Hugh Cassidy
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Hugh Cassidy (Republican Party) ran for election to the Louisiana House of Representatives to represent District 89. He lost in the primary on October 14, 2023.
Cassidy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Hugh Cassidy was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Cassidy's professional experience includes working as a healthcare administrator, legislative aide, and councilman. He earned a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University in 1986.[1]
Cassidy has been affiliated with the Rotary International and St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce.[1]
Elections
2023
See also: Louisiana House of Representatives elections, 2023
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.
General election
General election for Louisiana House of Representatives District 89
Kim Carver defeated Joshua Allison in the general election for Louisiana House of Representatives District 89 on November 18, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kim Carver (R) | 53.9 | 4,921 |
| Joshua Allison (R) | 46.1 | 4,213 | ||
| Total votes: 9,134 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana House of Representatives District 89
Kim Carver and Joshua Allison defeated Scott Nowicki and Hugh Cassidy in the primary for Louisiana House of Representatives District 89 on October 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kim Carver (R) | 43.7 | 5,547 |
| ✔ | Joshua Allison (R) | 26.9 | 3,417 | |
 | Scott Nowicki (R) | 15.9 | 2,021 | |
 | Hugh Cassidy (R) | 13.5 | 1,714 | |
| Total votes: 12,699 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cassidy in this election.
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Hugh Cassidy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cassidy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a former Hospital Administrator and City Councilman seeking to fill the open House seat in District 89. I have served as a Legislative Aide to one US Congressman, one US Senator and one State Representative. I know the legislative process backwards and forwards and I am the only candidate in my race with legislative experience on four different levels. I am also the only candidate in my race who has successfully managed a multi-million dollar business and payroll and the only candidate experienced in assisting constituents when they experience problems with the government and need the help of their Representative.
- Educating - not indoctrinating - our children. Preparing them for adulthood with Mathematics, Science, History and Language Skills.
- Educating our children on the horrors of drug addiction and fentanyl poisoning. Stopping the flow of fentanyl across the Louisiana state line.
- Protecting and promoting the Louisiana's two primary industries: Petrochemicals and Tourism.
As a former Administrator of a Hospital and Skilled Nursing Facilities, I am passionate about providing quality healthcare to people of all ages, but particularly our seniors. The same people who protected and cared for us when we were children, now require our care and protection. I will work tirelessly to advocate for the aged and the infirm and to ensure that they receive the best care possible.
Like many families, mine has known the devastating affect an addiction can have on an entire family. The addiction not only harms the addict, but his or her parents, siblings and children. It is an insidious disease and we have to do more to combat it. Kids need to understand the costs associated with drug use, before they experiment. They need to know that there are only a few options for the addict. One is to stop, which involves the gut wrenching pain of detox and withdrawal, but it is the only viable route. All others lead to only three places: jails, institutions and the cemetery. We need tougher penalties for the people selling the drugs and better treatment options for the users. We also MUST teach our children the dangers of fentanyl poisoning. They have to know that their first experimentation could wind up being their last, because "one pill can kill".
Like many families, mine has known the devastating affect an addiction can have on an entire family. The addiction not only harms the addict, but his or her parents, siblings and children. It is an insidious disease and we have to do more to combat it. Kids need to understand the costs associated with drug use, before they experiment. They need to know that there are only a few options for the addict. One is to stop, which involves the gut wrenching pain of detox and withdrawal, but it is the only viable route. All others lead to only three places: jails, institutions and the cemetery. We need tougher penalties for the people selling the drugs and better treatment options for the users. We also MUST teach our children the dangers of fentanyl poisoning. They have to know that their first experimentation could wind up being their last, because "one pill can kill".
