- Kevin Reilly (Louisiana politician)
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For other people of the same name, see Kevin Reilly.
Kevin Reilly Louisiana State Representative from District 68 (East Baton Rouge Parish) In office
1972 – 1988Preceded by At-large delegation Succeeded by Sean Reilly Personal details Born 1928
Boston, Massachusetts, USAPolitical party Democratic
frequent Republican donor
Spouse(s) Ann Lamar Switzer ("Dee Dee") Reilly Children Kevin Reilly, Jr.
Wendell Reilly
Sean Reilly
Anna ReillyAlma mater Roxbury Latin School
Occupation Retired advertising executive Religion Episcopal Church of the United States Kevin Patrick Reilly, Sr. (born ca. 1928), a retired businessman and active philanthropist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the former executive officer of the Lamar Advertising Company who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 68 between 1972 and 1988.[1] He did not seek a tenth term in the House but was instead defeated in 1987 in the nonpartisan blanket primary for state treasurer by his House colleague and fellow Democrat, future U.S. Senator.
Contents
Early years, education, military
Reilly is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, where he attended Roxbury Latin School and won a scholarship to Harvard University in Cambridge. He served three years as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He and his wife, Dee Dee, settled in Baton Rouge, where he began his career with Lamar Advertising. He eventually became the chairman and chief operating officer of the company, the only national corporation headquartered in Baton Rouge.[2]
Public career
Reilly served in the legislature for fourteen years as chairman of the influential House Appropriations Committee until he was removed by Speaker John Alario of Jefferson Parish for having publicly criticized Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. During Reilly's thirteen years as committee chairman, the Louisiana budget grew from $1 billion to $6 billion, from $2 billion to $6 billion between 1980 and 1986 alone.[3]
In 1986, Reilly made controversial remarks in People magazine in which he portrayed his fellow Louisiana citizens as "just plain dumb."[3] In a speech before the Louisiana Broadcasters Association in February 1986, Reilly's legislative colleague Ron Gomez of Lafayette, himself a journalist, questioned Reilly’s judgment in making such statements to the magazine: "[He] was wearing farming coveralls which were so short that they exposed his bare ankles over a pair of brogans. He was standing next to a pickup truck with the traditional shotgun slung across the rear window. He was quoted as saying all it took to make Louisianians happy was a pickup and a shotgun. That was one of the more generous quotes."[4]
On October 24, 1987, Reilly ran second in the primary for state treasurer when the long-term incumbent, Mary Evelyn Parker of Baton Rouge, did not seek reelection. He polled 437,438 (32%), while Landrieu led with 602,879 (44%). Another legislator, Claude "Buddy" Leach, current chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party and a then state House member and a former U.S. representative, ran third, with 210,323 (15.4%). A fourth Democrat, Thomas D. "Tom" Burbank, Jr., son of Thomas D. Burbank Sr., former head of the state police, trailed with 118,230 votes (8.6%). No Republican filed for the open position. There was also a separate ballot line with similar results for the unexpired portion of Parker's remaining term. She had resigned on January 1, 1987, with a year remaining in the term.[5] Reilly decided not to contest a runoff election, known in Louisiana as a "general election", and Landrieu won the treasurer’s position by default.
