List of people from Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Politicians

• Larry S. Bankston, lawyer and former state senator, son of Jesse Bankston, D (b. 1951)
• Regina Barrow (b. 1966), member of the Louisiana State Senate, former state representative for East and West Baton Rouge parishes, 2005–2016
• V.J. Bella (b. 1927), former state representative from St. Mary Parish and state fire marshal, based in Baton Rouge, 1990–1992 and 1996–2004, R
• Sherman A. Bernard (1925–2012), state insurance commissioner, 1972–1988; convicted felon, D
• Morton Blackwell (b. 1939), political activist in Louisiana and later Virginia, R
• Mike Branch (b. 1968), state senator and commercial pilot, later of Las Vegas, Nevada, R
• Overton Brooks (1897–1961), U.S. representative, 1937–1961, representing Louisiana's 4th congressional district based about Shreveport, born in Baton Rouge, D
• Chad M. Brown, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Iberville and Assumption parishes, effective January 2016, lives in Plaquemine, former Baton Rouge resident
• H. Rap Brown, African American activist imprisoned in Georgia
• George A. Caldwell, contractor who supervised the construction of twenty-six public buildings in Louisiana; imprisoned in the "Louisiana Hayride" scandals of 1939–1940, D
• Barbara West Carpenter (b. 1943), dean of international relations at Southern University and African-American Democrat state representative from District 63 in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2016
• Bill Cassidy (b. 1957), U.S. senator; U.S. congressman; state senator
• Sally Clausen (b. 1945), former university president and commissioner of Louisiana higher education, retired in Baton Rouge
• Thomas G. Clausen (1939–2002), last person to be elected to the since appointed position of Louisiana education superintendent; St. Mary Parish native and Baton Rouge resident
• Michael Cloud (b. 1975), U.S. representative for Texas
• Luther F. Cole (1925–2013), legislator, judge, state Supreme Court associate justice, D
• Paula Davis (b. 1973), state representative for District 69 in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2015
• William J. "Bill" Dodd (1909–1991), state representative, lieutenant governor, state auditor, member of Louisiana Board of Education, state education superintendent, D
• Gil Dozier, Louisiana agriculture commissioner, 1976–1980; convicted felon, D
• Rick Edmonds, state representative for District 66 in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2016, R
• Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police since 2008, R
• Ronnie Edwards (c. 1952–2016), member of the Baton Rouge Metro Council and the Louisiana House of Representatives in January and February 2016, D
• Jimmy Field, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner (1996–2012), R
• Cleo Fields, U.S. representative for Louisiana
• Jeff Fortenberry, U.S. representative from Nebraska (b. 1960), R
• Mike Futrell, former state representative and Metro Council member, R
• Garret Graves (b. 1972), U.S. representative from Louisiana
• William H. Gray (1941–2013), U.S. representative from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born in Baton Rouge, first African American to serve as a House majority whip, D
• Douglas D. "Doug" Green (b. c. 1950), state insurance commissioner, 1988–1991; convicted felon, D
• Anthony Guarisco Jr. (b. 1938), former state senator from Morgan City; lawyer, formerly practiced in Baton Rouge, D
• Dudley A. Guglielmo (1909–2005), Louisiana insurance commissioner 1964–1972, D
• Betty Heitman, co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, 1983–1987; resided in and died in 1994 in Baton Rouge, R
• Kip Holden, mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish (b. 1952), D
• Barry Ivey (b. 1979), businessman and current member of the Louisiana House from District 65 (b. 1979), R
• Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins (b. 1947), former Louisiana state representative and three-time U.S. Senate candidate, D-turned-R
• Bobby Jindal (b. 1971), governor and Louisiana congressman, R
• Johnnie Jones (1920–2022), member of the Louisiana House, 1972–1976
• Edmond Jordan (b. 1971), member of the Louisiana House since 2016 for District 29 in West and East Baton Rouge parishes
• Edith Killgore Kirkpatrick (1918–2014), former member of Louisiana Board of Regents, D
• Jeannette Knoll (b. 1943), associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court; born in Baton Rouge, resident of Marksville, D
• Fred S. LeBlanc, mayor of Baton Rouge (1941–1944), state attorney general (1944–1948; 1952–1956), D
• Coleman Lindsey (1892–1968), state senator, lieutenant governor, state district court judge, D
• John Maginnis (1948–2014), Louisiana political journalist, author, and commentator; reared and resided in Baton Rouge
• Robert M. Marionneaux (b. 1968), attorney and state senator, D
• Sidney McCrory (1911–1985), entomologist who served as state agriculture commissioner, 1956–1960, D
• Eugene McGehee (1928–2014), member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1960–1972; state district court judge in East Baton Rouge Parish, 1972–1978, D
• Nolan Mettetal (1945–2020), Mississippi state representative
• Henson Moore, U.S. representative from Sixth Congressional District, 1975–1987, R
• W. Spencer Myrick, state legislator from West Carroll Parish, later resided in Baton Rouge, D
• Bob Odom (1935–2014), state agriculture commissioner, 1980–2008, D
• Kenneth Osterberger (1930–2016), member of the Louisiana State Senate from East Baton Rouge Parish, 1972–1992; defeated David Duke in 1975, D-turned-R
• Jessel Ourso, colorful, controversial sheriff of Iberville Parish, began his career in law enforcement in the middle 1950s as a Baton Rouge municipal police officer, D
• John Victor Parker (1928–2014), judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, 1979–2014
• Edward Grady Partin (1924–1990), Teamsters Union figure, D
• Tony Perkins (b. 1963), former state representative and president of the Family Research Council, R
• Ralph Perlman, Louisiana state budget director, 1967–1988
• Melvin Rambin, mayor of Monroe, 2000–2001; former banker in Baton Rouge, interred at Roselawn Memorial Park in Baton Rouge, R
• Buddy Roemer, former governor and Baton Rouge businessman (b. 1943), I
• Frank P. Simoneaux, member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for East Baton Rouge Parish, 1972–1982; lawyer in Baton Rouge, D
• Patricia Haynes Smith, state representative for District 67 in East Baton Rouge Parish since 2008
• Mason Spencer, state representative from Madison Parish, 1924–1936, born in Baton Rouge in 1892, D
• Raymond Strother, political consultant, lived in Baton Rouge, 1960–1980, D
• Zachary Taylor, military leader and the twelfth President of the United States(1784–1850), W
• David Treen, former Louisiana governor (1928–2009), born in Baton Rouge, R
• Lillian W. Walker, former state representative (1964–1972), D
• Gus Weill, public relations consultant, author, television host, D
• John C. White, Louisiana education superintendent since 2012, I
• Mack A. "Bodi" White Jr., state representative since 2004, R
• J. Robert Wooley, insurance commissioner, 2000–2006; attorney with Adams & Reese in Baton Rouge, D

