Bill Cassidy (R)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 13,773 (31%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 30,312 (69%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 12,258 (27%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 33,500 (73%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 45,703 (74%)
John Kerry (D) 15,650 (25%)
Others 475 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 42,237 (70%)
Chris John (D) 10,767 (18%)
Others 7,681 (12%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 18,161 (73%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 2,617 (11%)
Mike Francis (R) 2,955 (12%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 419 (2%)
Others 571 (2%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 30,670 (73%)
Walter Boasso (D) 4,103 (10%)
John Georges (I) 4,219 (10%)
Foster Campbell (D) 2,865 (7%)
Others 322 (1%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 8,569 (21%)
Mike Strain (R) 22,399 (55%)
Wayne Carter (R) 7,850 (19%)
Don Johnson (R) 1,774 (4%)

The first three major landmarks that are popularly thought of as “Baton Rouge” are all along the Mississippi River: the Exxon Refinery, Downtown, and LSU. Behind those landmarks is a diverse community of over half a million people. John Maginnis describes this diversity in the following way: “Baton Rouge grew up not as one community but as three separate and isolated worlds: the newcomer professionals and old families of South Baton Rouge and LSU; the rednecks and union workers of North Baton Rouge; and the blacks.”

The “isolated world” of South Baton Rouge is an area south of Florida Boulevard and east of the LSU campus. Virtually all of Baton Rouge’s prestigious neighborhoods are here, as well as most of its professionals. Senate District covers most of this area, with a few exceptions: Cleo Fields represents the Garden District and areas south of LSU, and “Clo” Fontenot represents neighborhoods off Stumberg, Flannery Road, and O’Neal Lane.

Politically, the precincts in District 16 are heavily conservative: Republican candidates can count on receiving 70-75% of the vote in this 90% white district that has grown at a rate twice as fast as the state. Furthermore, Senate District 16 is consistently one of the five most conservative state Senate districts in Louisiana. Only in a few smaller precincts near the LSU campus do more moderate candidates receive significant support.

The district’s past and present political leanings have also resulted in stable, conservative representation in the state Senate. Realtor Ken Osterberger was originally elected in 1971 as a Democrat and served until 1991. Though he was one of about a dozen legislators who switched parties in the mid 1980s, he was rewarded with an 81% re-election against a Democrat in 1987, which, incidentally, was the last time a Democrat contested this seat.

When Osterberger retired in 1991, there was a spirited race to succeed him. The main contenders were two Republicans then serving on the East Baton Rouge Parish Metrocouncil: Lynda Imes and Jay Dardenne. Dardenne had a reputation for years as a political comer; in his first race in 1987, he lost to Democratic attorney (and former Metrocouncilman) Larry Bankston by about 300 votes. The 1991 reapportionment put his and then-Senator Bankston’s residences in a senate seat dominated by heavily Democratic Westside parishes. This caused then-Senator Bankston to move to north Baton Rouge to run in a newly created African-American seat, and Dardenne sought the open Osterberger seat, even though he didn’t yet live in the district. He upset Lynda Imes 52-48% in the runoff, and has since entrenched himself – he was unopposed for the next two elections, and received 78% of the vote against a fellow Republican in 2003.

Just as Cleo Fields has made a name for himself as an influential African-American in the Senate and Congress, Sen. Dardenne early on became an influential member of a small but growing bloc of reform-minded senators whose ranks swelled after the 1995 elections. He reached the pinnacle of his career as the chair of the Senate Finance Committee in the second Foster administration. Though he was not in the “inner circle” of the Blanco administration, his opinion was still sought as the voice of “the opposition”, especially after the 2005 death of his mentor, former Senate President John Hainkel. Perhaps in anticipation of term-limits, he ran for Secretary of State in 2006 and was elected when his runoff opponent Senator Francis Heitmeier withdrew from the race.

The race to succeed Sen. Dardenne began fairly quickly, as Dr. Bill Cassidy, who had converted to the Republican party, faced William Daniel, who was (like Sen. Dardenne) facing term-limits. Though the conventional wisdom was that Rep. Daniel was a shoo-in, he had made enemies when he unsuccessfully ran for Mayor in 2004 and endorsed African-American Democrat Kip Holden in the runoff against the incumbent Republican mayor. That plus voter discontent with incumbent politicians after Hurricane Katrina played a role in Dr. Cassidy’s huge 58-38% upset. Even in precincts in his state House district, Rep. Daniel trailed 50-46%.

Dr. Cassidy is allowed to seek three more terms under the term-limits law and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2007 with 76% of the vote against two opponents. We see this seat as a “Republican hold” for some time – the last time a Democrat was elected here was in 1983, and he switched parties shortly thereafter.