Clinton LeSueur

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Clinton Bernard LeSueur (born 1969) is an American politician and journalist from the state of Mississippi.

[edit] Personal life

LeSueur was born and raised in Holly Springs, Mississippi as the son of a Pentecostal minister. He now lives in Greenville. The 10th of 15 children, he earned a Bachelors of Science degree in print journalism from Rust College and a Master's degree in political science from American University in Washington, D.C.. He worked as a news reporter for a black-owned newspaper and for a technology magazine.

LeSueur also worked as a news assistant at the USA Today, where he received the "Voice of Courage" award for writing about health issues.

His volunteer service includes serving for five years in the "I Have A Dream" Foundation, a nationwide network of projects dedicated to keeping at-risk children in school, completing a one-year program as an AmeriCorps volunteer, and mentoring students in local urban schools.

[edit] Political career

LeSueur had been a lifelong Democrat, but was angered over the Democrats' stances on abortion and gay rights and became a Republican sometime in 2001. In 2002, he ran as the Republican candidate in Mississippi's 2nd congressional district against incumbent Democrat Bennie Thompson and ran on a strongly socially conservative platform. He was defeated, obtaining 42.75% of the vote to Thompson's 55.14%--a shockingly close margin, given the district's heavy Democratic tilt and the fact he received little to no support from the national party.

He challenged Thompson again in 2004. This time, he attracted more attention from the national Republican Party, and spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. He lost again, receiving 40.64% of the vote. To date, he is the only Republican to have made a credible bid against Thompson.

On July 1, 2005, LeSueur was appointed director of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) faith-based initiative.^[1]