Jefferson D. Hughes, III

Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Hughes, III
Associate Justice (Place 5) of the Louisiana Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office February 1, 2013
Preceded by	Catherine D. Kimball
Judge of the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the 1st Circuit, Third District, Division C
In office 2005–2013
Preceded by	Brady M. Fitzsimmons
Succeeded by	Ernest Drake
Judge of the Louisiana 21st Judicial District Court for Division F (Livingston, St. Helena, and Tangipahoa parishes)
In office January 1, 1991 – December 31, 2004
Preceded by	Joseph E. "Joe Eddie" Anzalone, Jr.
Succeeded by	Elizabeth "Beth" Wolfe
Personal details
Born	January 1952 (age 72) Louisiana, U.S.
Political party	Democrat-turned-Republican
Parents	Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson Hughes, Jr.
Residence	Walker, Livingston Parish Louisiana
Alma mater	Denham Springs High School Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Law Center
Occupation	Judge; Attorney
Religion	Pentecostal Church

Jefferson Davis Hughes, III, known as Jeff Hughes (born January 1952), has been since 2013 a Republican associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Biography

Hughes was reared in Denham Springs in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. He graduated from Denham Springs High School, at which he participated in four sports and was his class salutatorian and a National Merit Scholarship finalist. He attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on an academic scholarship and received a Bachelor of Arts in History with honors. At the Louisiana State University Law Center, he worked on The Louisiana Law Review.

After time as a clerk for Judge Frank Polozola of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, he worked in private practice in Baton Rouge with the firm of Adcock, Dupree, and Shows. He then practiced solo and subsequently became the first attorney to practice in Walker in Livingston Parish.

After twelve years of private practice he was elected in 1990 as a Democrat to the 21st Judicial District Court (Division F) on which he served for fourteen years. He succeeded another Democrat, Joseph E. "Joe Eddie" Anzalone, Jr. (1935-2010) of Hamond in Tangipahoa Parish. He was last elected to the district court in a runoff election in 2002 with fellow Republican Robert H. Harrison, Jr. In that race, Hughes polled 31,042 votes (61.5 percent) to Harrison's 19,436 (38.5 percent).

In 2004, Hughes, with four year remaining in his district court term, was elected to the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the First Circuit, on which he sat for eight years. In that contest, as a Republican candidate, Hughes unseated the incumbent Republican judge, Brady M. Fitzsimmons, 41,926 votes (51.4 percent) to 39,670 (48.6 percent).

Elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2012, Hughes defeated the Democrat John Michael Guidry, an African-American judge of the First Circuit, Second District, appeal court who formerly served in both the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana State Senate. In the nonpartisan blanket primary, Guidry led the eight-candidate field with 93,119 votes (27.5 percent); Hughes trailed with 71,911 (21.2 percent). Four other Republicans held 35 percent of the vote; another Democrat, 14.8 percent, and an Independent, less than 1 percent. In the lower-turnout runoff contest on December 8, 2012, Hughes defeated Guidry, 52,939 votes (52.8 percent) to 47,259 (47.2 percent), to claim the ten-year term on the Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Catherine D. Kimball, the chief justice in her last years on the tribunal.

Justice Hughes resides in Walker and attends the Shady Bower Pentecostal Church there.

References

Legal offices
Preceded by Joseph E. "Joe Eddie" Anzalone, Jr.	Judge of the Louisiana 21st Judicial District Court Division F (Livingston, St. Helena, and Tangipahoa parishes) Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Hughes, III 1991–2004	Succeeded by Elizabeth "Beth" Wolfe
Preceded by Brady M. Fitzsimmons	Judge of the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the 1st Circuit, Third District, Division C 2005-2013	Succeeded by Ernest Drake
Preceded by Catherine D. Kimball	Associate Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court (Place 5) 2013-present	Succeeded by Incumbent