Willie Mount

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title: "Willie Mount" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1949-births", "20th-century-mayors-of-places-in-louisiana", "methodists-from-louisiana", "mayors-of-lake-charles,-louisiana", "women-mayors-of-places-in-louisiana", "businesspeople-from-louisiana", "living-people", "democratic-party-louisiana-state-senators", "mcneese-state-university-alumni", "politicians-from-lake-charles,-louisiana", "women-state-legislators-in-louisiana", "20th-century-american-women-politicians", "21st-century-american-women-politicians", "candidates-in-the-2004-united-states-elections", "20th-century-american-businesspeople", "members-of-the-junior-league", "21st-century-members-of-the-louisiana-state-legislature"] description: "American politician from Louisiana" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Mount" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician from Louisiana ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
image	Mayor Willie Mount.jpg
caption	Mount as Mayor of Lake Charles
state_senate1	Louisiana
district1	27th
term_start1	January 10, 2000
term_end1	January 2012
predecessor1	James J. Cox
succeeded1	Ronnie Johns
order2	25th Mayor of Lake Charles, Louisiana
term_start2	July 1, 1993
term_end2	December 1999
predecessor2	James Sudduth
successor2	Rodney Geyen (interim)
Randy Roach
party	Democratic
birth_name	Willie Landry
birth_date
birth_place	Lake Charles, Louisiana
residence	Lake Charles, Louisiana
alma_mater	McNeese State University (BBA, 1974)
occupation	Businesswoman
spouse	Benjamin Mount
::

|image = Mayor Willie Mount.jpg |imagesize = |caption= Mount as Mayor of Lake Charles |state_senate1=Louisiana |district1=27th |term_start1=January 10, 2000 |term_end1=January 2012 |predecessor1 = James J. Cox |succeeded1=Ronnie Johns |order2 = 25th Mayor of Lake Charles, Louisiana |term_start2 = July 1, 1993 |term_end2 = December 1999 |predecessor2 = James Sudduth |successor2 = Rodney Geyen (interim) Randy Roach |party= Democratic |birth_name= Willie Landry |birth_date= |birth_place=Lake Charles, Louisiana |residence=Lake Charles, Louisiana |death_date= |death_place= |resting_place= |alma_mater=McNeese State University (BBA, 1974) |occupation= Businesswoman |spouse= Benjamin Mount |website = Willie Landry Mount (born August 25, 1949) is an American politician from Louisiana who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 2000 to 2012. She represented District 27, which includes parts of her native Lake Charles and the surrounding cities of Sulphur and Westlake. From 1993 to 1999, Mount was the first woman to serve as the mayor of Lake Charles.

Mount was a candidate in the 2004 U.S. House of Representatives election for Louisiana's 7th congressional district. She was defeated by Republican Charles Boustany in a contested general election campaign that received national attention.

Personal life

In 1974, Mount obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from McNeese State University in Lake Charles. She owned a small business and worked as a real estate agent and pharmaceutical representative for Lederle Laboratories. Mount resides in her hometown with her husband, attorney Benjamin Mount; they have no children.

Career

Mount had been active in community work through organizations such as the Junior League of Lake Charles, and ran for mayor of Lake Charles in 1993. She defeated Paul Savoie, a Democrat and a former mayor. During her tenure she served as president of the Louisiana Conference of Mayors and supported restoration efforts following hurricanes.

She co-sponsored the building of an Amtrak station, modeled after an older station that had been destroyed in a fire. In an effort to succeed retiring state senator James J. Cox, Mount announced her Senate candidacy on October 19, 1999, while addressing the Calcasieu Parish School Board, whose support she sought. Upon being elected, Mount resigned as mayor and City Council President Rodney Geyen took over the office.

In the senate, Mount served on a variety of committees, chairing the Senate Committees on Coastal Restoration and Flood Control, Revenue and Fiscal Affairs, and also serving as vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Education. In 2008, she became chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. Mount often sponsors legislation regarding health and public service. This includes bills intended to identify sex offenders and enact term limits for various boards and commissions. She was responsible for passing these term limits as an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution, as SB 232 on November 4, 2008. Mount also sponsored legislation to merge New Orleans criminal and civil district courts, create a childhood and family learning center, couple the opening of new hospice care providers with inspections of existing ones, allow police to suspend driver's licenses of teenagers with problems at school, and create a state-run internet database providing information on the quality of health care providers. Mount was responsible for legislation that made Louisiana water fluoridation mandatory, and, in her capacity as chair of the Senate Health committee, Mount in 2008 declared major Louisiana health care reform unlikely without prior federal reform. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Willie_Mount_vehicle_registration_plate_Louisiana_Senate_2008-2012.jpg" caption="Willie Mount 2008–2012 session license plate"] ::

As senator, Mount raised funds for health care facilities (Mount had herself roasted in support of the Southwest Louisiana Center for Health Services). Mount is a member of a number of boards and charitable organisations and provides an annual compilation of "Louisiana positives" about Louisiana's standing in national ratings. Because of term limits, Mount was eligible to serve as a state senator until 2012.

