John Calvin Fleming Jr. (born July 5, 1951) is an American politician, physician, and former naval officer serving as the treasurer of Louisiana since 2024. A member of the Republican Party, he previously held positions in the executive branch during the first presidency of Donald Trump and represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017.

After working as a family doctor and businessman, Fleming was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. He was a candidate in the 2016 United States Senate election in Louisiana and finished fifth in the nonpartisan primary.

After leaving the United States Congress, Fleming was first appointed by Donald Trump as the deputy assistant secretary for health information technology reform, then as the assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. He was later made a White House aide, serving as White House deputy chief of staff and assistant to the President for planning and implementation.

Fleming won the 2023 Louisiana treasurer election in the November runoff, receiving over 65% of the vote. In December 2024, he announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2026. Both Fleming and Julia Letlow (who had Trump's endorsement) defeated incumbent senator Bill Cassidy in the primary but neither received a majority of the primary vote, thus triggering a runoff. The runoff was held on June 27, in which Fleming lost to Letlow.

Early life and education

John Calvin Fleming Jr. was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on July 5, 1951,United States Congress. "John Fleming (id:F000456)" Biographical Directory of the United States Congress as the son of John Calvin and Ruth (née Giles) Fleming. His mother became disabled when he was five years old and his father died of a heart attack a few weeks before Fleming graduated from Meridian High School in 1969. He played as a defensive end on his high school football team. Fleming attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Fleming funded his education with odd jobs, including working as a sorority houseboy, as an orderly in a state mental hospital, as a bag boy, and with financial assistance. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1973. He later attended medical school at the Jackson campus of the same university, earning an Doctor of Medicine in 1976.

Fleming trained for years in karate and attained the rank of third-degree black belt. He took his first piano lesson at age 43 and ultimately studied for 14 years afterwards, playing the occasional recital and concert.

Medical and naval career Fleming joined the United States Navy in 1976. Fleming was the chief resident during the final year of his three-year residency in family medicine at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Camp Pendleton, California. He also trained at the drug and alcohol treatment unit at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Long Beach, California. Completing his residency in family medicine with the Navy in 1979, Fleming was Guam's chief director of drug and alcohol treatment and chairman of the Navy's Family Advocacy Committee for Guam from 1979 to 1981.Minden Press-Herald, November 18, 1982, p. 14 He subsequently performed similar duties in Charleston, South Carolina. He left the Navy in 1982, when he moved to Minden, Louisiana, and established his private family medicine practice. He has served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and Sunday school department director at the First Baptist Church of Minden.

After leaving the Navy, Fleming established a practice in Minden in August 1982. His first clinic was on Pearl Street across from the United States Post Office. He chose Minden for his city of residence because, in his words, it "has small-town charm, warm essence of life, long, lazy summer days with watermelon cuts and family reunions."Minden Press-Herald, August 10, 1982, p. 1 To attract patients to his new practice, Fleming announced evening and Saturday morning hours to accommodate working people and students.Minden Press-Herald, September 2, 1982, p. 10

Fleming is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine He joined the staff of the Minden Medical Center. Fleming is also a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP). In 2007, he was chosen as the LAFP "Louisiana Family Practice Physician of the Year."

Fleming previously worked with drug-dependent persons through the program called "New Beginnings" at the Minden Medical Center."Dr. Fleming will help chemical dependents", Minden Press-Herald, October 18, 1987, p. 10 In 1994, Fleming noted to local media the tie between drug addiction and violent crime

In 2006, Fleming wrote Preventing Addiction: What Parents Must Know to Immunize Their Kids Against Drug And Alcohol Addiction. In the book, Fleming argues that alcohol, among other addicting substances, can serve as a gateway for broader and more problematic drug use, and that the immature brain development of children makes them vulnerable to drug addiction later in life. Therefore, delaying the use of alcohol and other addicting substances until later adolescence or adulthood can sharply reduce the risk of later addiction according to scientific studies initiated by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and others.Fleming, John C. (2006). Preventing Addiction: What Parents Must Know to Immunize Their Kids Against Drug And Alcohol Addiction. Hannibal Books: A Christian Evangelical Publishing Company. Garland, Texas.

It was reported that Fleming would have to sell his private practice in 2017.

Business career Fleming started various businesses before entering politics. In 2008, when he first ran for Congress, he owned 30 franchised Subway sandwich shops in Shreveport and north Louisiana, and also owned Fleming Expansions, LLC, a regional developer for The UPS Store. As of 2016, he was the owner of 38 Subway sandwich shops and was the developer of 168 UPS Stores.

