were up for special election in 2015, following the deaths of two sitting board members.
The District 14 seat was up for special election on March 28, 2015. The seat became vacant after incumbent Ray Anthony Alfred (D) died on September 17, 2014, at the age of 60 shortly after his automatic re-election in his uncontested 2014 election bid.[3] The vacancy on the school board created by his death was filled by a board appointment. Alfred's father, Anthony Alfred, was elected by the board to fill the vacancy in October 2014.[4]
Anthony Alfred did not file to run for the remainder of his son's unexpired term. Two candidates, Dennis "Coach" Cousin (D) and John Murchison (I) filed for the race on February 4, 2015. Cousin won the open seat, maintaining the Democratic presence on the board.
The District 12 seat was scheduled for election on October 24, 2015, following the death of incumbent James "Ronnie" Panks Sr. (R) on January 14, 2015. Panks had also won re-election in an uncontested race in the 2014 election.[5]
Richard Hursey (R) was appointed on February 2, 2015, by the remaining board members to temporarily fill the vacancy created by Panks's death until the special election was held.[6] However, the District 12 special election was canceled as Hursey was the only candidate to file for the race.
Results
| St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, District 14 Special Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Dennis "Coach" Cousin |
65.6% | 550 | |
| Independent | John Murchison | 34.4% | 288 | |
| Total Votes | 838 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed April 3, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Cousin reported $166.98 in-kind and $2,463.93 monetary contributions for a total of $2,630.91 in contributions and $2,463.93 in expenditures to the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, which left his campaign with no cash on hand in the election. He was the sole contributor of monetary contributions to his campaign.[7]
Endorsements
Cousin was endorsed by the St. Tammany Democratic Parish Executive Committee.[8]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dennis Cousin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2015
Cousin told The Times-Picayune in an article covering the candidate filings for the race, "I want to see that we give every student the right to a quality education."[2]
In a candidate profile by the news outlet, Cousins provided this platform:
| “ |
|
” |
| —Dennis "Coach" Cousin (2015)[1] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany School Board, 14th District: Meet the candidates," March 10, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Times-Picayune, "Dennis Cousin, John Murchison to vie for open St. Tammany School Board post in March 28 election," February 6, 2015
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany Parish School Board member Ray Alfred dies," September 17, 2014
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "St. Tammany School Board taps familiar candidate to fill open seat," October 3, 2014
- ↑ The Advocate, "Ronnie Panks, longest-serving St. Tammany School Board member, dies at 69," February 5, 2015
- ↑ BayouBuzz.com, "St. Tammany School Board appoints Richard Hursey to open seat," February 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Louisiana Campaign Finance Reports," accessed April 24, 2015
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Dennis Cousin endorsed by Democratic committee in St. Tammany School Board race," March 10, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
