BATON ROUGE — State Rep. Stuart Bishop and state Sen. Norby Chabert got into a fist fight at a downtown Baton Rouge bar Tuesday night in a dispute over legislation.
Bishop, R-Lafayette, said Chabert, R-Houma, "punched me several times" during the altercation.
"We had a gentleman's disagreement and settled it with our fists," Bishop said.
Police were called, but Bishop said he and Chabert had already left the bar and no arrests were made.
The incident happened at the River Room on Laurel Street.
"He's not happy with me over a bill," said Bishop, who blocked a bill from Chabert as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Chabert declined to speak about the fight, saying, "I have no comment on private matters."
Bishop said he didn't return Chabert's blows and wasn't injured.
"I'm a little bruised, but not injured," Bishop said.
Bishop said the two lawmakers are longtime friends with many similar legislative priorities.
"I'm sorry it happened," Bishop said. "We've been friends for a long time.
"As far as I'm concerned it's settled, but you'd have to talk to (Chabert)," he said.
Bishop later addressed the fight on the House floor.
"The integrity of this body is one thing I cherish and hold dear," he told members. "If I embarrassed any of your I truly apologize."
Bishop then jokingly said to colleagues, "The next time it will be dueling guns."
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1