1. John Georges formerly served on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the body which supervises higher education in his native state.
23 Facts About John Georges
1. 2.
John Georges received 186,000 votes and procured a plurality in Orleans Parish.
3.
John Georges was born in New Orleans to Dennis and Anita Georges.
4.
John Georges's father was a Greek immigrant who put John to work at the age of eleven sweeping the warehouse for the family business.
5.
John Georges continued working throughout college and graduated in 1983 on the dean's list from Tulane University.
6.
John Georges met his wife, the former Dathel Coleman, on a blind date set up by their best friends.
7.
John Georges was a commissioner of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad and is the chairman of John Georges Enterprises.
8.
In 1992, John Georges was appointed by the governor to the Board of Regents, which has budgetary responsibility for Louisiana's public higher education, including nineteen public colleges, universities, and professional schools.
9.
John Georges is chairman of Georges Enterprises, which includes grocery distribution, offshore marine services, video and arcade entertainment, food services, and investments.
10.
When John Georges joined the Imperial Trading Company it was a $29 million business; today, he claims the estimated sales at nearly $1 billion annually.
11.
In 2009 John Georges bought into Galatoire's restaurant, a world famous restaurant located on Bourbon Street, which is known for its rowdy Friday lunches.
12.
John Georges is the new publisher of The Advocate, a paper founded in 1842.
13.
In March 2013, John Georges signed a letter of intent to purchase The Advocate, whose circulation in 2013 is 98,000 and 125,000 as a result of its entry and 20,000 subscriptions in the New Orleans market following the decision of The Times-Picayune to limit print publications to 3 days a week.
14.
John Georges named Dan Shea as general manager of The Advocate and Peter Kovacs as the editor.
15.
John Georges came in third place in the 2007 Louisiana gubernatorial election, despite having never run for public office previously.
16.
John Georges achieved a plurality in his hometown of New Orleans.
17.
John Georges won 36 percent of the vote in Orleans Parish; that was his only plurality showing among the state's sixty-four parishes.
18.
John Georges candidacy has attracted the attention of the Greek press in the United States.
19.
The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate reported that John Georges would tout himself as a political outsider and newcomer to state politics.
20.
John Georges contributed around $5 million of his own money into his campaign account.
21.
John Georges spent almost $12 million on his campaign and garnered 186,800 votes.
22.
John Georges's spending amounted to $64 per vote, which represents the highest spending per vote for a gubernatorial candidate in any state in 2007.
23.
John Georges announced his candidacy in the 2010 New Orleans mayoral election on November 4,2009.