Wesley T. Bishop

In the primary election held on October 24, 2015, Bishop handily won the District 4 seat in the state Senate vacated by his fellow Democrat Edwin R. Murray. He polled 16,336 votes (64.8 percent) to 35.2 percent for his two intraparty opponents.

In 2014, Bishop voted to require that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; only five House members opposed the measure. That same year, he voted to extend the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. He voted to forbid the transportation of dogs in open truck beds on interstate highways. He voted to repeal anti-sodomy laws, but the measure failed in the House.

In 2013, Bishop voted to reduce penalties for the possession of marijuana. He did not vote on permanent concealed carry gun permits. He opposed keeping information on concealed carry permits confidential and out of the purview of the public record. He voted to increase judicial pay and to end the mandatory retirement age for judges. In 2012, he co-sponsored legislation to provide for parole eligibility for non-violent inmates. He voted to prohibit the use of telephones while driving. He supported state tax incentives to recruit a National Basketball Association team to Louisiana but opposed allowing taxpayers to deduct from their state income taxes funds given for scholarships. He opposed reducing the number of hours that polling locations remain open. Louisiana has traditionally had 14-hour polling days. In 2011, Bishop voted for a permanent tax on cigarettes. He opposed the requirement for drug testing of welfare recipients. He voted for an unsuccessful bill to increase court costs in the New Orleans Traffic Court. He opposed the redistricting bill for the Louisiana State Senate; the measure passed, 71-28.

Bishop's legislative ratings have ranged from 28 to 56 percent from the conservative Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. In 2012. the National Federation of Independent Business rated Bishop 17 percent. In 2013 and 2014, the Louisiana Family Forum scored him 63 and 25 percent, respectively. In 2013 and 2014, he was rated 50 and 75 percent, respectively, by Louisiana Right to Life. He was rated 100 percent in 2013 and 2014 by the Louisiana Association of Educators.

In 1999, Bishop ran unsuccessfully for the District 101 seat in the state House. In 2011, he won a special election for District 101. The position was vacated by the resignation of Democrat Cedric Richmond, who unseated Republican Joseph Cao in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district in 2010. He received 75 percent of the vote over two intra-party rivals, Roland Joseph Barthe (born September 1946) and Willie Jones. He served in that position for a year. As a result of redistricting, Bishop was moved to the District 99 seat in the state House. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011, he received 4,378 votes (81.6 percent); fellow Democrat Samuel Cowart (born February 1948) trailed with 989 votes (18.4 percent). The District 101 seat was taken by another Democrat, Edward Clark James, a lawyer from New Orleans.

Bishop received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice in 1990 from Southern University at New Orleans. From the University of Mississippi at Oxford, Mississippi, he received in 1991 a Master of Public Administration degree. He obtained his Juris Doctorate in 1995 from Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In 2009, he was a Harvard University fellow.

Wesley T. Bishop (born October 1967) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate for District 4. He was previously a state representative for District 99 in Orleans Parish.