Inside Report for April 18, 2008
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The 6th Congressional District of Louisiana became a bastion of the Republican Party by the slimmest of margins 30 years ago, but the GOP has held on to the seat since.
Can this year be different in a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of 2008 in the House? Some of the smart money is on the Democrats this time.
The GOP has no problems in the other special congressional election to be held May 3 in Louisiana. That is in the 1st District in the suburban New Orleans area, vacated by the elevation of Bobby Jindal to governor.
State Sen. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, emerged from party primaries as the GOP nominee. The district, including populous Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes, is prohibitively Republican. Scalise will be elected absent some upset along the lines of Goliath’s debacle a couple of millenia ago.
Will it be so in the 6th District? The GOP has held the district since 1975, when Henson Moore won a close election, so close that a malfunctioning voting machine forced a rerun of the entire election. With Moore and his successor, Richard Baker, Republicans have held the seat since, although Baker had a couple of reasonably close challenges.
The openings were the first requiring party primaries under a new state law, a significant departure from Louisiana’s open-primary voting. The primary and runoff elections were confusing to voters used to voting across party lines in any election. People still may be confused, and the level of turnout in the May 3 runoff is anybody’s guess.
One friend of the Democratic nominee, Don Cazayoux, voiced frustration about the party primaries. “I’m a lifelong Republican,” John Davis said, “and I’m so glad I’m able to vote for a candidate of my choice. ”
Davis spoke at a news event for Republican backers of Cazayoux, a three-term state representative from New Roads.
He faces Woody Jenkins, once a fixture in state politics as a state representative and twice a candidate for U.S. Senate.
That’s not all. The party primaries selected nominees from Democrats and Republicans, but they now have to share the ballot with three other “no party” challengers.
Two of them are minor candidates not expected to draw many votes, but a third — Ashley Casey — is a former aide to Republican candidates and may be a factor as an independent candidate.
She worked for an independent candidate in the 2007 gubernatorial race, John Georges.
“I saw there was definitely a need for a third way” between the two parties, Casey told The Advocate editorial board.
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