2004 congressional race

Mount ran for Congress in 2004 to succeed Chris John, who instead ran for the United States Senate but lost to Republican David Vitter. She positioned herself as a Conservative Democrat who supported balanced budgets and conservative social views, emphasizing job creation, health care and her opposition to offshoring. Her major Democratic opponent in the jungle primary was African American State Senator Don Cravins Sr., the father of another lawmaker, Don Cravins Jr. of Opelousas. Her major Republican opponent was Charles Boustany, a retired heart surgeon from Lafayette, who ran on a platform of preventing tax increases and passing a new energy bill. Polls taken in late October had shown Boustany, Cravins and Mount statistically tied, and the election was hotly contested.

In the first ballot on November 2, 2004, Boustany and Mount garnered the most votes; Cravins was defeated by less than two thousand votes. As both fell short of a majority, a second ballot was mandated. In the subsequent campaign, Mount criticized Boustany for favoring tax cuts for the rich and being indifferent to health care, while Boustany rejected the attacks as false and stressed his willingness to work with Democrats and Independents. Boustany in turn portrayed Mount as liberal and favoring tax increases. Mount criticized Boustany for favoring the privatization of social security, an unpopular position in Louisiana, and as distant from the interests of individual voters. She received endorsements from U.S. Senator John Breaux, who had represented the 7th district for over fourteen years, and Governor Kathleen Blanco. Boustany was helped by Vice President Dick Cheney, who campaigned on his behalf in Lake Charles. Cravins prepared a suit in federal court claiming that the state Democratic Party violated the Voting Rights Act.

In the general election on December 4, 2004, Boustany defeated Mount, 55 percent to 45 percent in an election with low voter turnout. Another detriment for Mount mentioned was the strong support for George W. Bush in the presidential election against John Kerry in the district, which he carried by about 60 percent of the vote.

Following her defeat for Congress, Mount ruled out another campaign for the House seat, but she said she may later seek another statewide office. When Mount left the Senate in 2012, she was succeeded by a Democrat-turned-Republican, former State Representative Ronnie Johns of Sulphur, who ran unopposed for the open seat.

Campaign for tax assessor

In 2011, Mount announced her candidacy for tax assessor of Calcasieu Parish. She received 13,477 votes (38.3 percent) in the primary held on October 22 and promptly withdrew from the November 19 general election. Victory hence went to the acting assessor, Wendy Curphy Aguillard, an Independent who led the primary balloting with 17,208 votes (48.9 percent). A third candidate, Republican Mike Regan, was also eliminated in the primary, having received the remaining 4,538 votes (12.9 percent).

Electoral history

Mayor, City of Lake Charles, 1993

Threshold 50%

First Ballot, April 3, 1993

::data[format=table]

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Willie Landry Mount	Democratic	7,106 (35.67%)	Run-off
Paul A. Savoie Sr.	Democratic	4,853 (24.36%)	Run-off
Mark T. Abraham	Independent	4,547 (22.83%)	Defeated
"Ken" Schexnider	Democratic	3,413 (17.13%)	Defeated
::

Second Ballot, May 1, 1993

::data[format=table]

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Willie Landry Mount	Democratic	10,429 (52.46%)	Elected
Paul A. Savoie Sr.	Democratic	9,451 (47.54%)	Defeated
::

Mount was unopposed for a second term as mayor.

Louisiana State Senator, 27th Senatorial District, 1999

October 23, 1999

::data[format=table]

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Willie Landry Mount	Democratic	23,271 (80.15%)	Elected
Anita Fields	Democratic	4,240 (14.60%)	Defeated
Thimothy "Thimco" Francis Sr.	Independent	1,522 (5.24%)	Defeated
::

Mount was unopposed on October 4, 2003, and October 20, 2007, for her second and third term as state senator.