Webster Parish coroner In 1995, Fleming ran for election to be the Webster Parish coroner, defeating the nonpartisan candidate Carlos A. Irizarry, 7,842 votes (60.4 percent) to 5,143 (39.6 percent). Fleming succeeded the incumbent, Carl A. Hines, a Democrat from Minden, who did not seek re-election. Fleming was the coroner of Webster Parish from 1996 to 2000.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections 2008

Fleming entered the race as a candidate for Louisiana's 4th congressional district after the 21-year Republican incumbent Jim McCrery announced his retirement from the House. He received political support from the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians' (AAFP) political action committee for his campaign. Fleming supported the FairTax proposal. In the October 4, 2008, Republican closed primary, Fleming ran against Jeff R. Thompson, a lawyer from Bossier City, and Chris Gorman. In the election, no candidate received a majority of the votes. Fleming led with 14,500 votes (35.1 percent), followed by Gorman with 14,072 votes (34.1 percent), and Thompson with 12,693 votes (30.8 percent). This established a primary runoff between Fleming and Gorman. In the runoff, Fleming defeated Gorman, 43,012 votes (55.6 percent) to 34,405 (44.4 percent) and carried all but one of the thirteen parishes in the district.

Dick Cheney, the outgoing Vice President of the United States appeared in Shreveport on November 21, 2008, to speak at a fundraiser for Fleming. Politico indicated that McCrery supported Fleming but had not made an official endorsement and had not appeared at any of Fleming's campaign events. On December 10, 2008, Paul Carmouche formally conceded the election to Fleming.

2010

Fleming was unopposed in the Republican primary in 2010 but was challenged by the Democratic nominee, David R. Melville. Melville was the brother-in-law of Buddy Roemer. Fleming was reelected saying that Democratic policies were out of step with his district and most of America. In 2010, the House Republican Conference created the "New Media Challenge" to spur Republican members to acquire more followers. Fleming was awarded first place in both 2010 and 2011 by his Republican peers.

2012

Fleming was unopposed by a Democratic candidate in his 2012 re-election bid in his district that is two to one Democratic registration but had a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R +11. In the November 6, 2012, general election, Fleming instead faced opposition from a Libertarian candidate, Randall Lord of Shreveport, a former chiropractor studying psychology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. Fleming defeated Lord, 187,790 (75.3 percent) to 61,587 (24.7 percent). Lord was subsequently sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for running an illegal bitcoin scheme alongside his son Michael Lord after they had both plead guilty to operating an unlicensed money servicing business that was not registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

2014

John Fleming considered running in the 2014 United States Senate election in Louisiana held by Mary Landrieu. Instead his colleague, U.S. representative Bill Cassidy, had announced on April 3, 2013, that he would challenge Landrieu. That same day, Fleming announced that he would not run for the United States Senate in 2014. In his statement, Fleming said: "For me to enter the race now would risk a contest between two experienced Republican congressmen, potentially offering Senator Landrieu a path back to Washington D.C. I can't let that happen."

Fleming again faced Randall Lord, a Libertarian, in the 2014 election. Justin Ansley, a Democrat, had ran but withdrew from the race. Fleming won with 73.4% of the vote to Lord's 26.6% of the vote.

Congressional tenure

Fleming served four two-year terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2017.

Budget Control Act of 2011 and Budget Sequestration of 2013 Fleming was quoted in Forbes as saying: "Republicans in general, we desperately want a reduction in spending to get government back into balance. We would rather take some cuts in areas that we are not comfortable with than have no cuts at all." Forbes noted that Fleming's district includes Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk, both major military installations. At a discussion in February 2013 in DeRidder; Fleming, a military veteran, stated he would not vote to allow the government to cut $600 million from the defense budget. He was quoted as saying, "One way my service in the military changes the way I do my job is that I understand our next conflict is not a matter of 'if' but 'when,' and that we need to equip our military with the resources and tools they need to protect our nation at home and abroad." Fleming voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011. On November 21, 2011, Fleming criticized the Budget Control Act because of what he called "devastating cuts to military spending."

American Health Care Reform Act of 2013 Fleming was a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law in 2010 and was the subject of more than 50 repeal attempts by the Republican-controlled House. Fleming referred to the ACA as "the most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed by Congress." When asked about fixing the healthcare law instead of repealing it, he said it was "not fixable or repairable." Fleming helped write, cosponsored, and introduced the Republican Study Committee's American Health Care Reform Act of 2013, which was re-introduced in 2015. The legislation would have repealed the ACA and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and implemented different health care related provisions.

Conscience Protection Act of 2016