William Harold Nungesser (/ˈnʌnɡɛsər/ NUN-ghess-ər; born January 10, 1959) is an American politician serving as the 54th lieutenant governor of Louisiana since 2016.

A member of the Republican Party, Nungesser is also the former president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission, having been re-elected to a second four-year term against two opponents in the 2010 general election with more than 71 percent of the vote.

While working in his family's offshore catering business, Nungesser found an alternative use for metal ship containers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) originally obligated $400,000 to rebuild the marina at Port Eads after Katrina.

[7] In September 2008, Hurricane Ike passed hundreds of miles south of Plaquemines, but its tide surge greatly affected the parish.

After consulting the Army Corps of Engineers, a quick decision was made to open the floodgates to permit the rising water flow into the Mississippi, relieving pressure on the levees.

[9] Nungesser was recognized as the "face of the oil spill" by major media outlets such as the New Orleans Times-Picayune,[10] The New York Times,[11] Associated Press,[12] CNN,[13] Reuters,[14] and ABC News.

[1] Nungesser began his second term with a public cry for help in removing oil from eroded land at Bay Jimmy.

[16] Nungesser collaborated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to create the Plaquemines Restoration and Protection Plan, released in 2009.

In his campaign, Nungesser said that his business and political experience made him ideal to manage the state tourism industry, the principal function of the Lieutenant Governor's office.

His sentimental political advertisements used background music from the song "You Are My Sunshine" by the late Democratic Governor Jimmie Davis.

Shortly after taking office, Nungesser named Robert J. Barham of Morehouse Parish, the former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries under former Governor Jindal, as the new director of state parks and historic sites.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler, a fellow Republican, called Nungesser's comments "at a minimum uninformed.

[He] quite possibly [made] an insult to not only my office, but also our hard-working clerks of court and registrars of voters who are our trusted partners for every election."

Timothy Joseph "Tim" Chester, the interim director of the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans, resigned in a public dispute with Nungesser.

Nungesser said that Chester had not been moving with sufficient speed to find a permanent director or to implement Nungesser's recommendations regarding the museum, which includes historic buildings in both New Orleans and Baton Rouge and was operated by the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, an agency overseen by the lieutenant governor.

[25] Nungesser opposed the removal of Confederate monuments honoring Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Pierre G.T.

[28] In July 2018, Nungesser appeared on a radio program to reject claims by the more conservative members of his party that he has become a "Republican in Name Only" (RINO) because he is "too friendly" with Democratic Governor Edwards.

Nungesser noted that by working with Edwards, he saved a $17 million appropriation for the state park system, preventing closures and layoffs.