UPDATED: 'Butch' Gautreaux, longtime St. Mary lawmaker, dies at 72

D.A. "Butch" Gautreaux, who represented the Morgan City area in the state House and Senate and ran for lieutenant governor, died Saturday. He was 72.

This post appeared on Gautreaux's Facebook page late Sunday morning.

"The Gautreaux family would like to thank all of you for the continued prayers, love, and support for our beloved 'Butch.' He was such a wonderful husband, dad, and Popee. It’s with a heavy heart that yesterday he left this Earth to be with God. Please continue to pray for peace for Butch and our family during this time of mourning."

Dudley Anthony Gautreaux was a Central Catholic and Nicholls State graduate as well as a Navy veteran. He became a businessman in the Morgan City area in retail, trucking and industrial contracting. He was active in the Rotary Club and on conservation issues, especially related to fishing and the Atchafalaya Basin.

Gautreaux won election to the state House of Representatives in 1995, leading the primary with 31% of the vote and winning the runoff with 69%.

After a single House term, he ran for the state Senate in 1999 and won outright with 60% of the vote in a three-candidate field. He won his last reelection primary with 71% in 2007, earning a third and final term under term limits.

Gautreaux was noted for his work on government employee pensions as well as on conservation issues.

A special election was called in 2010 to replace Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, who stepped down to become mayor of New Orleans. Gautreaux ran, and his campaign may be best remembered for his drive to hold BP responsible for the massive offshore oil spill that year. But he also strongly opposed the federal drilling moratorium ban imposed after the spill.

Jeremy Alford, whose column appears in The Daily Review, was a capitol correspondent for the Houma Courier during that race. Alford wrote that Gautreaux personally delivered an anti-moratorium message to President Barack Obama during an event honoring the Super Bowl champion Saints.

As he left the Senate, Gautreaux let loose with a critique of Gov. Bobby Jindal quoted by the Cenlamar website.

"... While the State of Louisiana struggles with the national recession having unprecedented unemployment, Governor Jindal crisscrosses the United States of America delivering the curious good news of business growth and job creation under his leadership. Of course all the while Jindal’s pointing out that Washington is out of control and that he is prepared to bring his principles of success in on-hands management to our nation—that is once he is back in Louisiana for a visit."

Gautreaux was married to the former Marilyn Mire.