Ronald Reagan was a huge hero of mine. I admired his leadership, his charm and his charisma. I was proud to volunteer for his campaigns in 1980 and 1984. But I was also fortunate to work for some phenomenal legislators. Congressman Henson Moore (LA), Senator Paul Trible (VA) and Rep. Bill Strain (LA) all taught me and mentored me on what it means to be a servant and not just another career politician. I want to follow all of their examples. I have no desire to be a career politician. I've already had a successful career. Now I'm in a position to give something back, so that's what I am looking to do.
If I'm fortunate to win this election, I will offer myself for reelection ONE time, then I will step aside and give someone else an opportunity to serve. I believe career politicians are a huge part of the problems we face today and I have no plan to become one of them.
If I'm fortunate to win this election, I will offer myself for reelection ONE time, then I will step aside and give someone else an opportunity to serve. I believe career politicians are a huge part of the problems we face today and I have no plan to become one of them.
Honesty and a firm understanding that you work FOR the people. They don't work for you. More importantly, a willingness and desire to be the servant. Far too many people get into public service who have nothing on their agenda but self aggrandizement.
Listening to his or her constituents. Understanding what is important to them and acting on those issues on their behalf. Schooling oneself on the issues so that you debate them intelligently - especially the most technical and minute details that others would find boring. A legislator can't afford to neglect the minutia. It requires study and reflection to understand every issue and how it will effect your constituents.
I hope to leave a legacy of honest, hard work, an open mind and an absence of scandal. I hope to be one of the people who brings about the changes Louisiana has desperately needed for decades. I hope to be one of the people who changes Louisiana's education system and tax system to make Louisiana a place where businesses and industry want to come and set up shop.
I believe my oldest memory of a major historical event would be the moon landing in 1969. I was 8 years old and I remember watching it with my entire family.
My very first job was working in my family's Texaco Distributorship. I unloaded truckloads of various lubricants, filters, and other petroleum products. I also drove a delivery truck distributing gasoline and diesel from our bulk plant to our Texaco Filling Stations around Washington Parish, Louisiana. I did general cleaning around the bulk plant and warehouse and worked the kiosk when we built our first self service station in 1978. I worked at the Oil Company from the time I was 14 until I graduated high school, and continued to work summers throughout college.
The series "A Song of Ice and Fire". Because it has everything you could possible need to be entertained - comedy, drama, politics, strategy, combat and romance. It also has detailed characters with great backstories.
Tyrion Lannister, because he was brilliant, hilarious and a survivor. He was also, despite his human frailties, a man of honor.
Time by Hootie And The Blowfish
Mutual respect for one another and for each's constitutionally granted authority. Louisiana Governors have tremendous constitutionally granted power, so they need not encroach on the Legislature by legislating via Executive Order.
Reversing the decades long trend of population loss. We have to fix our education system in Louisiana so that we can attract new business and industry to the state. The south is undergoing a renaissance and Louisiana is being left out. Texas and Florida are growing, leaps and bounds. Nashville is one huge construction site. Even Alabama is experiencing growth, while Louisiana loses a Congressional seat every decade. We have to stop the bleeding and develop new business and industry in Louisiana, and we have to start with improving education. No CEO is going to move his or her company (and more importantly their children) to Louisiana with our schools in the shape they are in.
The legislative process is extremely complicated. There are a litany of steps from the time a bill is introduced, assigned to a committee, gets through the hearing process, mark-up sessions, floor debate (in TWO chambers), and through the conference committee that has to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, then signed by the Governor. It is a technical process far beyond what we learned in High School Civics. For that reason, it is highly beneficial for a Representative or Senator to have prior legislative experience.
In addition, Legislators are often called upon by their constituents to assist them when they have a problem with "the government". So legislator who has experience chasing down a missing social security check or applying for disability benefits will be more beneficial to his constituents than one who has no experience advocating for constituents.
In addition, Legislators are often called upon by their constituents to assist them when they have a problem with "the government". So legislator who has experience chasing down a missing social security check or applying for disability benefits will be more beneficial to his constituents than one who has no experience advocating for constituents.
