John Schroder

Background

A graduate of East Jefferson High School in Metairie in Jefferson Parish, Schroder thereafter received a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. He served as a special agent in the United States Army. Schroder is a real estate agent, homebuilder, and developer. He and his wife, the former Ellie Marie Daigle, have two children, Brittany Leigh Schroder and John M. Schroder, Jr. The Schroders are Roman Catholic.

Political life

In the 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary to replace the term-limited Republican Diane Winston, Schroder led a three-candidate field with 8,534 votes (46.5 percent). He was thrust into a general election on November 17 with fellow Republican Colleen Hawley, also of Covington, who finished with 6,567 votes (41.2 percent). The remaining 2,272 votes (12.4 percent) votes went to Democrat Angelique LaCour. In the general election, with a much lower turnout than in the primary because of the lack of gubernatorial competition, Schroder defeated Hawley, 4,821 (51.2 percent) to 4,602 (48.8 percent).

Schroder was the vice chairman of the House Republican caucus; upon his resignation from the House, he was succeeded in that position by Tony Bacala of Ascension Parish, another conservative. Schroder served on these House committees: (1) Civil Law and Procedure, (2) Homeland Security, (3) Education, (4) Military and Veterans Affairs, and (5) Joint Budget. Originally named to the Appropriations Committee, Schroder was removed from the panel in the spring of 2010 in a dispute with the departing House Speaker, Jim Tucker of Algiers. Tucker claimed that Schroder broke his word regarding a commitment to support the Independent, subsequently Republican, then Representative Joel Robideaux of Lafayette for the vacant position of Speaker pro tem. Instead, Schroder voted for the Democrat, later Republican, Noble Ellington of Winnsboro for the post, which Robideaux nevertheless narrowly won. Schroder said that he had never agreed to support Robideaux for the position and that Tucker must have had other motivations for removing him from the Appropriations Committee, particularly since Schroder opposed annual automatic pay increases provided for nearly all state employees.

Involved also in child protection issues, Schroder chaired the task force on Legal Representation of Children. He offered the motion in 2011 in the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee to defer a proposal by Democratic Representative Helena Moreno of New Orleans to permit adoptions by homosexual couples.

Schroder has a 100 percent voting score by Louisiana Right to Life. In 2010, he received a 90 percent score from the Louisiana Family Forum and 81 percent from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. In 2009, he was ranked 75 percent by the Louisiana National Federation of Independent Business.

Campaign for state treasurer

Schroder vacated his House seat on June 8, 2017, to devote full-time to his campaign for state treasurer in the special election set for October 14, 2017, to fill the position vacated on January 3 by U.S. Senator John Neely Kennedy. In his statement of candidacy, Schroder said that he has recognized since his election to the state House that "we had fundamental issues with our budget and spending practices. I have always taken a stand for the Louisiana taxpayer and that will not change when elected treasurer.” A previously announced candidate for the seat is state Senator Neil Riser of Columbia in Caldwell Parish in North Louisiana.