Art Lentini

Arthur Joseph “Art” Lentini

* * *

Louisiana State Senator for
District 10 (Jefferson Parish)

In office
1996 - January 14, 2008
Preceded by  |  Hank Lauricella
Succeeded by  |  Danny Martiny

* * *

Born  |  March 23, 1953
Place of birth missing

Resident of Kenner in Jefferson Parish

Political party  |  Republican
Spouse(s)  |  Stephany Jones Lentini

Parents:
Anthony Raymond, Sr., and Margaret Ellen Bahlar Lentini

Alma mater |  East Jefferson High School

Louisiana State University
LSU Law School

Occupation  |  Attorney

United States Army

Religion  |  Roman Catholic

Arthur Joseph Lentini, known as Art Lentini (born March 23, 1953), is an attorney in Metairie in suburban New Orleans, Louisiana, who served from 1996 to 2008 as a Republican state senator for District 10 in Jefferson Parish.[1] For eight years he was the Senate parliamentarian.[2] He was term-limited in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007.

## Background[edit]

Lentini is the second of five children of United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Raymond "Tony" Lentini, Sr. ( 1924-2017), and the former Margaret Ellen Bahlar (1929-2007).[3]

He graduated in 1971 from East Jefferson High School in Metairie and thereafter received his Bachelor of Arts and law degrees from Louisiana State University in the capital city of Baton Rouge. He attended the United States Army Infantry Officer's School and was a member of the Army Reserve from 1974 to 1980. From 1978 to 1986, he was an assistant district attorney for Jefferson Parish. From 1988 to 1992, he was the House District 79 member of the Republican State Central Committee. Lentini is a Roman Catholic. Married to the former Stephany Jones, he resides in Kenner, also in Jefferson Parish.

## Career[edit]

On his Senate retirement, The New Orleans Times-Picayune declared that Lentini: "wore the white hat... His most visible display of integrity came not in lecturing lawmakers via the news media on their shortcomings, but in his eight years as Senate parliamentarian. In the frenzy of lawmaking, he had to decide who was and was not following the rules of debate, without regard to whether their politics agreed with his. So straight was he that he demurred on parliamentary questions when the subject at hand was one of his own bills, instead deferring to the Senate president."[4]

In his initial election for an open seat in 1995 created by the retirement of Democratic Senator Francis Edward "Hank" Lauricella (1930-2014),[1] a former professional football player. Lentini defeated fellow Republican Betty Bonura, 17,327 votes (53.6 percent) to 14,992 (46.4 percent).[5] Bonura essentially did not live in the district.[4]

Lentini was unopposed in the 1999 primary. In 2003, he handily defeated fellow Republican Stephen Rue, 21,018 (71.3 percent) to 8,474 (28.7 percent).[6] In the campaign, it was revealed that Rue was delinquent on the payment of $230,000 in federal payroll and income taxes.[4]

Lentini served as the chairman of the Judiciary "A" Committee and served on the Finance and Insurance committees and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.[2]

As his term wound down, Lentini again pushed successfully for the abolition of cockfighting in Louisiana. In 1990, state Representative Garey Forster, a New Orleans Republican, had introduced two bills, one to ban the practice outright and another to reclassify fowl as "animals" so that they could secure the protection of animal-cruelty laws.[7] Upon his arrival in the Senate, Lentini sought to make gambling at cockfights a crime and worked to obtain the legislative votes to outlaw the practice.[8]

Lentini called the practice "very bad for our image, and it's cruel to the animals."[9] Louisiana was the last of the fifty states to ban cockfighting.[10]

A pro-life advocate, Lentini was in 2004 a visible Senate critic of cloning for reproduction and research purposes. He sponsored a bill that would ban both types of cloning; however, the legislature decided to forbid reproductive cloning but allow research based on the possibility of finding cures for Parkinson's disease, juvenile diabetes, and other diseases.[11]

In 2007, Lentini qualified to run for a second time as sheriff of Jefferson Parish on the death of the long-term Democratic incumbent Harry Lee. In 1987, Lee had defeated Lentini in the general election, 60,887 (53.9 percent) to Lentini's 52,142 (46.1 percent).[12] [13] However, Lentini withdrew from consideration, and the Moderate Republican Newell D. Normand won the race with 91 percent of the ballots. Normand had the support of the Lee family, which is otherwise staunchly Democrat.

In 2017, Sheriff Normand resigned his office to become a radio talk show host and was succeeded by the Republican former state Representative Joe Lopinto, a candidate in the March 24 special election to complete the remainder of Normand's term through July 2020.[14]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Membership in the Louisiana Senate (1880 - Present). Louisiana State Senate. Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Arthur J. Lentini, artlentini.com, no longer available on Internet.
3. ↑ Anthony Lentini obituary. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (October 22, 2017). Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Drew Broach, "We'll miss Art Lentini's brand of service", February 4, 2008. nola.com. Retrieved on December 9, 2009.
5. ↑ Election Returns. Louisiana Secretary of State (October 21, 1995). Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
6. ↑ Election Returns. Louisiana Secretary of State (October 4, 2003). Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
7. ↑ Garry Boulard (June 14, 1990). Regional Report: Custom Survives: Cockfighting Dies Slow Death in Tradition-Bound Louisiana. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
8. ↑ Humane Society Calls on Louisiana Lawmakers to Stop Appeasing Cockfighting Interests. hsus.org (June 17, 2007). Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
9. ↑ Maryann Mott, "Cockfighting's Days Are Numbered in U.S.", June 13, 2007. news.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved on December 9, 2009.
10. ↑ Louisiana State House Passes Cockfighting Ban. wafb.com. Retrieved on October 17, 2009.
11. ↑ Louisiana Senate Committee Approves Cloning Ban Bill That Would Allow Cloning for Research Purposes, May 14, 2004. kaisernetwork.org. Retrieved on December 9, 2009.
12. ↑ Election Returns. Louisiana Secretary of State (November 17, 2007). Retrieved on February 15, 2018.
13. ↑ State Sen. Art Lentini qualifies for Jefferson Parish Sheriff's race. blognola.com. Retrieved on December 9, 2009.
14. ↑ Jim Mustian and Faimon Roberts, III (January 6, 2018). In heated Jefferson sheriff race, candidates battle over whose experience is better. The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved on January 7, 2018.