Echols is a real estate investor, licensed contractor and builder who, along with his wife Christie, an architect, has helped restore deteriorating properties in Monroe and Ruston and put them back into commerce. Echols employs more than 100 people in Northeast Louisiana and knows what it means to sign the front of a paycheck. Echols has represented House District 14 in the Louisiana Legislature for seven years and currently serves as House Majority Leader. His legislative work has included efforts to lower prescription drug costs and advance conservative priorities. For nearly two decades, he has also hosted the “Echols at Eight” conservative talk radio show on KMLB.