Jody Amedee

Lee Joseph Amedee III,^[1] known as Jody Amedee (born December 1967),^[2] is an attorney from Gonzales, Louisiana, who is a Republican former member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 18, which encompasses portions of Ascension, Livingston, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes.^[3]

Amedee graduated from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux and the historically black Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. Early in his career he was a law clerk in the Louisiana Senate. He is a former assistant district attorney for the 23rd Judicial District and the attorney for the Ascension Parish Tourist Commission. Amedee has been active in various sports organizations, including time as a coach of basketball and soccer. He is a member of the National Rifle Association, the National Wildlife Turkey Federation, the East Ascension Sportsman League, and Ducks Unlimited. He is Roman Catholic.^[4]

Amedee was elected to the first of his senatorial terms in 2003 as a Democrat. He led the six-candidate field with 12,413 votes (27.2 percent). The runner up was fellow Democrat Jeff Diez, who received 11,323 votes (24.8 percent). Two Republicans, Mark Stermer and Warren Harang, III, shared 30 percent of the vote. Two other Democrats held a combined 18 percent of the ballots.^[3] In the second balloting on November 15, Amedee defeated Diez, 24,190 (51.6 percent) to 22,668 (48.4 percent).^[5] Amedee was unopposed for his second term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007.

In March 2011, Amedee switched to GOP affiliation, and the Republicans gained numerical control of the state Senate.^[4] He serves on the committees of (1) Environmental Quality, (2) Natural Resources as chairman, (3) Senate and Governmental Affairs, (4) Homeland Security, and (5) Veterans Affairs.^[6] In 2010, Amedee supported the interest group, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, 58 percent of the time. The Louisiana Family Forum gave him an 80 percent rating. In 2009, he was ranked 100 percent by the Louisiana Right to Life Federation.^[7]

Amedee and his wife, the former Jancy L. Berthelot, formerly of Orange Beach, Alabama, have three children.^[4]

Amedee was term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 24, 2015. He was succeeded in January 2016 by outgoing District 59 State Representative Eddie J. Lambert, another Republican. Lambert ran unopposed for the Amedee Senate seat.^[8]

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