Roy Quezaire (D)
Term limited in 2007
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 11,172 (79%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 3,009 (21%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 11,476 (74%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 4,108 (26%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 5,697 (29%)
John Kerry (D) 13,377 (69%)
Others 330 (2%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 4,824 (26%)
Chris John (D) 7,110 (39%)
Others 6,318 (35%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 2,065 (26%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 3,962 (50%)
Mike Francis (R) 699 (9%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 552 (7%)
Others 597 (8%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 4,645 (31%)
Walter Boasso (D) 3,928 (26%)
John Georges (I) 2,701 (18%)
Foster Campbell (D) 3,184 (21%)
Others 617 (4%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 9,010 (66%)
Mike Strain (R) 3,008 (22%)
Wayne Carter (R) 1,054 (8%)
Don Johnson (R) 608 (4%)

District 58 is located in the heart of petrochemical Louisiana. The area also contains many of the plantation homes that Louisiana is famous for. In this mixture of plantations and industry, district 58 is one of the safest in the state for Democratic candidates. Democratic percentages in statewide elections are generally above 70%. John Kerry swept the district 69-29%, and even the split in the Democratic vote during the Senate election last year didn’t help David Vitter – he still trailed Chris John 26-39%.

The district is crescent-shaped and stretches along the Mississippi River from the outskirts of Baton Rouge to LaPlace, including the majority black sections of Iberville, Ascension, Assumption, St. James, and St. John Parishes. It was designed to be an African-American majority district several decades ago, and has been since two-term incumbent “Judge” Russo was defeated by Melvin Irvin in 1983. Irvin served from 1984 to 1992 and was succeeded by Roy Quezaire. For the next decade, the district was a shaky one, with runoffs deciding the winner of each election from 1983 to 1991. Since then, Representative Quezaire has managed to stabilize the district, with his re-election percentages climbing from 57% in 1995 to 85% in 2003.

Representative Quezaire will not be able to run in 2007 due to term-limits, but there is little doubt that this district will remain in Democratic hands. Three Democrats are running for the seat: Elton Aubert, Troy Brown, and Terance Irvin. Depending on redistricting, however, the district could become more competitive: explosive suburban growth in Ascension Parish has begun to affect the demographics of the Ascension Parish portion of the district. Not only has the African-American majority slightly declined, but Ascension Parish now cast 40% of the district’s votes – it used to cast 37% of the district’s votes during the last statewide election.