Preceded by David Vitter Name Jennifer Heebe Succeeded by John LaBruzzo Role Politician | Preceded by John Lavarine Party Republican Party Political party Republican | |
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Succeeded by Ron Maestri (interim)
Cynthia Lee-Sheng (special election April 4, 2009) Spouse(s) Frederick R. "Fred" Heebe | ||
Jennifer Sneed Heebe (born December 1966) is a Republican former politician who resides in New Orleans, Louisiana. She served nearly five years, from 1999 to 2004, as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for suburban Jefferson Parish. Thereafter, she was twice elected to the District 5 seat on the Jefferson Parish Council.
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Background
Heebe is a former television reporter in Monroe in Ouachita Parish in northeast Louisiana and a former tourism director for Jefferson Parish. She is married to Frederick Riley Heebe (born December 1952), a prominent real estate developer who is also engaged in the landfill business and the son of Frederick Jacob Reagan Heebe, the late Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was first appointed in 1966. Jennifer Heebe resigned at the beginning of her second term on the Jefferson Parish Council in 2008, when she and her husband purchased a mansion on St. Charles Avenue in the Uptown section of New Orleans. She added that the demands of rearing their twin daughters, Sarah and Anna, made it unlikely that she would ever return to the political arena. Heebe is a cancer survivor.
Political life
On March 27, 1999, voters chose in state House District 81 a successor to David Vitter, who was elected to the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 1st congressional district following the resignation of Republican Bob Livingston. Sneed, as she was then known, led a 14-candidate field with 1,619 votes (16.8 percent). She was then placed into a runoff contest with fellow Republican Ben Slater, who polled 1,405 votes (14.5 percent). In third place was another Republican, Eric Skrmetta, subsequently an elected member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. In the second round of balloting, Sneed prevailed, 6,670 (52.6 percent) to Slater's 6,021 (47.4 percent). Sneed was unopposed for a full term in the House in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 23, 1999.
On October 4, 2003, Sneed was elected to the Jefferson Parish Council with 19,925 votes (81.4 percent). She was reelected in 2007 without opposition but vacated the post in August 2008; at the time she was the only woman on the council and only the second woman ever to have been a member of the body. Heebe was known for fast constituent service while she served on the council. Carey Hammett, a beautification activist whom Heebe appointed to the Jefferson Parish Board of Zoning Adjustments, said, "I cannot imagine not having her in public service in Jefferson. I'm heart-broken, because she's good."
Heebe left the council before her husband negotiated an agreement to close the parish dump and send the residential garbage to Heebe's company, River Birch, Inc., in Waggaman. The agreement failed, and Jefferson Parish sued Heebe. A federal criminal investigation followed. In 2012, an ethics complaint was filed against Jennifer Heebe regarding her failure to submit reports of campaign spending prior to July 2008.
Heebe was succeeded in the House by fellow Republican John LaBruzzo. Oddly, LaBruzzo had considered running to finish Heebe's council term. Instead, he sought a third term in the House and was unseated through redistricting in the 2011 primary. Heebe was succeeded on the council by the third woman to serve on the body, Cynthia Lee-Shung, a daughter of the late Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee. Lee-Shung retained Heebe's aide, Ron Hinyub, in her employ.