Willie Landry Mount (D)
Term limited in 2011
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 17,079 (59%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 11,883 (41%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 17,339 (57%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 12,889 (43%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 23,498 (52%)
John Kerry (D) 21,657 (47%)
Others 433 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 18,160 (41%)
Chris John (D) 21,807 (49%)
Others 4,589 (10%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 1,915 (15%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 4,707 (38%)
Mike Francis (R) 4,230 (34%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 802 (6%)
Others 900 (7%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 11,942 (47%)
Walter Boasso (D) 6,070 (24%)
John Georges (I) 3,273 (13%)
Foster Campbell (D) 3,750 (15%)
Others 555 (2%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 11,348 (46%)
Mike Strain (R) 8,419 (34%)
Wayne Carter (R) 3,047 (12%)
Don Johnson (R) 1,614 (7%)

Senate District 27 contains the city of Lake Charles, as well as surrounding areas immediately to the north and west. It has a significant (32%) African-American voting population, which has changed little since 2003. Overall, it has seen a slight 2% decrease in its voter population since Hurricane Rita, with losses coming entirely from precincts within the city of Lake Charles.

Though Calcasieu Parish (which contains Lake Charles) is mostly represented by Republicans in the Legislature, Senate District 27 has a noticeable, though not overwhelming, preference for Democrats in most races. This is due to the district’s demographics. In general, there is a city/suburban split here. Precincts in the city of Lake Charles cast 52% of the vote and are majority (55%) African-American. The suburban precincts to the north and west cast the remaining 48% of the vote and are 7% African-American.

Overall, the level of partisan support in contested elections is predictably Democratic. Democrats Mary Landrieu and Kathleen Blanco have received 59 and 57% of the vote here. Former Congressman Chris John, though receiving 28% of the vote statewide, still received a 49-41% plurality here. And even though state Senator Willie Mount was unsuccessful in her 2004 U.S. House race (she received 45% in the runoff), she received 64% of the vote in her state Senate district. There have been only two times in a recent contested election that the district supported a Republican: in 2004, when George Bush carried the district with 52% of the vote, and in 2007, when “Bobby” Jindal received a 47% plurality here.

In all these races, the Lake Charles precincts gave anywhere from 60 to 76% of the vote to the Democratic candidates. These margins were enough to absorb the 51 to 57% support Republicans received in the suburban precincts. George Bush’s one Republican victory here was due to his receiving a whopping 69% of the vote in the suburban precincts, which was enough to overcome John Kerry’s 2 to 1 margin in the city of Lake Charles.

Curiously for a Democratic district, moderate to conservative Democrats are usually elected here. From 1975 until his death in 1991, conservative Democrat Bill McLeod represented the area, and rarely had problems being re-elected. He was replaced by a more populist Democrat Jim ###, who defeated Republican Vic Stelly 58-31% in the 1991 special primary. Senator ### was then re-elected with an unimpressive 53% of the vote in both the 1991 and 1995 runoffs against more conservative Democrats – each time, his 67-77% percentages in inner city Lake Charles were enough to overcome the 57-59% of the vote his opponents received in the suburbs. When Sen. ### retired in 1999, he was replaced by a more moderate Democrat, Willie Mount, who was at the time the Mayor of Lake Charles. Mount was elected in the 1999 primary with an astounding 80% of the vote in 1999 and was unopposed in 2003.

Senator Mount was unopposed in 2007 and is term-limited in 2011. When she retires in 2011, we rate this district as a “Democratic hold.” The only question about her successor is whether a moderate or a populist Democrat will be elected, because even with demographic trends favoring the suburbs, the Democratic margins in Lake Charles city precincts still provide a good base of support for a more populist Democratic candidate.

The Lake Charles area was in the northeast quadrant of Hurricane Rita and received quite a bit of wind damage, with storm surge damage just to the south in Cameron Parish. While it will take time for the area to rebuild, we have seen some out migration from the area (mainly from Lake Charles precincts), but nothing like massive out migration occurring in parts of the New Orleans metropolitan area.