BATON ROUGE — Clyde Holloway, the chairman of Louisiana’s Public Service Commission and a former U.S. representative, has died. He was 72.
A member of the utility regulatory agency’s board since 2009, Holloway died at his home in Forest Hill on Sunday, according to his office. No cause of death was released.
Holloway, a Republican who owned a nursery business, served three terms in the U.S. House from 1987 to 1993, when the 8th District seat was eliminated in congressional redistricting. His later efforts to return to Congress were unsuccessful.
He was appointed as the state director of rural development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2006 by then-President George W. Bush and served until 2009.
“Clyde was a true public servant with a long and storied career. He loved Louisiana and tried to do what was right at all times,” PSC Commissioner Eric Skrmetta said in a statement Monday.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said Holloway “spent his life advocating on behalf of the state and people he loved.”
“He always remained accessible and a powerful voice for his constituents,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.
A staunch conservative, Holloway argued in Congress to shrink the size of the federal government, cut federal regulations and lessen taxes. In the 1980s, he drew attention when he and others unsuccessfully fought a federal judge’s order to close the Forest Hill public school.
In the PSC, he represented all or part of 17 parishes in central and southwest Louisiana.
Holloway is survived by his wife of 50 years, Cathie, four children and nine grandchildren.