In 1992, Reilly launched a nine-year stint as the Louisiana Secretary of Economic Development, a position he held for more than nine years under Governors Edwards and his Republican successor, Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Family
Dee Dee Reilly was born Ann Lamar Switzer in Coronado, California, to Wendell Grey Switzer and the former Anna Lamar. In 1902, her maternal grandfather, Charles W. Lamar, Sr., founded Lamar Advertising originally in Pensacola, Florida, as a part-time operation.[6] Her father was a career officer in the Navy, and she lived in various places throughout the United States. She graduated from St. Agnes Preparatory School in Alexandria, Virginia, and attended Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Dee Dee Reilly was a leader of Louisiana Legislative Wives Club while her husband served in the House. She was a founding member of the LSU Speech and Hearing Clinic. She has published two children's books, Tibby (1997) and Teaching Agnes to Dance (1999).[2]
The Reillys have four children, Kevin, Jr., Wendell, Sean, and Anna.[2] Kevin Reilly, Jr. (born 1954), has been the president and CEO of Lamar Advertising since 1989 and was named Baton Rouge "Business Person of the Year" in 1998.[7] He is a 1977 graduate of Harvard University and resides in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Winifred Ross. The couple has two children, Ross and Hayden. Reilly, Jr. is a director of the Nature Conservancy of Louisiana, the Louisiana Technology Park, and the World War II Museum. He has been a trustee of Milton Academy.[8] Reilly, Jr., has been a heavy Democratic contributor, having given in 2008 to the candidacies of Barack Obama of Illinois for U.S. President, U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. He also donated that year to the campaigns of both his father’s former opponent, Mary Landrieu, and her Repoblican opponent, John N. Kennedy, the current Louisiana state treasurer.[9]
Reilly, Sr., donated to the campaigns of Republicans John S. McCain for U.S. President and successful Republican congressional candidates Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge and Steve Scalise of Jefferson Parish. Like his son, he supported Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic Leader.[10]
Sean Eugene Reilly is chief operations officer and vice president of mergers and acquisitions for Lamar Advertising. A Democrat, he succeeded his father in the legislature and held the District 68 seat for two terms (1988–1996) choosing not to run again in the 1995 primary.[1][11] Wendell Reilly was affiliated with the company too, between 1983 and 1989.[8]
Philanthropy
Active in community affairs, Reilly is a former chairman of the boards of Our Lady of the Lake Hospital Foundation, the Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation and the National Volunteers of America. He has been president of the Baton Rouge Cancer Society and chairman of the Capital Area United Givers. He serves on the boards of the National D-Day Museum, Louisiana Resource Center for Educators, Our Lady of the Lake Foundation, Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, and the Interstate Highway Sign Corp.[2] Reilly is also active in the O’Brien House, an organization established in 1971 in Baton Rouge to assist those attempting to conquer narcotics and alcohol dependence. Reilly donated $100,000 toward the construction of a new O’Brien House facility: "We were being 'nickeled and dimed' to death with the old building.. .. Many of these people don’t have alternatives. It is in our own benefit and that of the community as a whole to help them rebuild their lives and to become productive.”[12]
LSU gave Kevin and Dee Dee Reilly honorary degrees in 2002. The couple has endowed the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs. They also sponsored the renovation of Swine Palace Theater, one of the oldest campus buildings and home to the LSU Performing Arts. They contributed a new organ recital and teaching pavilion for the LSU School of Music. They established a chair in Media and Public Affairs at LSU and the Jetson Chair of Public Policy at Southern University, the historically black institution in Baton Rouge. The couple has also established the overall Reilly Family Foundation.[2]
References
- ^ a b "Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812–2012". house.louisiana.gov. http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembers1812_2012.pdf. Retrieved March 13, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d e "Kevin and Dee Dee Reilly receive honorary degrees from LSU". lsu.com. http://www.lsu.com/UNV002.NSF/%28NoteID%29/0EB8760B2EBFB14986256BC3005ADE30?OpenDocument. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ a b Gomez, p. 162
- ^ Gomez, pp. 162–163
- ^ "Louisiana election returns, October 24, 1987". sos.louisiana.gov. http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms2&rqsdta=102487. Retrieved March 14, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Company History". lamarcs.com. http://www.lamarcs.com/history.html. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ "1998 Business Awards". encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P3-29386248.html. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ a b "Lamar—Kevin P. Reilly, Jr., CEO". lamar.com. http://www.lamar.com/main/investor/OfficerBios/Kreilly.htm. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "Fund Race 2008: Kevin P. Reilly, Jr.". fundrace.huffingtonpost.com. http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Reilly&fname=Kevin. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "Kevin Reilly political campaign contributions". campaignmoney.com. http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/kevin-reilly.asp?cycle=08. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "City of Pittsburgh has one hell of an opponent in Lamar Advertising". pittsburgh.indymedia.org. http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2008/04/29278.php. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "Board Member Spotlight: Kevin Reilly". obrienhouse.org. http://www.obrienhouse.org/news/BoardMemberSpotlight-KevinReilly.html. Retrieved March 13, 2010.[dead link]
- Ron Gomez, My Name Is Ron, And I'm a Recovering Legislator: Memoirs of a Louisiana State Representative, Lafayette, Louisiana: Zemog Publishers, 2000, ISBN 0-9700156-0-7
Political offices Preceded by
At-large delegationLouisiana State Representative from District 68 (East Baton Rouge Parish) Kevin P. Reilly, Sr.
1972–1988Succeeded by
Sean ReillyCategories:- 1928 births
- Living people
- People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- People from Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard University alumni
- Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
- Louisiana Democrats
- American businesspeople
- American philanthropists
- American military personnel of the Korean War
- United States Navy officers
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