BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – In a crucial election year, Democrats want to flip a once reliably Republican congressional seat in Louisiana, where political boundaries were recently redrawn to form the state’s second majority-black congressional district.
With five people on the ballot for Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District, Democrats have thrown their support behind veteran politician Cleo Fields, 61. The senator has been involved in state politics for three decades and served two terms in Congress after being elected in 1992. elected.
On the other side of the aisle, Republicans are trying to hold on to the seat, especially in an election year when the Republican Party is trying to hold on to their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The only Republican on the ballot is former state lawmaker Elbert Guillory, 80.
For nearly fifty years, only one Democrat has won the seat in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District. But the district’s boundaries have recently been redrawn.
In January, state lawmakers approved Louisiana’s new congressional map with a second majority-black district, marking a victory for Democrats and civil rights groups after a legal battle and political tug-of-war that lasted nearly two years.
The new boundaries of the 6th District extend in a narrow and diagonal path across the state, from the state capital, Baton Rouge, to Shreveport in the northwest corner. Black residents account for 54% of voters, up from 24% previously. Both Fields and Guillory are black.
A lower court ruled that the new map was an illegal racial gerrymander, but in May the Supreme Court ordered Louisiana to use it in this year’s congressional elections, boosting Democrats’ chances of gaining control of the closely divided House.
Currently, of Louisiana’s six congressional seats, one is Democrat, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, the state’s only black congressman.
Notably absent from the race is incumbent U.S. Rep. Garret Graves. The white Republican announced he would not seek re-election, saying there was no point in running under the new map.
All six of Louisiana’s congressional seats are up for election. The five other races include established names, including two of the country’s most powerful Republicans: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Carter and Republicans Clay Higgins and Julia Letlow are also seeking re-election. All incumbent parties face lesser-known challengers in the vote.
