About the District
Louisiana’s Senate District 23 stretches across the heart of Lafayette Parish from its Northwestern to Southeastern borders, encompassing most of the City of Lafayette, along with Broussard, Milton, Youngsville, Scott and Ossun. The seat is currently served by Senate President Page Cortez, who is not seeking re-election due to term limits. It’s a conservative district, and its residents, employers and institutions truly are the “Hub” of Acadiana, driving the greater economy. District 23 is home to UL Lafayette, South Louisiana Community College, several hospitals and businesses large and small, with many hard-working families calling the area home.
Jean-Paul grew up in the district, spending his early childhood near Prairie Elementary where he started school, watching Ambassador Caffery expand to five lanes and caring for horses and rabbits in an open field that is now home to Wal-Mart. He made his first communion at St. Edmond’s Catholic Church, and often attended Mass in the chapel at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, where his father worked as a Radiologist and showed Jean-Paul how to read x-rays and other cutting edge imaging equipment. He later moved near Girard Park, where Jean-Paul had the freedom to explore not only the park, but UL’s campus, the Oil Center and any place he could access on his bicycle – including the Vermilion River and Hub City Diner for malts on Saturday afternoons. Today he lives near the Oil Center and his family enjoys the same neighborhood hot spots.