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Xavier Ellis
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Xavier Ellis (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Louisiana. He lost in the primary on October 14, 2023.
Ellis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Xavier Ellis was born in Ferriday, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor's degree from Louisiana Christian University in 2016. His career experience includes working as a sales representative, educator, and author.[1]
Elections
2023
See also: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 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
Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Louisiana
The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of Louisiana on October 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jeff Landry (R) | 51.6 | 547,827 |
 | Shawn Wilson (D)  | 25.9 | 275,525 | |
 | Stephen Waguespack (R) | 5.9 | 62,287 | |
 | John Schroder (R) | 5.3 | 56,654 | |
 | Hunter Lundy (Independent) | 4.9 | 52,165 | |
| Daniel Cole (D) | 2.6 | 27,662 | ||
 | Sharon Hewitt (R) | 1.7 | 18,468 | |
 | Benjamin Barnes (Independent) | 0.5 | 5,190 | |
| Patrick Henry Barthel (R) | 0.4 | 4,426 | ||
 | Richard Nelson (R) (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.3 | 3,605 | |
| Jeffery Istre (Independent) | 0.3 | 3,400 | ||
 | Xavier Ellis (R) | 0.2 | 1,734 | |
| Keitron Gagnon (Independent) | 0.1 | 1,260 | ||
 | Xan John (R) | 0.1 | 1,164 | |
 | Frank Scurlock (Independent) | 0.1 | 1,131 | |
| Total votes: 1,062,498 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Oscar Dantzler (D)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ellis in this election.
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Xavier Ellis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ellis' 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 native of Ferriday, LA. I am the son of a Louisiana farmer and hunter. I am the product of poor single mother on welfare. I graduated from Ferriday High School in 2012 as the salutatorian. I attended Louisiana Christian University (LC) where I graduated in December 2016 with a bachelor of arts in history and a minor in political science. While at LC, I wrote the resolution for the Wildcat Volleyball net which still stands today. Over the last six years I have taught secondary social studies, elementary social studies and elementary/middle school Health and Physical Education in St. Landry Parish (Opelousas). This culminate in me being the 22-23 Louisiana Educator of the Year with recognition at LSU's Tiger Stadium. I am running for office to 1) inspire my fellow Louisianans to dream big from the youngest of us to the oldest of us., 2) to address the teacher pay raise issue and need for educational reform for our students, 3) I feel I am the best candidate to deal with outward migration of our young people through recreational infrastructure because I am one of them 4)I want to diversify the office of Governor the same way you see a crowd at Tiger stadium and PMAC and 5)I believe it is time we have a governor who can GROW with the state versus AGE with the state of Louisiana.
- Educational Reform- I want the young person who comes out of Louisiana's educational system at 17 or 18 years old to be an independent being who is ready to take on the world. Thus, in my first 90 days in office I would like to meet with BESE, the state superintendent of education and board of regents to formulate a plan to make our educational system more competitive on a global level with places like Finland. It is my belief that we need to move away from teaching the test and bring fun back into the educational system not just in HPE.
- Recreational Infrastructure- I believe we must work to make ALL of our muncipalities more attractive around the state. Recreational infrastructure is about addressing the weaknesses and threats of each community around the state. As Governor, if I have an understanding of the needs of the people I can better lobby for them when I'm in Baton Rouge with the legislature for funds. Also people will enjoy their communities more when there is less redundancy in city planning.
- Hope and Inspiration- I want kids who look like me to know they can utilize politics as a way to better their families' circumstances and the outlook of their community just like professional athletes do everyday. My hope is my campaign be the spark to get more young people involved in politics and more young blood in the offices uniting with the old folks to move the state forward. It's going to take new ideas and solutions to get us in the top 25 of states in the major categories.
I am personally passionate about educational reform and the work of marketing the state to citizens and tourist. I feel that like a Point Guard in basketball or Quarterback in Football it is education that drives everything else in the government from the economy, attractions, voting, crime prevention, and whether or not people look favorable on their state. From the head start students to the high schoolers, a hands on/project-based learning approach seems to be the best. Less rote memory or info giving and more skill driven schooling. Our students need to be involved in every aspect of the school day. They need opportunities to role play leadership. They need opportunities to create clothing designs, write poems, and practice engineering skills such working on car engine in automotive shop. They also need those basic skills of accounting, self-defense, and home economics to be reinforced to cover the gaps maybe experienced at home as you often have kids raising kids. When it comes to recreational infrastructure, I believe we must utilize our human resources and build our capital from within as well as looking to attract new business to all our municipalities. Bastrop got great cooks. Then we need to work with the Secretary of State and ensure they get their LLC. Opelousas kids say they need a skating rink or videogame center than we need to empower the entrepreneurs to once again work with the Secretary of State to make this a reality over redundancy in city planning.
