Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser

A noted Louisiana businessman, William Harold “Billy” Nungesser once turned a $7,500 loan from his mother into General Marine Leasing Company, a business that grew to employ more than 200 workers and reached $20 million in sales as the largest provider of portable buildings in the Gulf of Mexico.  In fact, in 2002, Louisiana Life Magazine named him one of the state’s “Top CEOs.” 

In 2005, Nungesser and his wife Cher rode out Hurricane Katrina at their ranch in southern Plaquemines Parish.  After the storm, he spent days rescuing stranded people and weeks rounding up displaced animals.  He was infuriated by the slow response of Louisiana’s elected officials, and that anger led him to run for office. He was elected Plaquemines Parish President in 2006, and immediately started challenging and working with FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  He focused on developing a master plan to restore Louisiana’s ravaged coastline and wetlands as a way to protect communities from storm surges.  Nungesser brought together federal, state and private resources together to increase funding.  He received the Disaster Recovery Contractors Association’s Golden Horizon Award.

In the wake of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, Billy became the voice of Louisiana’s frustration. The New York Times labeled him “the hardest working man in Louisiana.”  Another national news organization described Nungesser as “a true son of Louisiana having grown up in the state’s holy trinity of seafood, oil and politics”.

On November 21, 2015, Nungesser was elected Louisiana’s Lt. Governor. In that role he is not only second in command in the executive branch, but also the state’s ambassador as Commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.