John Milkovich

John Milkovich is an American politician and attorney from the state of Louisiana. A Democrat, Milkovich represented the 38th district of the Louisiana State Senate, based in southern Shreveport, from 2016 until 2020.[1]

John Milkovich
Member of the Louisiana Senate
from the 38th district
In office
January 11, 2016 – January 13, 2020
Preceded bySherri Smith Buffington
Succeeded byBarry Milligan
Personal details
BornRoundup, Montana, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Carola
Children1
ResidenceKeithville, Louisiana
EducationUniversity of Montana, B.S.
Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D.
WebsiteCampaign website

Career

Milkovich was born and raised in Roundup, Montana, and went to the University of Montana.[2] After obtaining his J.D. at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Milkovich worked as a judicial clerk for Fred C. Sexton Jr. of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Milkovich has also been an attorney at law since 1985.[3]

Political history

Milkovich ran for Louisiana's 4th congressional district in 2002, losing in a landslide to Republican incumbent Jim McCrery.[3]

In 2015, Milkovich announced he would run for the 38th district of the Louisiana State Senate, vacated by term-limited Republican Sherri Smith Buffington.[4] After failing to win a majority in the first round, Milkovich defeated state representative Richie Burford in the runoff with 52% of the vote.[5]

Milkovich was defeated in his bid for a second term in 2019 by Republican Barry Milligan, who won a majority in the first round.[6]

Comments on vaccines

On April 29, 2019, during a vote on Senator Regina Barrow's legislation to expand a state immunization database, Milkovich caused controversy by repeating unscientific and debunked claims about vaccinations and autism. Among other things, Milkovich claimed that "tissue from aborted babies is now used in vaccines" and that "autism did not exist" when he and another senator were growing up, both of which have been repeatedly proven false.[7][8] Although no lawmaker responded to Milkovich on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor, later called Milkovich's comments "fake news."[9]

gollark: *dun dun dün*
gollark: Siyat = weird easier ND
gollark: I find it a bit boring because you basically just only answer issues.
gollark: Oh, NationStates!
gollark: x e n o w y r m

References
  1. "John Milkovich". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  2. "Meet John". John Milkovich, Louisiana Senate. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  3. "John Milkovich's Biography". VoteSmart. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  4. Michelli McKnight (June 23, 2015). "Milkovich makes Senate run official". KTBS3. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. Lex Talamo (November 21, 2015). "Milkovich wins Senate District 38". Shreveport Times. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  6. John Walton, Sam Jovic (October 12, 2019). "Milkovich ousted; Republican Milligan wins District 38 State Senate race". ArkLaTex Homepage. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  7. Sam Karlin (April 29, 2019). "Louisiana senator links vaccines, autism on Senate floor; officials say 'myth' causes measles resurgence". The Advocate. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  8. Jonathan Freeman (April 30, 2019). "LA State Senator Milkovich claims vaccines cause Autism during legislative session". MyArkLaMiss. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  9. Elizabeth Crisp (April 30, 2019). "Sen. Bill Cassidy defends vaccines after state lawmaker makes autism claims: 'That's fake news'". The Advocate. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.