Charlie Melançon

Charlie Melancon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 3rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Billy Tauzin
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	collin hernandez
Residence	Napoleonville, Louisiana
Alma mater	University of Southwestern Louisiana
Occupation	small business owner

Charles Joseph "Charlie" Melancon (pronounced muh-LAW-saw) (born October 3, 1947, in Napoleonville) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Louisiana's 3rd district. He was first elected in a December 4, 2004 general election and was re-elected in 2006.

The grandson and great-grandson of sugar cane farmers, Melancon worked as a driver in the 1971 gubernatorial campaign of Edwin Edwards and later owned and operated several small businesses (including two Baskin-Robbins) before winning a 1987 special election for the Louisiana House of Representatives. After serving 2 more terms, he headed the American Sugar Cane League from 1993 to 2004. Melancon lives in the village of Napoleonville, the seat of Assumption Parish, located nearly 50 miles south of Baton Rouge. He is married to the former Peachy Clark, and they have two children, Charles Joseph (Seph) and Claire.

Melancon threw his hat into the 3rd CD ring after longtime incumbent Billy Tauzin announced his retirement. Considered an underdog for much of the race, he managed to squeak into a runoff due to an especially ugly intraparty battle between Republican candidates Billy Tauzin III (the incumbent's son), and state Senator Craig Romero. In the runoff campaign, Melancon repeatedly hammered away at Tauzin III's youth, inexperience, criminal record, and family ties (many members of both major parties resented Tauzin's status as frontrunner for the seat solely because his father was the incumbent). Because of the attacks on Tauzin, the makeup of the district, and Romero's refusal to endorse Tauzin, Melancon won a victory by 569 votes. Romero, however, set his sights on challenging Melancon in 2006, and was defeated again.

Very soon after being sworn in January 2005, Melancon joined the Blue Dog Democrats. He is a fairly conservative Democrat by national standards — in fact, a section of his campaign site, "Louisiana Values," detailed his opposition to gun control, abortion and same-sex marriage. He later said that the 2004 election campaign was the first time in his life that anyone had called him a liberal.

Melancon has been a harsh critic of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated much of his district.

On November 7, 2006, Melancon easily defeated Romero (born 1954) 55% to 40% to win a second term in the U.S. House. Republican Romero was unable to make effective issues against Melancon, and he was undoubtedly weakened as well in a heavily Democratic year nationally. Melancon is now being mentioned as a future candidate for Louisiana governor.

Committee Assignments

• Energy and Commerce Committee
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (Vice Chair)
• Science and Technology Committee
  • Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

External links

• U.S. Congressman Charlie Melancon official U.S. House website
• Charlie Melancon for U.S. Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart