Karen St. Germain

Karen Gaudet St. Germain (born c. 1957),^[1] is a Democrat from Plaquemine, Louisiana, who is a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 60 in Iberville and Assumption parishes in the southern portion of her state. ^[2] She has held the seat since 2004 and was term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015.

Background

Karen was born Karen Gaudet, to Gibson and Alize (Breaux) Gaudet. She attended Assumption High School in Napoleonville, Louisiana,^[3] then attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and studied as a paralegal.^[2] She was formerly employed by the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association. She is a former resident of Victorville and San Bernardino, California, and Richmond, Virginia, dates unavailable.^[1]

Karen is married to Kenneth St. Germain, and they have three sons.^[3]

Political career

In the legislative runoff election on November 15, 2003, St. Germain unseated her fellow Democrat Emma Jean Devillier (born December 1962), also of Plaquemine, 9,325 votes (52 percent) to 8,605 (48 percent).^[4] She was unopposed for her second term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007. On October 22, 2011, she scored her third term by handily defeating a Republican challenger, Jason Morris, 14,783 (86.1 percent) to 2,393 (13.9 percent).^[5]

Representative St. Germain is a member of the Louisiana Rural Caucus, the Acadiana delegation, and the Democratic Caucus. She is chairman of two committees: (1) Transportation, Highways, and Public Works and (2) Atchafalaya Basin Program Oversight. She sits on these other committees: (1) Executive, 2) Joint Legislative on Capital Outlay, and (3) Homeland Security.^[2]

St. Germain's legislative ratings have ranged from 49 to 84 percent from the conservative Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. She is ranked 92 percent by the Louisiana Association of Educators. In 2005, she was ranked 75 percent by the Louisiana Hospital Association for her votes on health care issues. In 2006 and 2007, St. Germain was rated 55 percent by the Humane Society. In 2013 and 2014, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum scored her 78 and 43 percent, respectively. She has been rated from 89 to 100 percent by Louisiana Right to Life^[6] and voted for the 2014 requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the measure passed the House, 88-5.^[7]

In 2014, St. Germain voted to extend the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. She supported the prohibition of the transportation of dogs in the bed of a pick-up truck on interstate highways. She voted to repeal anti-sodomy laws, but the measure failed, 27-67, in the House. In 2013, St. Germain voted to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana; two years earlier, she had opposed drug testing for welfare recipients. She opposed lifetime concealed carry gun permits but voted to allow the taking of weapons into restaurants. She opposed making information about permit holders a matter of public record. She supported deductions on state income tax deductions to taxpayers who contribute to scholarship funds. In 2012, she voted to prohibit the use of telephones while driving. She opposed the reduction of the number of hours that polling locations remain open. Louisiana has traditionally had 14-hour polling days. In 2011, she voted for a permanent tax on cigarettes and for the congressional redistricting bill in which the state lost another seat in the United States House of Representatives.^[7]

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