Military commanders

• Robert H. Barrow, 27th commandant of the Marine Corps, 1979–1983 (1922–2008)
• Paris Davis, U.S. Army special forces colonel and recipient of the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War
• Stephen O. Fuqua, major general who served as U.S. Army Chief of Infantry
• Russel Honoré, general, U.S. Army, known for Hurricane Katrina relief
• John A. Lejeune, 13th commandant of the Marine Corps, 1920–1929 (1867–1942)
• Junius Wallace Jones, major general, U.S. Air Force, first inspector-general of the Air Force (1890–1977)
• Homer L. Wise, Medal of Honor recipient during World War II

Intellectuals

• Louis Berry (1914–1998), civil rights attorney and dean of Southern University Law Center, 1972–1974
• David French Boyd (1834–1899), former president and professor at LSU
• John R. Conniff, New Orleans and Baton Rouge educator who served as president of Louisiana Tech University, 1926–1928
• Edwin Adams Davis, Louisiana historian
• Alma Dawson, scholar of librarianship. Russell B. Long Professor, School of Library & Information Science, Louisiana State University
• Mike Dunne (1949–2007), environmental reporter for the Morning Advocate
• John Guckenheimer, mathematician, Cornell University
• Kaylee Hartung, CBS News correspondent (b. 1985)
• George Hilton Jones III (1924–2008), Rhodes scholar, author, historian, and professor of history
• Stephan Kinsella, intellectual property lawyer and libertarian legal theorist (b. 1965)
• Charles H. Loeb, journalist
• John L. Loos, historian
• Mary Elizabeth Moore, Methodist theologian, author, and Boston University School of Theology dean
• Arthur T. Prescott (1863–1942), LSU administrator, founding president of Louisiana Tech University
• Jesse N. Stone (1924–2001), president of the Southern University System, 1974–1985; civil rights attorney
• Eric Voegelin (1901–1985), political theorist and professor at LSU
• Eugene Wigner, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and emeritus professor at Louisiana State University
• Mary Bushnell Williams (1826-1891), author, poet, translator
• T. Harry Williams, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor at LSU

Criminals

• Larry S. Bankston (b. 1951), racketeer
• Sean Vincent Gillis (b. 1962), serial killer
• John Allen Muhammad (1960–2009), serial killer and one of the two D.C. Snipers
• Gary Plauché (1945–2014), vigilante murderer
• Barry Seal (1939–1986), drug trafficker for the Medellín Cartel

Other

• Julie Cantrell (b. 1973), bestselling novelist and editor
• Isiah Carey (b. 1970), radio and television broadcast journalist and reporter, known for the "Reporter Goes Ghetto" YouTube video
• Ralph Eggleston, animator at Pixar and director of the Academy Award-winning short film For the Birds
• Yaser Esam Hamdi (b. 1980), captured while fighting in Afghanistan with the Taliban in 2001; known for the Supreme Court case Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
• Todd Graves, entrepreneur and founder of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
• Don Lemon, news anchor and journalist
• Ryan Williams, entrepreneur and founder of Cadre
• Barry Seal, Medellín Cartel drug trafficker
• Jimmy Swaggart (b. 1935), Pentecostal televangelist, singer, pianist, pastor, author, and head of his eponymous named Bible college
• Matt Tullos (b. 1963), writer and minister
• Rani Whitfield, physician, broadcaster and author

References

External links

• Baton Rouge Digital Archive