The lieutenant governor of Louisiana (French: Lieutenant-Gouverneur de la Louisiane) is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current lieutenant governor is Billy Nungesser, a Republican. The lieutenant governor is also the commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism. Paul J. Hardy, who served from 1988 to 1992, was the first Republican to be elected to the position since the Reconstruction Era. This was largely because of the racial suppression in state politics during the first half and more of the 20th century.