BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Democrat Cleo Fields has won Louisiana’s congressional race in a newly redrawn second majority-black district, turning a once reliably Republican seat blue.
His victory marks a major victory for Democrats in a state where they will hold two congressional seats for the first time in a decade. This is only the second time in nearly fifty years that a Democrat has won in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, where lawmakers drew new political boundaries earlier this year.
Fields’ victory returns him to the U.S. House, where he was elected in 1992 and served two terms. Since then, the 61-year-old senator has been a fixture in Louisiana state politics.
Under Louisiana’s open primary system — in which candidates from all parties appear on Election Day — Fields was able to avoid a runoff by receiving more than 50% of the vote. He faced four other candidates, including Elbert Guillory, an 80-year-old Republican and former senator. Incumbent Republican Congressman Garret Graves has not sought re-election.
A new congressional map was used for the election, with boundaries drawn by the Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year. The map restored a second majority-black district to the state, a victory for Democrats and civil rights groups after a nearly two-year legal and political battle.
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. Fields 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.
In addition to the 6th District race, all five incumbent members of Congress in Louisiana were re-elected to another term – including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
