Chuck McMains

Francis Charles "Chuck" McMains, Jr.
Louisiana House of Representatives (District 69)
In office 1992–2001
Preceded by	Edward Clark Gaudin
Succeeded by	Gary James Beard
Personal details
Born	October 14, 1948 (1948-10-14) (age 63) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Lynn Coit McMains
Occupation	Attorney, businessman, lobbyist
Religion	Methodist

Francis Charles "Chuck" McMains, Jr. (born October 14, 1948), is a Baton Rouge attorney and businessman who was a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992–2001, having represented District 69 (East Baton Rouge Parish). In 1996, McMains made an unsuccessful race for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Democrat J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.

He was born in Baton Rouge to Dr. and Mrs. Frank McMains, Sr. He graduated in 1966 from University High School in Baton Rouge. He procured a bachelor of arts degree from Louisiana State University in 1970 and a Juris Doctor in 1973 from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He also holds Certified Life Underwriter designation in the life insurance field.

McMains is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana, vice president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and a past chairman of the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce. He is a past president of the Baton Rouge Symphony and Public Radio of Baton Rouge. He also holds membership in Rotary International and the Louisiana Council for Fiscal Reform. He has been chairman of the Civil Justice Reform Committee of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. He is a lobbyist for ICF International, a high-powered global professional services firm, as well as American Express, the Property and Casualty Insurance Association of America, ATT and the US Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform, among others.

McMains entered the jungle primary on October 19, 1991, against four opponents seeking to succeed the retiring State Representative Edward Clark Gaudin, the first Republican legislator from East Baton Rouge Parish since Reconstruction. McMains led the primary balloting with 4,600 votes (38 percent). Fellow Republican James "Jim" Talbot finished second with 3,729 ballots (31 percent); in third place was Republican Jefferson "Jeff" Angers, with 2,908 ballots (24 percent). Only 7 percent of voters in the heavily Republican 69th District voted Democratic, with their ballots split among two minor candidates.

In the second balloting on November 16, 1991, McMains defeated Talbot, 7,015 (53 percent) to 6,314 (47 percent). McMains was reelected in the 1995 primary with 10,502 votes (87 percent) to the Democrat Tommy L. Reese's 1,524 ballots (13 percent). McMains was unopposed for his third term in 1999.

A conservative reform legislator, McMains became the House floor leader for Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr. In that role, McMains championed a comprehensive legislative package attacking abuses in Louisiana's civil justice system. Among other measures, his bills repealed punitive damages, strict liability and joint and several liability. He also authored a comprehensive revision of Louisiana's class action articles and eliminated litigation instituted by Mayor Marc Morial's New Orleans administration attempting to severely curtail citizens' Second Amendment rights to bear arms. McMains was also heavily involved in "Progress Louisiana," Foster's effort to replace Mike Francis as the chair of the state's Republican State Central Committee. McMains briefly served as chair of the party himself in 2000. McMains resigned from the legislature midway through his third term in the summer of 2001 to join the law firm of Jones Walker in its Baton Rouge office. McMains and Foster supported David Boneno, a member of the Baton Rouge metro council, as McMains' successor. Boneno, however, was defeated by Gary J. Beard, who ran on an anti-tax platform and also enjoyed the support of the Louisiana Christian Coalition.

In the U.S. Senate election held on September 21, 1996, McMains polled 45,164 votes (4 percent) in a 15-candidate field. The top two votegetters, Republican Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge and Mary Landrieu of New Orleans then competed in the November general election. Landrieu emerged as the narrow but disputed winner.

McMains is married to the former Mary Lynn Coit. He is Methodist.

References

• http://www.enlou.com/officeholders/housedistrict69.htm
• http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10199117
• http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11169117
• http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10219517
• http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms2&rqsdta=092196
• http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20010827c
• http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2003_fall/tort_reform.htm
• http://www.joneswalker.com/spanish/news/news_template.asp?ID=10425610302003
• http://house.legis.state.la.us/housefiscal/Publications/SCOFA/scofa_main.htm

Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by Edward Clark Gaudin (R)	Louisiana State Representative from District 69 (East Baton Rouge Parish) Francis Charles "Chuck" McMains, Jr. (R) 1992–2001	Succeeded by Gary James Beard (R)

Persondata
Name	Macmains, Chuck
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 14, 1948
Place of birth	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Date of death
Place of death