“Bodi” White (R)
Term limited in 2015
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 4,849 (38%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 7,868 (62%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 5,832 (42%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 8,093 (58%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 14,528 (74%)
John Kerry (D) 4,896 (25%)
Others 139 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 12,043 (64%)
Chris John (D) 3,425 (18%)
Others 3,325 (18%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 3,367 (54%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 1,193 (19%)
Mike Francis (R) 1,110 (18%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 266 (4%)
Others 287 (5%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 9,217 (64%)
Walter Boasso (D) 1,656 (11%)
John Georges (I) 1,292 (9%)
Foster Campbell (D) 2,091 (14%)
Others 171 (2%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 4,792 (34%)
Mike Strain (R) 5,973 (43%)
Wayne Carter (R) 2,700 (19%)
Don Johnson (R) 499 (4%)

The 1995 statewide elections in Louisiana were a watershed event because, for the first time, Republicans established a presence in both houses of the Legislature. A significant portion of these gains occurred in the Florida Parishes, with House District 64 being one of those districts that not only elected a Republican, but did so by a wide margin, and hasn’t come close to voting for a Democrat since.

When House District 64 was first created in 1971, it was considered “the North Baton Rouge district.” Three redistrictings later, it only includes the northeast portion of East Baton Rouge just north of the town of Baker as well as fast growing northern fringe of Livingston Parish. While the district as a whole has a low (and unchanged) 12% African-American voting population, there is considerable demographic variation within the district. The settled areas of the district between the Baker-Zachary highway and the Comite River cast 20% of the vote and have seen an increase in the African-American voting population from 40 to 44% of the vote. Between the Comite and the Amite Rivers in East Baton Rouge Parish is an area which has stayed about 90% white and casts 26% of the vote. The remaining 54% of the vote (up from 51% in 2003) is cast in an all-white section of Livingston Parish. Overall, the district is fast growing; its 10% growth rate (8th fastest growing in the state) was uneven - the East Baton Rouge portion grew at about the statewide average, but the Livingston Parish portion grew 16% in a four year period. This growth has favored Republicans, as 57% of new voters have registered Republicans; the rest have registered Independent.

Generally, the district can be counted on to support Republicans in contested races, as any Democratic trends in settled portions of East Baton Rouge Parish are more than offset by solid Republican margins in the growing parts of the district. There is some consistency of preference between Bobby Jindal’s 58% in 2003, Suzy Terrell’s 62%, David Vitter’s 64-18% margin, and “Bobby” Jindal’s 64-11% margin in 2007. In 2004, huge 84-15% margins in Livingston Parish enabled George Bush to get 74% of the vote here, which was his 9th highest percentage of any Louisiana House district.

Though the district has generally supported Republicans in contested races for years, it took some time for it to vote Republican in state House races. The district’s first representative, Richard Baker, held the seat for four terms until he switched to the Republican party in 1985 and successfully ran for the U.S. Congress the next year. In the special election to replace him, the district reverted back to the Democrats, as Democrat Mike McCleary overcame a stiff Republican challenge 52-48% in the runoff. He was then re-elected in 1987 and 1991 with 58 and 66% of the vote against Republican challengers. When Rep. McCleary retired in 1995, Republican activist Tony Perkins (a protégé of local conservative “Woody” Jenkins) was elected with a whopping 63% of the vote in the primary against a Democrat. Rep. Perkins was unopposed in 1999 and retired shortly after an unsuccessful run for Mary Landrieu’s Senate seat in 2002. His successor, Republican “Bodi” White was initially elected in 2003 with no opposition – impressive for someone who had not held elected office before. He faced minor opposition in 2007 and was re-elected with an impressive 77% of the vote.

Rep. White is allowed to serve until 2015 under the term-limits law. When Rep. White retires, it’ll be interesting to see if his successor will come from Livingston Parish.