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Cheryl A. Gray Evans | |
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Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 5th district | |
In office 2008–2009 | |
Preceded by | Diana Bajoie |
Succeeded by | Karen Carter Peterson |
Member of the LouisianaHouseofRepresentatives from the 98th district | |
In office 2004–2008 | |
Preceded by | Melinda Schwegmann |
Succeeded by | Neil Abramson |
Personal details | |
Born | 1968 (age 55–56) New Orleans,Louisiana,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Stanford University Tulane University Law School |
Cheryl Artise Gray Evans (born 1968,New Orleans,Louisiana) is an American lawyer and politician. She represented District 5 in the Louisiana State Senate prior to her resignation in 2009. She formerly served in the Louisiana House of Representatives (District 98). [1]
After finishing Eleanor McMain Magnet Secondary Senior High School in New Orleans,Gray proceeded to Stanford University,where she was a member of the track team and Delta Sigma Theta, [2] [ circular reference ] receiving her baccalaureate degree in 1990. She then returned to New Orleans and received her Juris Doctor from the Tulane University Law School in 1993.
She practiced law with New Orleans' Gray &Gray Law Firm,which was started by her parents.[ citation needed ]
Gray Evans is a confidant with the reform faction of the Orleans Parish Democratic Party—the element frequently identified with the Black Organization for Leadership Development (BOLD) political organization which inexorably competes against William J. Jefferson and his Progressive Democrats. [3] Gray Evans defeated one of Jefferson's daughters,Jalila Jefferson-Bullock,for the Senate District 5 seat vacated by the term-limited Diana Bajoie,Jefferson's successor in the state Senate. [4] She is a critic of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's handling of recovery from Hurricane Katrina. [5]
Gray Evans' official state senate résumélists a host of achievements,activities,awards,and memberships. [6] She attends Asia Baptist Church in New Orleans [7] and is married to former New Orleans television and radio news anchor/reporter Patrick Evans,who once served as Communications Director to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. [8]
Toward the end of 2009 Cheryl Gray Evans resigned from the legislature to join her husband,who had begun serving on active duty in Connecticut as a public affairs officer in the Navy. [9]
Kathleen Marie Blanco was an American politician who served as the 54th governor of Louisiana from 2004 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first and, to date, only woman elected as the state's governor.
William Jennings Jefferson is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party. He represented Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He was elected as the state's first black congressman since the end of Reconstruction.
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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (ΔΣΘ) is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two women at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Membership is open to any woman, regardless of religion, race, or nationality. Women may apply to join through undergraduate chapters at a college or university or through an alumnae chapter after earning a college degree.
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Karen Carter Peterson is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a member of the Louisiana State House from 1999 to 2010, then as the state senator from the 5th district until her resignation in 2022. She also served as the chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party from 2012 to 2020, becoming the first female chair of the state party. In 2008, Peterson became as Democratic National Committeewoman for Louisiana. In 2017, Peterson was elected vice chair of civic engagement and voter participation for the Democratic National Committee.
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Jalila Eshe Jefferson-Bullock is an American lawyer and politician who served as a state representative in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2004 to 2007, representing House District 91. Jefferson-Bullock won the seat from Rosalind Peychaud in a general election after losing to Peychaud in an earlier special election.
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Delta Theta Phi (ΔΘΦ) is a professional law fraternity and a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. Delta Theta Phi is the only one of the two major law fraternities to charter chapters (senates) in the United States at non-American Bar Association-approved law schools. Delta Theta Phi can trace its roots to Delta Phi Delta on September 15, 1900 at the then-named Cleveland Law School, now Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Ohio. Delta Theta Phi has initiated more than 138,000 members across the country and in several other nations.
Louisiana's 5th State Senate district is one of 39 districts in the Louisiana State Senate. The district is represented by Democrat Royce Duplessis. The district was previously represented by Democrat Karen Carter Peterson from a 2010 special election to replace resigning fellow Democrat Cheryl Gray Evans until Peterson's resignation in April 2022. Diana Bajoie represented the district from 1991 to 2008. It is currently the most Democratic-leaning district in the Senate.