Pat Brister

Political life

From 2000 to 2004, Brister served as chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, the first woman to have held that particular position. From 1996 to 2000, she was the Republican national committeewoman from Louisiana. She is also a former ambassador to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women under former U.S. President George W. Bush. Brister's tenure on the commission included the annual meetings held from February 28 through March 11, 2006, and again from February 25 to March 7, 2008. Brister has also served on the elected St. Tammany Parish Council. On October 22, 2011, she was elected parish president of St. Tammany Parish with 73 percent of the vote; she was sworn into office in January 2012.

In May 2006, Brister was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as ambassador to the Commission on the Status of Women, after her first convention session had ended. The commission was founded in 1946, a year after the United Nations was organized. During her tenure, Brister defended the Bush administration regarding its policies concerning the role of women and repeatedly praised the appointment of Condoleezza Rice as the United States secretary of state. "The policies of the U.S. government have been and continue to be to encourage countries to include women in their initiatives. President Bush has been a strong advocate of democratization and we fully believe empowering women will strengthen a country. We will continue to talk about that specific issue here at CSW," said Brister.

Brister continued, having noted the United States commitment to medical care for women and children: "The US has been at the forefront, particularly here at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in advocating for availability of medical care for women and children. We point to President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief . . . which supports a variety of bilateral, regional, and multilateral initiatives."

Brister won the first of her two terms on the St. Tammany Parish Council from District 4 in the primary election held on October 23, 1999. With 2,214 votes (54.1 percent), she defeated two fellow Republicans. Brister was unopposed for a second term in the 2003 primary. She declined to seek a third term and was succeeded by fellow Republican Reid R. Falconer (born December 26, 1956) of Madisonville, the winner of the 2007 primary over another Republican named John Robertson.

Earlier, Brister ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate from District 11 (St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes). She was defeated by fellow Republican Tom Schedler of Slidell, the Louisiana Secretary of State, who held the seat from 1996 to 2008, when he was term-limited by state law and succeeded by the Mandeville Republican Jack Donahue.

Brister was elected party chairman in 2000 by the 144-member Republican State Central Committee to succeed Chuck McMains, a Baton Rouge state representative, who served in 2000. She was in turn succeeded in 2004 by Roger F. Villere, Jr., a Metairie businessman. Brister was a member of the site-selection committee which tapped Philadelphia Pennsylvania, to host the 2000 Republican National Convention. She was a Louisiana state elector in 2000. Thereafter, she was a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention, which met in New York City to renominate the Bush-Cheney ticket and worked thereafter for the GOP slate in Louisiana.

In 2002, President Bush named Brister to a three-year term on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

On January 9, 2009, Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Brister her to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, the panel which regulates, operates, and controls the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which includes the bridge system and the causeway approach road system on the North Shore.

In 2013, Brister attended a fundraiser for Democrat U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, a candidate for a fourth term in the 2014 midterm elections. Landrieu's principal challenger is Republican U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy of Louisiana's 6th congressional district. Brister's embrace of Landrieu has been strongly criticized by Moon Griffon, the conservative statewide radio talk show host based in Monroe, who is a long-term critic of Senator Landrieu.

Personal life

Involved in various businesses over the years, Brister was for a time the chief executive officer and chairman of the trustees of Orion College, a diploma mill which existed in Mandeville from 1997to 2002.

Brister is married to Joseph Stanley "Joe" Brister, Jr. (born November 22, 1933), a New Orleans native. Her children are Ken Brister, Mark Beck, Matt Beck, and Jill Beck Heebe. She is Presbyterian. Her political interest was initially fueled by the Parent-Teacher Association. She is the former executive director of the Northshore Business Council.