Mickey Guillory (D)
Term limited in 2015
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 4,736 (45%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 5,772 (55%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 7,734 (58%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 5,509 (42%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 10,902 (64%)
John Kerry (D) 6,044 (35%)
Others 145 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 7,754 (46%)
Chris John (D) 7,784 (46%)
Others 1,395 (8%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 1,253 (13%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 2,358 (24%)
Mike Francis (R) 4,763 (49%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 624 (6%)
Others 705 (7%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 6,785 (52%)
Walter Boasso (D) 2,940 (22%)
John Georges (I) 1,608 (12%)
Foster Campbell (D) 1,485 (11%)
Others 284 (3%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 5,303 (43%)
Mike Strain (R) 5,448 (44%)
Wayne Carter (R) 852 (7%)
Don Johnson (R) 762 (6%)

House District 41 is one of several state House districts located in the heart of Acadiana. It contains parts of three parishes: the northern fringe of Acadia Parish, the western portion of St. Landry Parish around the town of Eunice, and five precincts in the southernmost part of Evangeline Parish. It contains a modest (20%) and unchanging African-American voting population, most of which is in St. Landry Parish. The district has grown twice as fast as the statewide rate (most of the gain occurred after Katrina), with all three parishes posting some gains.

Politically, the district is a swing district. The northern fringes of Acadia Parish generally support Republicans and cast about 50% of the district vote. Evangeline Parish (which cast 8% of the district vote) and St. Landry parish lean Democratic, but if Republicans can win district-wide if they minimize the Democratic margins in these two parishes. George Bush, Charles Boustany, Suzy Terrell, and Bobby Jindal in 2007 posted big margins in Acadia Parish and ran strongly enough in St. Landry and Evangeline to win district-wide with 64, 64, 55, and 52% of the vote, respectively.

Like most districts in southwest Louisiana, however, Acadiana-based Democrats are still electable here. Kathleen Blanco swept all three parishes for a 58% victory in the 2003 gubernatorial runoff, and Chris John (who represented the area in Congress) edged out David Vitter by several hundred votes, even though he could only garner 28% support statewide.

The district has had fairly competitive politics in recent years. Democrat Dale Sittig represented the district for three terms with little incident until he was successfully elected to the Public Service Commission in 1995. He was succeeded by Republican Greg Fruge, who obviously benefited from the presence of Mike Foster at the top of the ticket that year - he carried all three parishes and won in the runoff with 54% of the vote. The “Foster factor” also was a benefit in 1999; despite a stiff Democratic challenge, he increased his re-election percentage to 58% in the primary and again carried all three parishes. 2003 was a different story. Without the presence of a strong Republican at the top of the ticket, the three major Democratic candidates for governor (who happened to be from Southwest Louisiana) received 60% of the district’s vote, while Bobby Jindal received 31%. This Democratic dominance also seemed to carry over into the state house race. This time, Rep. Fruge could only muster 52% support in the Republican-leaning portion of Acadia Parish. On the other hand, the Democrat, Mickey Guillory, racked up 65% of the vote in Evangeline and 70% in St. Landry, for a whopping 58-42% victory in the primary.

Rep. Guillory was unopposed for re-election in 2007, and in the future, we rate this seat as a “Democratic hold”, assuming he serves in the state house until 2015. When he retires, we rate this district as a tossup, just like it was when former Rep. Sittig retired in 1995.