John Mason (Louisiana)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

John Mason

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Louisiana State University

Law

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Ph.D

University of Louisiana, Lafayette

Personal

Birthplace

New Orleans, La.

Religion

Roman Catholic

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

John Mason (Republican Party) (also known as Big John) ran for election to the Louisiana Public Service Commission to represent District 1. He lost in the primary on November 3, 2020.

Mason completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

John Mason was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University, a J.D. from the Loyola College of Law, and a Ph.D. from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Mason's career experience includes working as an attorney and a university professor.

Elections

2020

See also: Louisiana Public Service Commission election, 2020

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 Public Service Commission District 1

Incumbent Eric Skrmetta defeated Allen Borne Jr. in the general election for Louisiana Public Service Commission District 1 on December 5, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Eric Skrmetta (R)	61.8	55,987
		Allen Borne Jr. (D)	38.2	34,639

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 90,626
= 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 Public Service Commission District 1

The following candidates ran in the primary for Louisiana Public Service Commission District 1 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Eric Skrmetta (R)	31.3	134,900
✔		Allen Borne Jr. (D)	24.9	107,174
		J. Kevin Pearson (R)	14.0	60,189
		John Mason (R)	13.4	57,652
	Submit photo	Richard Sanderson II (R)	8.2	35,502
	Submit photo	John Schwegmann (Independent)	5.5	23,707
		William Boartfield Jr. (G)	2.8	11,890

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 431,014
= 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.

2019

See also: Louisiana House of Representatives 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.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana House of Representatives District 80

Incumbent Polly Thomas won election outright against John Mason in the primary for Louisiana House of Representatives District 80 on October 12, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Polly Thomas (R)	70.3	7,414
		John Mason (R)	29.7	3,134

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,548
= 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.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Mason completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mason's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a conservative republican attorney that wants to deregulate the regulated monopolies to maximize consumer choice and minimize consumer costs. I am strongly in favor of bringing high-speed internet to all Louisiana residents, not just those that live near an urban area. I want to work with the Louisiana legislature to advance the goal of 100% internet access and bring broadband under the Public Service Commission's umbrella.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• You should have the right to choose which company you buy electricity and gas from. You should not be told by the government who you must buy from. Competition increases choices and lowers prices.
• All Louisianans should have the option to buy high-speed internet. Between 25% - 30% of all Louisiana residents have no access to the internet. Others have only slow-speed connections that are not sufficient for their children's online classes or working remotely.
• Louisiana needs to work with her neighboring sister states to ensure that each state has the maximum number of service providers to promote competition.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

It's been twenty years since Louisiana considered deregulation. None of the current commissioners have broached the subject in the last two decades. Several Louisiana businesses want to purchase power on the open market, or even generate their own electricity. I am in favor of letting utilities compete for our business should increase choice and decrease costs.

I'm also passionate about giving every Louisiana family and business access to high-speed internet. The federal government used to regulate the internet as a utility, although they no longer do so. The Louisiana constitution requires all utilities to be under the oversight of the Public Service Commission. I intend to work with the Louisiana legislature to increase broadband access to all Louisiana citizens and businesses and bring the internet service providers under the umbrella of the PSC to ensure that consumer complaints do not fall on deaf ears.

I am 100% pro-consumer, regardless of whether that consumer is a single-home user of a large industrial user.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

It regulates electricity, gas, wastewater, intrastate moves, intrastate pipelines, common carriers, nonconsensual towing, and more. Other states Public Service Commissions tend to regulate only utilities, whereas the Louisiana PSC regulates things that seem otherwise unrelated.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, integrity, and transparency. This particular district has been plagued by allegations of scandal, the appearance of impropriety, and uncivil and unprofessional behavior. This needs to stop.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Honesty, integrity, transparency, and intelligence.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

Ensuring that rates are kept low for both residential and business consumers while ensuring that the regulated company is also treated fairly and can continue to grow.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

They fix (i.e. determine) the price of nonconsensual towing. The sheer number of regulated entities is much larger than people realize.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

No, anyone intelligent enough to understand the basic concepts and a genuine desire to perform the responsibilities of the office will do well.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I believe being an attorney would help the commissioner understand the often complex laws and regulations that the PSC operates under as well as enforces over regulated companies.

A business background to understand the economic realities and strategies of the regulated entities would also be beneficial.

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.

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Mason did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

See also

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