Ebony Woodruff

Ebony Tanjel Woodruff (born September 1980)^[1] is a lawyer and politician from Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a Democratic former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 87. Without opposition, she won a special election on October 4, 2013, to finish the term of fellow Democrat Girod Jackson III.^[2] He resigned due to charges of tax evasion; he was convicted.^[3] She lost the Democratic primary for that seat in October 2015.

Before entering politics, Woodruff had previously served as an assistant district attorney in Jefferson Parish, and as a special education teacher.

Biography

Woodruff received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctorate from the historically black Southern University Law Center, both in Baton Rouge.^[2] She taught special education for some time before getting her law degree. After passing the bar, Woodruff served as an assistant district attorney for Jefferson Parish.^[4]

Representative Woodruff was a member of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, the Women's Caucus, and the Democratic Caucus. She sat on the following House committees: (1) Administration of Criminal Justice, (2) Commerce, and (3) the Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs.^[2] She resides in Harvey,^[5] but her office is in Terrytown.^[2]

In 2014, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum scored Woodruff 33 percent. She was ranked that year 80 percent by Louisiana Right to Life even though she was one of five representatives to vote against the requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics. She ranked 58 percent from the Louisiana Association of Educators.^[6]

Woodruff co-sponsored but did not vote on final passage in 2014 on the matter of extending the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. She also did not vote on the question of forbidding the transportation of dogs in open truck beds on interstate highways. She voted to repeal the anti-sodomy laws; the measure failed in the House, 27-67. She voted to permit concealed carry of weapons in restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages. She voted against the requirement that companies must give public notice of proposed hydraulic fracking.^[7]

Woodruff lost her bid for a full term in the House in the primary election held on October 24, 2015. She was unseated by Democrat, Rodney Lyons, who polled 2,883 votes (58.6 percent) to Woodruff's 2,034 (41.4 percent).^[8]

A Baton Rouge Advocate study found that Woodruff has in recent years personally voted in fewer than half of the elections held in Orleans Parish.^[9]

References