Actually, it's not beneficial, it's VITAL. In the Louisiana Legislature there are 105 Representatives and 39 Senators. Any legislator who wants to be effective for his constituents will build relationships with as many of his or her colleagues as possible - and on BOTH sides of the aisle. No Representative or Senator can pass legislation alone. He or she will need at least 52 colleagues in the House and 20 in the Senate to accomplish anything. So a good legislator will not only campaign for the support of the voters of his district, but also for the support of the other members of the legislature.
That would be Sen. Paul Trible of Virginia. Sen. Trible was elected to the Congress at age 29. He served 3 terms there before being elected to the Senate at age 35. I worked as Sen. Trible's Legislative Aide for Judiciary and Defense issues during the week, but would volunteer to drive the Senator to various events around the State on weekends. It was on these long drives that Sen. Trible taught me and mentored me on what it means to be a servant and not just another career politician. He served just one term in the US Senate, then returned to the private sector where we served first as President and now as Chancellor of Christopher Newport University. Sen. Trible enjoyed approval ratings that would surely have kept him in the Senate and feeding at the government trough for decades, but he chose instead to serve his country for a season then return to the private sector, giving others the opportunity to serve. I admire him greatly and am proud to have been a member of his staff.
When I was serving as Councilman at Large, it came to my attention that the local museum, which was located inside a park that was named for my family, contained some unidentified bones from Choctaw Native Americans who inhabited the land around Bogalusa centuries ago. A local group of Native Americans had been trying desperately to get custody of the remains so they could have them properly buried, but were hitting brick walls with various governmental agencies. They invited me to attend a meeting they held on the subject.
I admit, at first I didn't see it as a big deal, but after meeting with them and seeing their passion, I realized that those remains could very well have belonged to one of their direct ancestors. A great great grandparent perhaps. I knew that it would make me sick to know that my great grandfather's remains were lying in a museum for people to look it, so I agreed to take up their cause. I worked with the museum staff, the Attorney General and the US Department of the Interior and got the remains repatriated to a Reservation in Central Louisiana where they received a proper burial according to the customs of the Choctaw Nation.
A liberal and a conservative were walking down the beach when they came upon a genie bottle. They removed the cork and out came a genie. The genie says "To show you my thanks, I will grant each of you one wish." The liberal says "I want to live with all my fellow liberals, in a place where we can live under a government structure we all believe in. A place where everyone is equal and no one has more than anyone else." So the genie says "Your wish is granted" and, poof, all the liberals were transported to Venezuela - where everyone is equally destitute. The genie turns to the conservative and says "And what can I do for you, kind sir?" The conservative says "So you're telling me that every liberal that was in America is now living in Venezuela?" The genie says "They are, indeed." So the conservative says "Well, in that case...I'll have a beer."
Absolutely. One of the primary purposes of the Legislature is to provide a check/balance to the Executive and Judiciary powers. If an Executive branch is allowed to use emergency powers at will, some Executives may be encouraged to "create" one emergency after another.
I do believe that compromise is necessary to effective governing - in most cases. We have become too divided in this country and the result is that very little is getting done. We seem to disagree for the sake of disagreement. This is an untenable situation. We have to find common ground and get back to doing the business of the people. We have serious problems in this country today and if we continue to bicker over the insignificant, we will never solve the significant.
However, there are some absolutes where no "compromise" should be given. This is primarily in the defense of our constitutional rights. Our founding fathers wrote the constitution and made it difficult but possible to change. I believe this was done for a good reason, so I am very hesitant to offer compromise where civil rights are in question.
However, there are some absolutes where no "compromise" should be given. This is primarily in the defense of our constitutional rights. Our founding fathers wrote the constitution and made it difficult but possible to change. I believe this was done for a good reason, so I am very hesitant to offer compromise where civil rights are in question.
To create stiffer penalties for peddlers of fentanyl.