I have a list of a 100 people who have impacted my life that you can discover on YouTube with my segment Shouders of IAM under ellisforlouisiana. I would like to follow in the example of P.B.S. Pinchback, Oscar Dunn, and Pierre Landry. These were my ancestors who left their mark as the first but more importantly they worked like crazy to make this state of Louisiana better. Outside them I hope people will associate me with Nipsey Hussle, Malcolm X, Dr. King, and Barack Obama from an inspiration standpoint when my resume is done being written.
Don't get caught drinking the Kool-Aid- watch the Jonestown Massacre of 1978 clips
I also would recommend people read the autobiography of Malcolm X to learn how a man evolved over time. Our state is too stagnant right now. We need evolution and new leadership. That's what I bring to the equation.
I also would recommend people read the autobiography of Malcolm X to learn how a man evolved over time. Our state is too stagnant right now. We need evolution and new leadership. That's what I bring to the equation.
Be honest, transparent, and only make promises that you keep. For example, if I am elected as your next Governor, I am going to throw a summer style Detroit Block party in Baton Rouge to celebrate the moment and unify the people.
"To be someone you have to have gone through some things," says a city marshal in Franklin, LA. I am battle tested. I have many setbacks in life whether it is identity theft, cosigning blues, love manipulated or abused, or just bad breaks. Thus, you can rest assure when the storms of life or natural come to the shore of Louisiana I will not break. I will be as cool, calm, and collected under pressure. I been leading a household since 17 so I know how to lead effectively.
I believe the number one thing is to represent the interest of the people who elected you.
Next you must be someone willing to be a lifelong learner. You must seek out the best practices in your line of work.
Next you must be visible not just doing election season but while you serving in the office.
If you stand to benefit from the election to office, I believe it is important to give back to the community.
I was in high school in a computer class and I can remember our teachers shutting down the lesson so we could witness the election of the first African American president in Barack Obama. Up to this point, I had dreams of winning a state championship in basketball in Ferriday, LA and going to on to play college ball and maybe the NBA. Seeing is truing believing and because I witness this it changed the trajectory of what I saw my life becoming. Also, I had a high school basketball coach who sat me down one day and flat out told me I was not going to be Carmelo Anthony unless I picked my work ethic up. Looking around I noticed I had the ability to outwork other students in the classroom. Thus, I went on to win an academic title as my graduating class Salutatorian and the rest is history.
My first job was at Ferriday Market in Ferriday, LA. I served the local community there as stocker and customer service rep. I spent five years working here during high school and during the months away from college. It was hear where I first learned about teamwork and that are systems that must be in place for a business to thrive. Like wise those elements must be present in a government that is thriving.
The Bible. As the great evangelist Bill Graham once said, "Each time I read it I learn something new about the scriptures that I need to consider. "
Goku from Dragon Ball Z. With every challenge, he got stronger. Any every defeat he walked away with his head held high and kept seeking to improve for the next battle. He also left an impressive legacy with Gohan and Goten as his children and warriors in their own right.
IF I'M LYING BY BURNA BOY
It means he is the face of the state. His job is to lobby for laws and write laws that will make his state safer, prosperous, inviting to citizens and tourists, and thriving with educational outputs. The governor must also make sure each branch is working behalf of the people and not the good ole boy system. With the pardon power the governor must make sure that the person is worthy of this special privilege that the governor can grant. We need a governor who can unite the young people as well as the senior citizens. We need FLAVOR in office and not STALE BREAD we are accustom to getting in Louisiana's status quo climate.
The most important in Louisiana is the reality that our governor can make a 100 or so appointments that affect everything from the education your kids receive from K- college. The governor also decides who will lead the areas of special interest to Louisiana residents like DFCS, Wildlife and fisheries, DOTD, etc. just to name a few. Our governor also has the power to line-item veto which makes it very important for us to have a governor willing to do what is best for the citizens over party. Lastly, our governor is in charge of presenting a budget to the legislature so we definitely need someone who has done that since he was 17 running a household for his mom and sisters with positive net rating.
I feel the governor should be in on deciding what areas need to be prioritize for the state and citizens. Data and reality must drive this political process.
Line-item veto must be used when politics gets in the way of common-sense politics. For example, there makes no sense for us not to raise teacher pay in Louisiana to the southern average or better. After all, there could be no politicians, lawyers, business owners, doctors, or professional athletes without the work of some teacher. Here where I would use a line-item veto to ensure our teachers get a fair stroke.
I believe they must work to pass bills that enhance the state in the areas of education, healthcare, crime, and attractions of business geared toward youth and senior citizens.
Our greatest resource is our people. After that I would say I love the food, southern hospitality, and festivals.
Our greatest challenge is outward migration of young people and old in some cases. Our economy will have diversify and get on point with other states. While our Lt. Gov. is doing an excellent job marketing the state from a culture standpoint. We got to start attracting people to want to stay here and raise their family on a livable wage and salary.
Life is a box of chocolates you never know what you will find.
In the event of natural disaster, human unrest, the drinking water problem in Plaquemines parish or the racial bias in hiring process of minority teachers in DeSoto Parish, any of these situations should call for the governor to use his emergency powers.
Matrix Consulting LLC
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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
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Candidate Governor of Louisiana |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 6, 2023
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