From when he was boy standing in the back of the Senate chamber, Paul Hollis knew he wanted to be a legislator like his father, late Sen. Ken Hollis.

Redistricting gave him the opportunity in the new St. Tammany Parish seat, District 104. “The second I found out about it I started running as hard as I could,” he said, eventually lending his campaign $180,000 and raising $61,000 more.

He won by beating fellow Republican Chris Trahan in the primary, 56-44 percent. The race was amiable (“At debates, I was clapping for the man,” he said) until Trahan attacked his position on the income tax repeal bill. Hollis said he supported an amendment by Sen. Jack Donahue to offset the repeal with specified spending cuts.

Hollis, 41, brings to public service a keen knowledge of money, the real thing, as a dealer in rare coins. His grandmother’s gift to him when he was 6 of a coin from the Depression was a “defining moment,” which led to his career after graduating from LSU. As part of the state’s bicentennial celebration later this year, he has arranged to borrow rare coins worth over $1 million to be displayed in the Old State Capitol.

As for committee assignments, he said, “I didn’t recognize how competitive it would be to be on Appropriations.” But he believes “a numbers guy like me” would be useful on Insurance or Retirement.

LaPolitics Weekly

January 6, 2012                  By John Maginnis