Tony Ligi (R)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 4,050 (29%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 9,787 (71%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 3,331 (23%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 11,484 (77%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 15,260 (76%)
John Kerry (D) 4,761 (24%)
Others 159 (0%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 14,970 (76%)
Chris John (D) 2,487 (13%)
Others 2,149 (11%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 2,826 (51%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 742 (13%)
Mike Francis (R) 706 (13%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 974 (17%)
Others 339 (6%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 9,874 (77%)
Walter Boasso (D) 878 (7%)
John Georges (I) 1,629 (13%)
Foster Campbell (D) 316 (2%)
Others 105 (1%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 2,422 (20%)
Mike Strain (R) 7,109 (59%)
Wayne Carter (R) 2,052 (17%)
Don Johnson (R) 486 (4%)

House District 79 is a compact district in Jefferson Parish that is shaped roughly like a triangle. It contains almost all of the high-income neighborhoods of Kenner north of Esplanade near the lake. It is almost all white: its African American population is 6%, which is about the same as it was in 2003. Since 2003, it has only grown 1%, and all of that growth was before Hurricane Katrina hit. It regularly gives 3 to 1 margins to Republican candidates; Suzy Terrell’s 71% of the vote here was actually low for a Republican, but she was running against New Orleans native Mary Landrieu.

This district is a rarity: since its creation in 1983, it has only elected Republicans. Kernan “Skip” Hand served for a decade until he was elected district judge in 1994. He was succeeded by Danny Martiny, who has served since then. Normally, the district re-elects its incumbents with little incident (Representative Martiny has not had opposition since 1995), although a Democrat once received 38% of the vote in Representative Hand’s 1991 re-election campaign. Other than that race, Democrats have not even contested the district.

Representative Martiny was term-limited in 2007 and successfully ran for Art Lentini’s term-limited state senate seat. Five Republicans sought the seat, and attorney Tony Ligi (who also had David Vitter’s endorsement) finished first in the primary with 42%. He was then elected after his runoff opponent (who received 23%) withdrew from the race shortly after the primary.

There was some damage from Hurricane Katrina in the form of some flooding and wind damage, but the area has largely recovered. We still foresee that Jefferson Parish will feel some of the effects of population out migration from metropolitan New Orleans; in fact, the district’s voter population has lost 2% of its voters since the storm.