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Duke Lowrie
Michael "Duke" Lowrie was a 2017 Republican special election candidate for District 8 of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He ran unsuccessfully for the same seat in 2011.
Biography
Lowrie owns and operates a crawfish farm and is co-owner of Acadiana Mortgage. He has previously been a Captain in the Bossier City Fire Department, a firefighter with Willis Knighton's Air Rescue, and a paramedic with the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office.[1]
Elections
2017
A special election for the position of Louisiana House of Representatives District 8 was called for March 25, 2017. The state scheduled a general election for April 29, 2017, if necessary.[2]
Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% 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.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
The seat became vacant following Mike Johnson's (R) election to the U.S. House.
Raymond Crews (R) and Robbie Gatti Jr. (R) advanced past Patrick Harrington (R) and Michael "Duke" Lowrie (R) in the special election on March 25, 2017. Crews defeated Gatti in the runoff election on April 29, 2017.[3][4][5]
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 8, Special Election Runoff, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Raymond Crews |
64.1% | 3,845 | |
| Republican | Robbie Gatti Jr. | 35.9% | 2,150 | |
| Total Votes | 5,995 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State | ||||
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 8, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Raymond Crews (advanced to runoff) |
41.3% | 2,144 | |
| Republican | Robbie Gatti Jr. (advanced to runoff) |
37.5% | 1,947 | |
| Republican | Duke Lowrie | 15.5% | 806 | |
| Republican | Patrick Harrington | 5.7% | 298 | |
| Total Votes | 5,195 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State | ||||
2011
Lowrie ran in the 2011 election for Louisiana House of Representatives District 8. He lost to Jeff Thompson in the primary election on October 22, 2011. Because Louisiana uses a blanket primary system, a candidate can be declared the overall winner of the seat by garnering 50 percent +1 of the vote in the primary.[6]
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 8 Blanket Primary, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jeff Thompson |
56.8% | 4,991 | |
| Republican | Duke Lowrie | 43.2% | 3,803 | |
| Total Votes | 8,794 | |||
Campaign themes
2011
Lowrie outlines four main issues on his campaign website:[7]
- Fighting Wasteful Government Spending - "We need more accountability of how tax-payer dollars are spent. Duke believes that government does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. Duke will oppose any new taxes or fees, work to cut the waste in government, and build a more business friendly environment in Louisiana."
- Defending the Rights of our Families - "As a father of three, a husband, and a Christian, Duke believes in the values that make families stronger. Supporting the principle that marriage is between one man and one woman, Duke signed the Defense of Marriage Act Pledge. He believes that all unborn children should have the right to life. These are core issues to Duke and he will fight for them in Baton Rouge."
- Opposing Illegal Immigration - "Duke will support legislation to protect the citizens of Louisiana from the social, criminal and financial impacts of illegal immigration. He will also support legislation to challenge the counting of illegal immigrants in the 2010 Census which caused Louisiana to lose a Congressional seat in Washington, D.C.."
- Protecting Our Second Amendment Rights - "As a life member of the NRA, Duke will uphold the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States and applauds the Supreme Court’s decision in the District of Columbia vs. Heller case of 2008. Duke will oppose any attempts to limit the right to bear arms guaranteed in the Constitution."
Republican National Convention, 2016
Lowrie was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Louisiana. Lowrie was one of 18 delegates from Louisiana bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention.[8] As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.
Delegate rules
At-large and congressional district delegates from Louisiana to the 2016 Republican National Convention were elected at the Louisiana Republican Party State Convention. 2016 Louisiana GOP bylaws required district-level and at-large delegates to support the candidate to whom they were allocated through the first round of voting at the national convention. The rules stated that if a candidate "ends or suspends" his or her campaign, the delegates allocated to him or her are no longer bound. Because of Louisiana GOP allocation rules, two at-large delegates were allowed to be elected as uncommitted delegates.
Louisiana Primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Louisiana, 2016
| Louisiana Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.7% | 2,145 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 1.5% | 4,544 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.1% | 401 | 0 | |
| Tim Cook | 0.1% | 219 | 0 | |
| Ted Cruz | 37.8% | 113,968 | 18 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.1% | 243 | 0 | |
| Lindsey Graham | 0.1% | 152 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.2% | 645 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 6.4% | 19,359 | 0 | |
| Peter Messina | 0% | 48 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.2% | 670 | 0 | |
| Marco Rubio | 11.2% | 33,813 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0.1% | 180 | 0 | |
| Donald Trump |
41.4% | 124,854 | 25 | |
| Totals | 301,241 | 43 | ||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State and The New York Times | ||||
Delegate allocation
Louisiana had 46 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 18 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's six congressional districts). District delegates were allocated proportionally in accordance with the vote in a given district.[9][10]
Of the remaining 29 delegates, 25 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 20 percent of the statewide vote in order to be eligible to receive any of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were not required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.[9][10][11]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Lowrie attended Bossier Parish Community College and earned his Associates in Fire and Emergency Services from Louisiana State University - Eunice.[1]
See also
- Louisiana House of Representatives
- Louisiana House of Representatives District 8
- State legislative special elections, 2017
- Louisiana State Legislature
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
- RNC delegate guidelines from Louisiana, 2016
- Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Project Vote Smart, "Bio," accessed September 27, 2011
- ↑ The Star, "La. politics: Governor may steer clear of legislative races," accessed January 19, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed January 19, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for 3/25/2017," accessed March 25, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for 4/29/2017," accessed April 29, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Unofficial Election Results," October 22, 2011
- ↑ Lowrie for Representative, "Issues," accessed September 27, 2011
- ↑ LA GOP, "Louisiana Republicans Elect National Convention Delegates," March 14, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Louisiana GOP, "Rules for convening of the state convention to elect delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention," accessed April 26, 2016
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