U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional District, 2004

Threshold 50%

First Ballot, November 2, 2004

::data[format=table]

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Boustany Jr.	Republican	105,761 (38.61%)	Run-off
Willie Landry Mount	Democratic	69,079 (25.22%)	Run-off
"Don" Cravins	Democratic	67,389 (24.60%)	Defeated
David Thibodaux	Republican	26,526 (9.68%)	Defeated
Malcolm R. Carriere	Democratic	5,177 (1.89%)	Defeated
::

Second Ballot, December 4, 2004

::data[format=table]

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Boustany Jr.	Republican	75,039 (54.96%)	Elected
Willie Landry Mount	Democratic	61,493 (45.04%)	Defeated
::

References

References

1. (2003). "Willie L. Mount Biography - Archive". Louisiana State Senate.
2. (1999). "James J. Cox - Archive". Louisiana State Senate.
3. (2007-10-15). "History of Lake Charles". City of Lake Charles.
4. "Willie Landry Mount (D)". The Washington Post.
5. "Senator Willie L. Mount - Biography". Project Vote Smart.
6. Bordelon, Kathie. (June 2007). "Mayor Willie Mount Collection". McNeese State University.
7. "H.R. 701 AND H.R. 798 - Field hearings before the Committee on Resources". United States House of Representatives.
8. (2007-10-16). "Sunset Limited Amtrak Station". City of Lake Charles.
9. (1999-10-19). "Tuesday, October 19, 1999". Calcasieu Parish Public Schools.
10. (2008-04-29). "Rodney Geyen, District C". City of Lake Charles.
11. (2004). "Willie L. Mount Committees - Archive". Louisiana State Senate.
12. (2007). "Willie L. Mount Committees - Archive". Louisiana State Senate.
13. (2003). "Willie L. Mount Committees - Archive". Louisiana State Senate.
14. (2008). "Willie L. Mount Committees". Louisiana State Senate.
15. Anderson, Ed. (2006-05-19). "Senate OKs licenses identifying sex offenders". The Times-Picayune.
16. Anderson, Ed. (2008-03-24). "New Orleans lawmaker wants to raise legal smoking age to 21". The Times-Picayune.
17. Anderson, Ed. (2008-10-20). "Seven amendments on Nov. 4 ballot". The Times-Picayune.
18. "Elections Division". Louisiana Secretary of State.
19. Filosa, Gwen. (2007-12-27). "Lawsuit attempts to block merger of Orleans courts". The Times-Picayune.
20. Dungca, Nicole. (2008-07-16). "Family services site gets Jindal nod". The Times-Picayune.
21. (2008-06-13). "Briefing Book". The Times-Picayune.
22. Anderson, Ed. (2008-06-03). "Bill would aid some red-light runners". The Times-Picayune.
23. (2008-06-22). "Briefing Book". The Times-Picayune.
24. Ballard, Mark. (2008-05-29). "House panel OKs fluoride bill". The Advocate (Baton Rouge).
25. (2008-07-06). "SB312 - 2008 Regular Session (Act 761)". Louisiana State Senate.
26. Moller, Jan. (2009-12-19). "Health panel OKs Jindal plan". The Times-Picayune.
27. (2004-06-17). "It's Roast for Dinner!". The Times of Southwest Louisiana.
28. "Louisiana State Senate Term Limits". Louisiana State Senate.
29. Stout, David. (2004-12-06). "Congressman's Son Trails in Close Race". The New York Times.
30. "Willie Landry Mount". KLFY-TV.
31. (April 2012). "Leaders of the Pack". The Times of Southwest Louisiana}} {{Dead link.
32. (2009-11-03). "Louisiana district to be decided in December". CNN.
33. Courreges, Patrick. (2009-01-10). "La. senator to make bid for Congress". The Advocate (Baton Rouge).
34. Stout, David. (2004-12-04). "Louisianians to Vote on Last 2 House Seats". The New York Times.
35. Nossiter, Adam. (2004-12-04). "Low turnout expected in final two runoff elections in Louisiana". North County Times.
36. (2004-12-04). "Cheney lends hand in Louisiana races". The Washington Times.
37. (2004). "Lord Boustany (2004)". Louisiana Democratic Party.
38. Maginnis, John. (April 2012). "Open Primary's Victims Want To Close It". The Times of Southwest Louisiana}} {{Dead link.
39. Savodnik, Peter. (April 2024). "Civil-rights suit could sink Mount". The Hill}}{{dead link.
40. (2004-12-05). "GOP, Democrats Trade House Seats in La. Runoffs". The Washington Post.
41. Wilson, Reid. (2006-01-31). "The Futures Market: Louisiana". National Journal.
42. "Mount concedes assessor's race to Aguillard". sulphurdailynews.com.
43. "Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 2011". staticresults.sos.la.gov.
44. "2004 Primary Election Results". Louisiana State Senate.
45. "2008 Primary Election Results". Louisiana State Senate.

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