Beth Mizell

Mary Beth Sherman Mizell (born January 1952),[1] is a businesswoman from Franklinton, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 12, which encompasses the parishes of St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington, part of the Florida Parishes of southeastern Louisiana. On January 11, 2016, she succeeded the term-limited Democrat Ben Nevers, who instead joined the new administration of Governor John Bel Edwards.

Beth Mizell
President pro tempore of the Louisiana Senate
Assumed office
January 13, 2020
Preceded byGerald Long
Member of the Louisiana Senate
from the 12th district
Assumed office
January 11, 2016
Preceded byBen Nevers
Personal details
Born
Mary Beth Sherman

January 1952 (age 68)
Bogalusa, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)James Mizell (1971–2012)
Children2

Background

Mizell was married for forty-one years until his death of cancer to James Robert "Bob" Mizell (1948–2012). He is interred at the Plainview Baptist Church Cemetery in her native Bogalusa in Washington Parish, along with his father, Arvelee Mizell (1922–1991).[2] Bob Mizell's surviving mother is Kathleen N. Mizell (born 1925).[3]

Mizell has two children, Julie Mizell Stewart, a teacher, and Joshua Mizell, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Both reside with their spouses in Laurel in Jones County in southeastern Mississippi.[4] She is a Southern Baptist.[5] A former preschool operator, Mizell is the director of The Children's Cottage in Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish.[6]

Political life

Mizell won the state Senate position in the general election held on November 21, 2015, when she defeated the Democrat Mickey Murphy, 19,404 votes (58 percent) to 14,033 (42 percent),[7] a former teacher and college dean.[8] In 2011, Mizell had made a strong but losing showing for the Senate against Ben Nevers. She finished with 14,764 votes (49.4 percent) to his 15,116 (50.6 percent).[9] I

In the 2015 campaign, Murphy supported the establishment of a reservoir in Senate District 12, but Mizell voiced her opposition to the project on the grounds that it would require eminent domain of private land in violation of the wishes of many of the impacted property owners.[8]

Mizell was earlier an organizer of the Franklinton Tea Party movement and has been the president of Republican Women of Franklinton.[5]

Mizell sits on the House committees on (1) Education, (2) Retirement, (3) Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs. She is also the vice chair of the select committees of: (1) Vocational and Technical Education and (2) Women and Children.[5] The National Rifle Association rated Mizell 86 percent in 2015, based on her campaign promises.[10]

In March 2016, Mizell joined eight other Republican state senators and Democrat John Milkovich of Caddo Parish to oppose the bipartisan majority backing a one-cent increase in the state sales tax for a five-year period. Senators voted 29-10 for the tax hike, a part of the revenue-raising measures pushed by Governor John Bel Edwards.[11] A House and Senate conference committee subsequently trimmed the five years to twenty-seven months, effective from April 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018. Under this tax hike, the sale of religious publications and cookies became taxable.[12]

Mizell submitted legislation to create a state historical protection commission. Her action is a response to the pending dismantling of Confederate monuments in New Orleans. However, her measure was doomed before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, where five African-American Democratic senators, led by committee chairman Karen Carter Peterson, hold the majority vote.[13]

In April, 2018, Mizell was one of 10 senators who voted against criminalizing sexual abuse of animals.[14] Despite Mizell's opposition, the bill passed with 25 votes in favor of the ban. After the bill was amended in the House, Mizell and the other dissenting Senators voted for final passage of the amended bill.

References
  1. "Mary Mizell, January 1952". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  2. "Beth Mizell". Mizell for State Senate. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  3. "Kathleen N. Mizell". Findagrave.com. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  4. "James Robert "Bob" Mizell". findagrave.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  5. "Beth Mizell's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  6. "Beth Mizell in Mandeville". April 15, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  7. "Results for Election Date: 11/21/2015". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  8. Chad Rogers. "Mizell v. Lifelong Bureaucrat in 12th District". The Dead Pelican. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  9. "Results for Election Date: 10/22/2011". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  10. "Beth Sherman Mizell's Ratings and Endorsements". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  11. "The Louisiana Senate Just Voted for Five Years of the Nation's Highest Sales Tax". The Hayride. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  12. "See the list: Examples of goods, services that'll now be taxed in Louisiana". The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  13. "Looks Like Beth Mizell's Monument-Protection Bill Is Dead, For Now". thehayride.com. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  14. "SBS 3rd Reading and Final Passage SBS 236 By Morrell Crime/Punishment Final Passage Roll Call". Louisiana State Legislature. April 9, 2018. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
Louisiana State Senate
Preceded by
Ben Nevers		 Member of the Louisiana Senate
from the 12th district
2016–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Gerald Long		 President pro tempore of the Louisiana Senate
2020–present		 Incumbent
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