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Jay Morris
2020 - Present
2028
5
Jay Morris (Republican Party) is a member of the Louisiana State Senate, representing District 35. He assumed office on January 13, 2020. His current term ends on January 10, 2028.
Morris (Republican Party) won re-election to the Louisiana State Senate to represent District 35 outright in the primary on October 14, 2023, after the primary and general election were canceled.
Morris was a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, representing District 14. He was first elected to the chamber in 2011.
He was a 2013 Republican candidate seeking election to the U.S. House representing the 5th Congressional District of Louisiana.[1] He was defeated in the open primary on October 19, 2013.[2]
Biography
Morris earned his B.s. and J.D. from Louisiana State University. His professional experience includes working as managing partner of Dean Morris, LLP, Lenders Title Corporation, and owner of Morris & Associates-businesses.[3]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Morris was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development Committee
- Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs Committee
- Labor & Industrial Relations Committee, Vice Chairman
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
2021-2022
Morris was assigned to the following committees:
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development Committee
- Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs Committee
- Labor & Industrial Relations Committee
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
2019-2020
Morris was assigned to the following committees:
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
- House and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Judiciary Committee, Vice Chair
- Ways and Means Committee
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Morris served on the following committees:
| Louisiana committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Commerce |
| • Health and Welfare |
| • Judiciary |
2012-2013
In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Morris served on the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Issues
Government shutdown
| Morris' September 2013 ad in favor of defunding Obamacare |
Morris released an ad on September 26, 2013, in regards to Ted Cruz September 24-25, 2013, speech on the floor of the Senate in support of the defund Obamacare effort.[4] In the ad he also indicated that he would support a government shutdown if Obamacare is not defunded.[4]
"The empty campaign promises about Obamacare must end," Morris says in the ad. "To defund Obamacare, we must defeat the political establishment, even if it means shutting down government."[4]
Elections
2023
See also: Louisiana State Senate 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.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Jay Morris (R) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Morris in this election.
2019
See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2019
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 State Senate District 35
Jay Morris defeated incumbent James Fannin in the general election for Louisiana State Senate District 35 on November 16, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jay Morris (R) | 50.4 | 18,167 |
 | James Fannin (R) | 49.6 | 17,894 | |
| Total votes: 36,061 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana State Senate District 35
Incumbent James Fannin and Jay Morris defeated Matt Parker in the primary for Louisiana State Senate District 35 on October 12, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Fannin (R) | 38.6 | 12,559 |
| ✔ | | Jay Morris (R) | 36.3 | 11,782 |
 | Matt Parker (R) | 25.1 | 8,154 | |
| Total votes: 32,495 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2015
Elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives took place in 2015. A primary election was held on October 24, 2015, with a general election held in districts where necessary on November 21, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 10, 2015, at 4:30 p.m. CDT.[5]
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. Incumbent Jay Morris (R) was unopposed in the October 24 blanket primary.[6][7]
2013
Morris ran for the U.S. House representing the 5th Congressional District of Louisiana.[1] The election was held to replace Rodney Alexander, who announced his resignation in order to take a position as the next Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs at the end of September 2013.[8] He was defeated in the open primary on October 19, 2013.[2]
| U.S. House, Louisiana District 5 Special Election Open Primary, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Neil Riser |
32% | 33,045 | |
| Republican | Vance McAllister |
17.8% | 18,386 | |
| Republican | Clyde Holloway | 10.9% | 11,250 | |
| Republican | Phillip "Blake" Weatherly | 0.5% | 517 | |
| Republican | Jay Morris | 6.9% | 7,083 | |
| Democratic | Marcus Hunter | 3% | 3,088 | |
| Democratic | Robert Johnson | 9.6% | 9,971 | |
| Democratic | Jamie Mayo | 14.8% | 15,317 | |
| Democratic | Weldon Russell | 2.5% | 2,554 | |
| Libertarian | Henry Herford, Jr. | 0.9% | 886 | |
| Libertarian | S.B.A. Zaitoon | 0.1% | 129 | |
| Green | Eliot Barron | 0.5% | 492 | |
| Independent | Tom Gibbs | 0.3% | 324 | |
| Independent | Peter Williams | 0.3% | 335 | |
| Total Votes | 103,377 | |||
| Source: Official results via Louisiana Secretary of State | ||||
2011
On November 19, 2011, Morris won election to District 14 of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He faced incumbent Sam Little (R) and Michael Echols (R) 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. However, since no candidate reached this threshold, a general election took place on November 19 between Little and Morris.[9] Morris defeated Little to win the seat.[10]
| Louisiana House of Representatives District 14 General Election, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jay Morris |
59.1% | 5,005 | |
| Republican | Sam Little Incumbent | 40.9% | 3,463 | |
| Total Votes | 8,468 | |||
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 14 Blanket Primary, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jay Morris |
42.6% | 5,078 | |
| Republican | Sam Little Incumbent |
36.7% | 4,384 | |
| Republican | Michael Echols | 20.7% | 2,471 | |
| Total Votes | 11,933 | |||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jay Morris did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jay Morris did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Louisiana scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 11 to June 3. Special sessions were convened from January 15, 2024 to January 23, 2024; February 19, 2024 to February 29, 2024; and November 6, 2024 to November 25, 2024.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 10 to June 8.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 14 to June 6.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 12 to June 10.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 9 to June 1. The session was suspended from March 31 through May 4. A special session convened from June 1 to June 30 and from September 28 to October 23.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 through June 6.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through May 18.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 10 through June 8. The legislature held its first special session from February 13 to February 22. The legislature held its second special session from June 8 to June 16.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 14 through June 6. A special session was held from February 14 to March 9 to address the state's budget gap. A second special session was held from June 6 to June 23.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 13 through June 11.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 10 through June 3.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 to June 6.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through June 4.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Morris is married and has three children. He is involved with the United Way and the Monroe and West Monroe Chambers of Commerce.[3]
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 KNOE, "Another candidate plans to join 5th District race," accessed August 12, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "U. S. Representative -- 5th Congressional District," accessed October 19, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jay Morris for State Representative, "Biography," accessed October 11, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Washington Post, "House candidate backs government shutdown in ad featuring Ted Cruz," accessed September 26, 2013
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Nola.com, "Rodney Alexander to join Jindal administration, departure from Congress will trigger special election," accessed August 8, 2013
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Unofficial Election Results," October 22, 2011
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for November 19, 2011," accessed December 6, 2011
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2014 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2013 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2012 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Fannin (R) |
Louisiana State Senate District 35 2020-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Louisiana House of Representatives District 14 2012-2020 |
Succeeded by Michael Echols (R) |
