Mary Landrieu

Who is Mary Landrieu?

Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the daughter of Moon Landrieu, former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the sister of Mitch Landrieu, the current Mayor of New Orleans and former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. She received her baccalaureate degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After working as a real estate agent for several years, she was elected as a state representative and state treasurer. She won a close race for the U.S. Senate in 1996; she was re-elected by increasing margins in competitive races in 2002 and 2008.

Landrieu is one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, at times opposing her party's positions. She came to national attention in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 after she publicly criticized the federal response to the natural disaster. In 2005, she sponsored a Senate resolution by which the U.S.