Nick Gautreaux (D)
Term limited in 2015
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 13,998 (50%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 14,080 (50%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 25,240 (62%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 15,340 (38%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 30,493 (62%)
John Kerry (D) 18,109 (37%)
Others 599 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 20,100 (42%)
Chris John (D) 23,396 (49%)
Others 4,046 (9%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 3,241 (15%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 4,786 (22%)
Mike Francis (R) 10,750 (50%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 1,354 (6%)
Others 1,403 (7%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 19,119 (51%)
Walter Boasso (D) 7,834 (21%)
John Georges (I) 6,145 (16%)
Foster Campbell (D) 4,034 (11%)
Others 661 (2%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 15,399 (43%)
Mike Strain (R) 15,698 (44%)
Wayne Carter (R) 2,592 (7%)
Don Johnson (R) 2,133 (6%)

Senate District is located in the heart of Acadiana and contains Vermillion Parish, as the western fringe of Lafayette Parish, the eastern fringe of Acadia Parish, and the southwestern portion of St. Landry Parish. The district also has a low (16%) and stable African-American voting population, with similar percentages in all parishes. It has actually gained voters at a 6% rate, which is more than twice the statewide average. The strongest gains in voter population are in the district’s portions of Lafayette and St. Landry Parishes.

Politically, the district has a split personality. On one hand, it tends to vote Democratic in statewide elections, especially if the Democratic candidate is from the area. Not only did Mary Landrieu come very close to carrying the district, but Kathleen Blanco received a solid 62% of the vote, and Chris John received a 49-42% plurality here, despite receiving only 28% statewide in his U.S. Senate race. However, in elections where the Democratic candidate is perceived to be too liberal (or is not from the area) Republicans seem to have the edge: both George Bush and Republican Charles Boustany (the first Republican elected to Congress from here in generations) received 62% of the district’s vote in 2004. And “Bobby” Jindal swept the district with 51% of the vote in his successful 2007 race for governor (a 13% improvement over his 2003 showing). Interestingly, in all of these races, there was little difference in the level of candidate support in each of the four parishes.

In legislative elections, however, Democrats are securely in control. Though this district, like Senate District 25 to the west, has been reconfigured several times since the 1980s, most of the area was represented by Democrat Cecil Picard from 1979 to 1996. He rarely faced a tough race (or even an opponent), and resigned in 1996 when former Governor Mike Foster appointed him to be Secretary of Education. A spirited race developed to succeed him, with Democratic state representative Gerald Theunissen from Jeff Davis Parish defeating Republican Mike Francis (a recent candidate for Secretary of State who finished third in that race) 56-44% in the runoff. When Sen. Theunissen’s district was shifted to the west in the 1997 reapportionment, a new district was created in the area, and Democrat Fred Hoyt was elected in 1999 primary with 68% of the vote. He was defeated for re-election, however, against Democrat Nick Gautreaux, who received 54% of the vote in the primary. Again, the district’s homogeneity showed up again in the results, as Gautreaux carried all four parishes.

Senator Gautreaux is allowed to serve until 2015, and was overwhelmingly re-elected with 77% of the vote against term-limited Democratic state Representative Mickey Frith of Vermillion Parish. It’ll be interesting to see in future races whether suburbanization in the district’s portions of Lafayette, St. Landry and Vermillion Parish will give local Republicans more traction here in the future.