Nita Rusich Hutter is a community college

Community college

A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...

 administrator from New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, who is a departing Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Louisiana House of Representatives

Louisiana House of Representatives

The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...

 from District 104 in nearby St. Bernard Parish

St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana

St. Bernard Parish is a parish located southeast of New Orleans in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Chalmette, the largest city in the parish. As of 2000, its population was 67,229. It has been ranked the fastest-growing county in the United States from 2007 to 2008 by the U.S....

.

Background

A New Orleans native, Hutter graduated in 1974 from the Roman Catholic-affiliated Loyola University

Loyola University New Orleans

Loyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...

 in New Orleans. In 1978, she received a Master of Education degree from Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, also in New Orleans. Hutter is a former teacher in St. Bernard Parish and is employed at Delgado Community College

Delgado Community College

Delgado Community College ' is a Louisiana public community college with campuses throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area, the East and West Banks of New Orleans, the East Bank of Jefferson Parish and on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Covington and Slidell in St. Tammany Parish...

. She is divorced and the mother of one son.

State senate race

Term-limited in the House, Hutter was defeated in a race for the District 1 seat in the Louisiana State Senate

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. The Senate district includes all of Plaquemines Parish

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Plaquemines Parish is the parish with the most combined land and water area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Pointe à la Hache...

 and parts of St. Bernard, St. Tammany

St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

St. Tammany Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, in the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The parish seat is Covington....

, and Orleans parishes. She lost to the incumbent Republican senator, A. G. Crowe

A. G. Crowe

Almond Gaston Crowe, Jr., known as A.G. Crowe , is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 1 in St. Tammany Parish.- Political history :...

 of Pear River

Pearl River, Louisiana

Pearl River is a town in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,839 at the 2000 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 in St. Tammany Parish, who received 15,717 votes (69.1 percent), compared to her 7,025 ballots (30.9 percent).

Legislative career

With exposure as a parish council member, Hutter was sufficiently well-known that she was unopposed in 1999 for her first term in the state House. To win her second term in the House in 2003, she defeated another Republican, Mike Bayham, 8,839 (61 percent) to 5,667 (39 percent). In 2007, Hutter prevailed over a Democrat, Stacy Riley, Sr., 4,120 (69.5 percent) to 1,812 (30.6 percent).

Early in 2011, a television station, WDSU

WDSU

WDSU, virtual channel 6, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the New Orleans, Louisiana television market. It is owned by Hearst Television, which in turn is wholly owned by the Hearst Corporation. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 43...

, disclosed that Hutter was living in Metairie

Metairie, Louisiana

Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...

, a large unincorporated area in Jefferson Parish

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....

 outside the boundaries of House District 104. Hutter, when confronted, said she had left St. Bernard Parish temporarily after Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 struck and was helping to care for her elderly mother at the Metairie address. She still maintains her legal residence in a house on Golden Drive in Chalmette

Chalmette, Louisiana

Chalmette is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 32,069 at the 2000 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. The structure was damaged by Katrina and has not been restored. The legislature passed a bill requiring members to be in continuous residence in their districts; Hutter was the lone dissenter on the measure, which was signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....

. Hutter said that she had not returned to St. Bernard Parish because she had been unable to restore her boarded-up residence.

In her last legislative session, Hutter chaired the House Transportation Committee. She served on special committees regarding Coastal Restoration, Flood Control, and Disaster Planning, topics of great important to her district. In 2006, she was named chair of the Legislative Women's Caucus. In 2010, Hutter received a 38 percent rating by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, known by the acronym LABI, is the largest and most successful business lobbying group in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded in Baton Rouge in 1976, when Louisiana adopted a new right-to-work law during the administration of Democratic...

, low for a Republican lawmaker, 78 percent from the Louisiana Family Forum

Louisiana Family Forum

Louisiana Family Forum is a social conservative non-profit advocacy group based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The organization supports Louisiana's covenant marriage law and opposes abortion and same-sex marriage...

. In 2009, she was ranked 100 percent by the Louisiana Right to Life

Right to life

Right to life is a phrase that describes the belief that a human being has an essential right to live, particularly that a human being has the right not to be killed by another human being...

 Federation. In 2011, she voted against an increase in the state tobacco tax.

Hutter will be succeeded in the House by fellow Republican Paul Hollis

Paul Hollis

Paul Hollis was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 104th District on October 22, 2011. Hollis, the son of former Louisiana State Senator Ken Hollis, defeated Christopher Trahan by a margin of 3905 to 3096...

, who received 3,905 votes (55.8 percent) in the primary held on October 22, 2011. His opponent, Republican Christopher Trahan, trailed with 3,096 votes (44.2 percent).