Joel Robideaux

Who is Joel Robideaux?

Joel Craig Robideaux is a Certified Public Accountant from Lafayette, Louisiana, who is an Independent-turned-Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 45 in Lafayette Parish. In 2010, he was narrowly elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the chamber, the first then Independent ever to hold the position.

On September 1, 2011, Robidaux announced that he was joining the Republican Party. Earlier Robideaux was chosen Speaker Pro Tempore over the Democrat Noble Ellington of Winnsboro, who later switched to Republican affiliation. The contest became open with the resignation of Democratic Representative Karen Carter Peterson, who instead became a state senator. In the heated campaign to choose Peterson's successor, Speaker Tucker even removed Representative John Schroder of Covington in St. Tammany Parish from the House Appropriations Committee because Tucker claimed that Schroder had reneged from a prior pledge to support Robideaux, instead of Ellington. Schroder denied having ever made such a commitment to support Robideaux.