Paul Jude Hardy (born October 18, 1942) is an American attorney from Baton Rouge, in the U.S. state of Louisiana, who was the first Republican to have been elected lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He served in the second-ranking post under Governor Buddy Roemer from 1988 to 1992. Background Hardy's parents, who married in 1939, were Florent Hardy Sr. (1913–2003) and the former Agnes Angelle (1904–2008) of Cecilia in St. Martin Parish. Agnes Angelle was a homemaker, schoolteacher, and principal who was visited at school by former state education superintendents T. H. Harris and Shelby M. Jackson. Agnes's brother, Bob Angelle, and hence the maternal uncle of Paul Hardy, was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1934 to 1964 and House Speaker from 1957 to 1960. Agnes's father, and hence Paul Hardy's maternal grandfather, was Drauzin Angelle, a constable, deputy sheriff, and a Democratic power broker in St. Martin Parish during much of the first half of the 20th century. Paul Hardy has a sister, Mary Agnes Belleau and her husband, Dr. Charles Dewey Belleau, of Baton Rouge, and a brother, Florent Hardy Jr., Ph.D., a long time employee of Louisiana State Archives and 2014 Public Official of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Museums. Hardy was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. In 1960, he graduated from Cecilia High School. In 1965, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then the University of Southwestern Louisiana, from which his mother also graduated. While Hardy was on the USL track team, he won the Gulf States Conference high jump competition for two consecutive years. In 1966, Hardy received his law degree from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans, and at the age of twenty-three, he began practicing law in St. Martinville with the firm Willis and Hardy. State senator and secretary of state In 1972, Hardy was elected as a Democratic state senator from Iberia and St. Martin parishes. The defunct Baton Rouge State Times named him the "Outstanding Newcomer" of the year after his first legislative session in 1972. He served alongside fellow Democrat Carl W. Bauer, who represented St. Mary and St. Martin parishes. In 1974, state Senator Hardy was named "Conservationist of the Year" among the elected official category by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. In 1975, Hardy was elected, again as a Democrat,