Administration of Criminal Justice
Commerce
Education
Health & Welfare
Insurance
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
Current members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Phillip DeVillier
Representatives
District 1
Danny McCormick (R)
District 2
Steven Jackson (D)
District 3
Tammy Phelps (D)
District 4
Daryl Walters (D)
District 5
Dennis Bamburg (R)
District 6
Michael Melerine (R)
District 7
Lawrence Bagley (R)
District 8
Raymond Crews (R)
District 9
Dodie Horton (R)
District 10
Wayne McMahen (R)
District 11
Rashid Young (D)
District 12
District 13
Jack McFarland (R)
District 14
Michael Echols (R)
District 15
Foy Gadberry (R)
District 16
Adrian Fisher (D)
District 17
Pat Moore (D)
District 18
Jeremy LaCombe (R)
District 19
Francis Thompson (R)
District 20
Neil Riser (R)
District 21
Travis Johnson (D)
District 22
Gabe Firment (R)
District 23
Shaun Mena (D)
District 24
District 25
Jason DeWitt (R)
District 26
Ed Larvadain (D)
District 27
Mike Johnson (R)
District 28
Daryl Deshotel (R)
District 29
Edmond Jordan (D)
District 30
Charles Owen (R)
District 31
Troy Hebert (R)
District 32
Dewith Carrier (R)
District 33
Les Farnum (R)
District 34
Wilford Carter (D)
District 35
Brett Geymann (R)
District 36
Phillip Tarver (R)
District 37
Troy Romero (R)
District 38
Rhonda Butler (R)
District 39
Julie Emerson (R)
District 40
Dustin Miller (D)
District 41
District 42
Chance Henry (R)
District 43
Josh Carlson (R)
District 44
Tehmi Chassion (D)
District 45
Annie Spell (R)
District 46
Chad Boyer (R)
District 47
Ryan Bourriaque (R)
District 48
Beau Beaullieu (R)
District 49
Jacob Landry (R)
District 50
District 51
Beryl Amedée (R)
District 52
Jerome Zeringue (R)
District 53
Jessica Domangue (R)
District 54
Joseph Orgeron (R)
District 55
Bryan Fontenot (R)
District 56
Beth Billings (R)
District 57
Sylvia Taylor (D)
District 58
Ken Brass (D)
District 59
Tony Bacala (R)
District 60
Chad Brown (D)
District 61
Denise Marcelle (D)
District 62
Roy Adams (D)
District 63
District 64
Kellee Dickerson (R)
District 65
Lauren Ventrella (R)
District 66
Emily Chenevert (R)
District 67
Terry Landry (D)
District 68
Dixon McMakin (R)
District 69
Paula Davis (R)
District 70
Barbara Freiberg (R)
District 71
Roger Wilder (R)
District 72
Robby Carter (D)
District 73
District 74
Peter Egan (R)
District 75
John Wyble (R)
District 76
District 77
Mark Wright (R)
District 78
John Illg (R)
District 79
Debbie Villio (R)
District 80
Polly Thomas (R)
District 81
Jeffrey Wiley (R)
District 82
Laurie Schlegel (R)
District 83
Kyle Green (D)
District 84
Timothy Kerner (R)
District 85
Vincent Cox (R)
District 86
District 87
Rodney Lyons (D)
District 88
Kathy Edmonston (R)
District 89
Kim Carver (R)
District 90
Brian Glorioso (R)
District 91
Mandie Landry (D)
District 92
Joe Stagni (R)
District 93
Alonzo Knox (D)
District 94
District 95
Shane Mack (R)
District 96
Marcus Bryant (D)
District 97
Matthew Willard (D)
District 98
Aimee Freeman (D)
District 99
Candace Newell (D)
District 100
Jason Hughes (D)
District 101
District 102
Delisha Boyd (D)
District 103
Michael Bayham (R)
District 104
Jay Gallé (R)
District 105
Jacob Braud (R)
Republican Party (73)
Democratic Party (32)
