Gregory L. Fruge

Gregory L. Fruge, Sr. (born July 15, 1942), is a businessman in Eunice, Louisiana, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 41 (Acadia, Evangeline, and St. Landry parishes) from 1996-2004. In his bid for a third term, he was unseated in the 2003 nonpartisan blanket primary by the Democrat Mickey James Guillory (born 1940), then the Eunice city marshal. Guillory was unopposed for a second term in the 2007 primary.

Fruge (pronounced FROO JAY) received a Bachelor of Science in industrial technology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. ACTIVE in the community, he is a past president of the Eunice Jaycees and Lions Club. He holds membership in the Masonic lodge and its companion organization, the Shriners. He is Roman Catholic. He is a former vice chairman of the Acadiana chapter of the American Welding Society. Fruge is a devotee of French Cajun music. His wife is Shella Fruge; they have at least one son, Gregory Fruge, Jr. (born 1972), and four grandchildren.

The legislative seat opened in 1995 when the Democratic incumbent Representative, Dale Sittig, also from Eunice, a small city in St. Landry Parish, ran successfully for an unexpired term on the Louisiana Public Service Commission. In the October 21 primary, Fruge led the Democrat Karl R. Derouen, Jr., of Eunice, 6,119 votes (42.1 percent) to 4,389 (30.2 percent). The remaining 28 percent, critical to the general election outcome, was shared by three other Democratic contenders. In the November 16 general election, Fruge prevailed with 8,341 votes (54.1 percent) to Derouen’s 7.084 (48.9 percent).

In 1999, Representative Fruge was elected sergeant-at-arms of the otherwise all-Democratic Louisiana Rural Caucus, an organization formed in 1979 to promote awareness of rural issues. To win his second term, Fruge defeated the Democrat Glenn Bihm of Eunice, 7,524 (58.2 percent) to 5,400 (41.8 percent).

In October 4, 2003, Fruge, with 5,650 votes (41.6 percent), was toppled by the Democrat Mickey Guillory, who received 7,938 ballots (58.2 percent). Fruge was damaged in his reelection bid when the chancellor of Louisiana State University at Eunice attended Guillory’s announcement of candidacy.